State Aid Drops, Who Will Foot the Bill?

State-wide, financial aid to Long Island school districts will fall from the 2010/11 school year level by over $2 billion in 2011/12. That represents a loss of 9.1% of funding for LI schools. These numbers are serious for all taxpaying residents and the children we educate.

Here in Smithtown, it means that we are losing $5,080,994.00 of state funding. This loss equals a -15.3% change. It means that the Smithtown Central School District will need to 'find' over 2% of our current budget to be able to afford a zero-change budget next year, if this is the only change.

Unfortunately, it is probable that we will, at the same time, face another multi-million dollar end-of-the-financial-year surprise payment to cover post-employment obligations. That is, the district must pony up when the depressed market doesn't cover retirement payments that are due. None of this large hunk of our school budget is 'for the kids.'

The special Citizens' Advisory Committee will soon give preliminary reports to our PTAs about potential school closings in order to better serve the declining student population and conserve our financial resources. Bear in mind that there are other ways in which to truly use our resources wisely that have not, yet, been put on the proverbial table.

As some parents learned in the busing referendum do-over, sometimes the savings we
spend so much time seeking aren't there; they reside elsewhere. Why aren't we looking in all the right places?

The Pied Piper of Smithtown

Tonight's Smithtown School Board meeting, held at High School West, was packed. People made their way through a mass of school faculty protesting by wearing black outfits and the ubiquitous pins declaring, "Working Without a Contract." And the contract (in mediation) was the subject of much discussion.

The Board and Administration took care of the business of the district and then opened the floor to the public. Rich Forzano, president of the Smithtown Teachers Association was the first speaker. Mr Forzano claimed that over the past two contracts, the district gave nothing and asked too much of the union. Unfortunately, there was nothing detectably compromising in his address--no hands across the table. It was an inauspicious beginning that grew bizarre as Mr Forzano left the podium, the auditorium, and the building--followed by hundreds of the black-clad STA members. It was the low point of the evening. Even so, the room was almost half full after the exodus.

There followed 23 more speakers including recent Smithtown HS grads; moms of SCSD students; Decca volunteers; Industry Advisory Board members; a Junior Achievement Rep; seniors; business men and women of the district; and concerned citizens. Many plead for retaining the Business program which sounds fabulous--effective and one well-preparing its students for the future. 

There were a couple passionate speakers who begged the Board to keep all programs, and do the right thing for the children. The major theme, however, was: dare to make a change, and do it now. The absent union members were asked to join the taxpayers and make a sacrifice. They wanted to know what the teachers were willing to do. They had left, so we were not able to have any dialogue. 

One small group of teachers--not wearing the uniform of protest--actually stayed to the very end--they were the Business program teachers, who were warmly received. Their maturity and commitment to the students was appreciated. 

Three speakers really stood out--a retired teacher and resident with the guts to challenge an out-of-control union, a businessman who offered to work on the Housing Advisory Committee and pointed out how simple it would be to balance the budget--with an STA contract with give-backs, and another businessman who reminded the Board and Administration to remember the definition of insanity and asked the Board and Admin to....

Take a look at Wisconsin! Stand up for us! Do something different!

Thanks to everyone who made this a productive evening--unfortunately--not the STA.

An Overview on Our School District

Smithtown Central School District (SCSD) does a good job educating its students; it is something of which we can be proud.  But there is a very big crack in the system that needs fixing now!

NYS is in a difficult financial situation, people leaving has resulted in the loss of 3 Congressional seats after the 2010 census. The birth-rate is declining.  Businesses are struggling, unemployment is high, and home sales are sluggish, with a 2 year inventory of unsold homes in Nassau and Suffolk. Taxes are being grieved.

NYS is contributing 16.31% less than last year in school aid for SCSD. We learned that for the '11-12 year we will have a shortfall of $5 million from the state--that's on top of last year when we were cut by $3.5 million! At the same time, we were told to expect an increase of at least $7 million in payments we must make for retirement pensions and benefits this year alone. [The amount is being questioned.] In addition to increases in fuel, salaries, and more, we have to find about $12 million (give or take) more.

In the last couple years, the school tax increase has been low, before that, the average increase was around 7% per year. Every year there has been a 'capture' of money 'left over' that are called reserves. This amount can range from $3 to $10 million. It is, essentially, money we are over-taxed that is kept by the SCSD. In 2005, a year we had a contingent budget, meaning that taxpayers voted down the proposed budget and we went to a pared down budget, we had about $6 million in reserves! How did that happen?

There is nothing wrong with carrying a percentage of the budget in reserves--the state lets us keep 4% on hand--like a rainy day fund. We actually have several reserve funds with a total of about $48 million. Some reserves are dedicated to fund to a particular action and may not be used for anything else. One use for a reserve fund is to pay it toward the next year's tax bill--we did and that is why our recent tax increases were so low.


Our school budget is being thrashed out right now, as the Administration proposes and the Board gives direction. Already, the district has been in turmoil over the possibility of 1. changing the walker area, 2. issuing a referendum to change private and parochial school student busing, 3. a referendum to change SCSD busing, and 4. the proposed closing of one elementary school which would only save about $340,000.

The Administration has discussed raising class size as a means to save some money. Unfortunately, even though we have elementary classes with 17 and 18 students, their model didn't produce much more that $1 million in savings.

Last year the district made some changes that we applaud that saved money: buses made to carry 66 passengers had been loaded with 12-15 students--no more,  High School electives without an enrollment of at least 15 students are not run, and after-school athletic program teams were combined, creating savings. 

If the governor's proposed tax cap goes through, and it is believed it will, we will be limited to a 2% increase a year. And that is where the problem lies. Some would like to tax us by, maybe, 12%, and use the 'excess' money for future years to ease the burden. Others want to see big cuts NOW, as they will surely need to be more cuts made around the corner.

Why do we say this? Contributions we make to pay pension and benefits for TRS (teachers) and ERS (other employees) in  2003-04 were $1,161,857. and eight years later  in '11-12 it is projected we will pay $11,621,929.  Pension, benefits, and salary eat up 78% of our budget this year--it will be greater, next year. In fact, these bills will increase exponentially. We can't afford the contracts we are in, and we can't afford the current retirement system. 


Negotiate a package that is good for teachers and for the district.