Latest Budget Proposal Would Cut 24 Elementary Teachers, 2 Administrators

Following the release of finalized state funding totals on Thursday, the Three Village Central School District administration discussed its latest budget recommendation, which includes laying off 60.4 full-time teaching positions instead of 65.1.

The administration put two central administrative positions on the chopping block: the employee health benefits coordinator, which would be replaced by a clerical position, and the K-12 executive director for curriculum and instruction. The move would save the district $250,000.

The administration is proposing re-structuring the theater arts and student government programs into after-school activities rather than classes during the school day at each secondary school. Jeff Carlson, assistant superintendent for business services, said the move would save approximately $120,000 between those two programs.

At the elementary level, the administration's latest proposal would shrink the number of teachers by 24 in kindergarten through grade 6 – a move that would also include layoffs due to declining enrollment. It would save the district $2.16 million, and while it would lead to larger average class sizes, superintendent Cheryl Pedisich said the class sizes wouldn't be dramatically increased. Right now, she said, average class size throughout the elementary schools have held steady for two years at 21.3 students per class; that would increase to 23.53 for next year.

Projected average class sizes, 2013-14 school year

"All of these are within contractual averages and really if you look at Suffolk County our overall number is probably smaller than most," Pedisich said.

The administration is also proposing cutting two of the three existing teaching positions in the business program, which would save about $126,000 and limit business elective offerings to five classes – a move which Pedisich described as a "devastating" loss.

"It addressed the needs of many of our students and to see that disintegrate is very disheartening," she said.

Cuts to the athletic program would not include the elimination of whole teams; rather, it would reduce assistant coaching positions, supplies, the after-school fitness program and elementary school wellness clubs for approximately $100,700 in savings.

The administration has recommended preserving the Focus program, which is an alternative classroom setting that Pedisich said is designed to "meet the needs of students who are otherwise disenfranchised from school."

"These students have met with great success. ... Although it is a small population, it cannot be a neglected population," she said.

In the latest iteration of the budget proposal, the positions that were restored when the additional state aid materialized include English and math teachers at each secondary school, deans at the junior high schools, and partial restorations in the secondary schools in art, social studies, and family and consumer science.

Pedisich said she while these eliminations aren't ideal, the recommendations would still work for the students overall.

"We could easily have removed co-curricular activities and athletics for our students, but that would have been the wrong decision," she said.

She added: "We have an incredible district, a wonderful place. ... We’ve been through tough times before and I know that we’ll prevail. We have to."

The Board of Education will meet next on April 9, the date it initially anticipated adopting a budget to present to the community. Instead, that meeting will be treated as a budget workshop, and the Board has added a special meeting for April 17 – a Wednesday – at which it will formally adopt a budget to present to the community.