AD and other fiscal concerns

It is no secret that the current economic climate has made creating a school budget challenging, to say the least. Schools are struggling to keep educational programs intact and, in some cases, trying to avoid financial insolvency.

Across the state, districts have cut scores of teaching positions, pared down sports programs and extra-curricular offerings, cut administrative positions and become creative about cutting costs.

Warwick has not been immune to these belt-tightening measures.

In fact, our district’s administrative positions have been reduced by a significant 30 percent over the past three years.

Two years ago, the middle school lost an assistant principal and a school resource officer; at the high school, an assistant principal position was reduced.

At the district level, the athletic director/health/physical education director positions were combined and a director of math position was eliminated.

A principal position was eliminated with the closing of Pine Island Elementary School.

While these reductions have saved the district money in salary and benefits, continuing to manage all the required administrative work has been a challenge.

Unfortunately, the budget picture in our school district has not improved. Costs, such as required retirement and health insurance contributions, continue to rise, while state and federal aid for public education decreases. State mandated programs have increased the burden on school districts, even as our governor promises relief.

Warwick’s school budget for 2013-14 is likely to have a sizeable gap that will most certainly require more cuts in staffing.

This year, new state regulations such as the Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) of teachers, the adoption of Common Core State Standards, the Dignity for All Students Act and other mandates have increased the demands on all administrators.

The APPR will increase the administrative workload at the high school alone by an estimated additional 34 weeks of work, in a school year of 40 weeks. The district must comply with this mandate or risk losing state funding.

The question of how to increase administrative staff, such as assistant principals in the high school and middle school (in order to have the man-hours to comply with state mandated programs), without increasing costs is something the Board of Education will explore as 2013-14 budget discussions begin.

Many community members voiced their concerns during one such discussion at a board meeting on Oct. 15. Board members were set to discuss the option of combining the position of Athletic Director half-time with that of high school Assistant Principal half-time when many parents, staff and students voiced their opinions.

We have heard the concerns of community members on this issue and will be considering it carefully in the months ahead. The determination of the combined position of Athletic Director/Assistant Principal will not be made at the next board meeting on Nov. 19. Instead, we will continue to explore and discuss the idea of this combined position as well as other solutions to our district’s needs as we move toward creating a budget for 2013-14.

We urge all interested and concerned community members to attend Board of Education meetings, read meeting minutes and agendas (found on the district web site), listen to the discussions and weigh in with your thoughts and suggestions on this and all district/budget issues between now and the budget vote this May.

Sincerely,

The Warwick Valley Central School District Board of Education:

Dave Eaton, president

Robert Howe, vice president

Cheryl Barker

Paul Caskey

Dawn Chester

John Connolly

Lynn Lillian

Sharon Davis

Samantha Sweeton