As we go to press for this April 4 issue of the Enterprise Pilot, the Oyster Bay-East Norwich Board of Education will have passed their budget on Tuesday, April 1. The board has been working on the budget for several months. At the March 18 meeting, Dr. Phyllis Harrington, superintendent of schools came back to the board with some suggested reductions to the budget and said she would return on April 1 with further reductions. You can visit the school website OBENSchools.org to see the final figure.

As of Feb. 9 the proposed budget was $45,888,056. Budget reductions of $111,770 and an addition of $37,750 brought the figure to $45,814,036 as the March 18 meeting began. That figure would result in a 5.8 percent tax levy increase which represents a 4.9 percent budget increase. But the board was still working on reducing the budget.

Board president James Robinson and trustee Ann Marie Longo did not attend the March 18 meeting, and Robin Dando, board vice president, ran the discussion. Pam Mattel, president of the PTA Council, said there was some concern about the budget passing because people were not attending the budget discussions.

Ms. Mattel said she had some feedback she wanted to share with the board. She said the PTA Council thanked the board for its work. First she said, "They are proud of the district and its progress. They trust the board as being fiscally sound. They support the enhancements and excellence in education and are in favor of the budget being passed as opposed to going on a contingency budget."

Ms. Matell said when they asked people why they were not attending the board meetings people responded saying they are all stretched out with their current responsibilities.

She said people also were not in favor of the public commentary period at board meetings being used up by 'a select group of people' who comment and hijack the discussion making others in the community feeling disenfranchised and feeling that their comments won't be heard. She added that the criticisms during the public comments period, were the same ones said over and over. Ms. Mattel wondered what the qualifications were of the questioners. "Was questioning the board a personal issue, or an intellectual exercise - what is their agenda?" she asked.

Former OB-EN board member Grace Searby spoke next and opened by saying, "I'll try not to hijack the meeting with my questions." She questioned items on the meeting agenda, including a service contract cost; a preparation course; a consultant's contract that she said was not part of the budget; and she asked where that money was coming from. She also asked about debt service funds.

Board members took varying questions and speedily answered Ms. Searby during the next five minutes. The first question was answered by Dr. Harrington who said the service contract was for special education. The state recently mandated a change in how special education is handled fiscally. Therefore, the OB-EN school district is responsible for providing special education needs to students of St. Dominic Elementary School; St. Dominic High School, and the East Woods School no matter what town the students live in, when they receive those services here. The district bills the other school districts for those services and is supposed to be reimbursed for them. Therefore, said Ms. Harrington, there are over 80 additional students who receive annual CSE reviews done by the district. She said grant money funds an administrator for the new process. The money from the other districts has not come in as yet, another problem, she said.

Robin Dando explained the consultants are teachers in a wonderful program in mathematics and English for juniors and seniors. Interim Assistant for Business Sydney Freifelder said the debt service funds questioned are earning interest.

Trustee Donald Zoeller commented on the criticism of public comment questions. He said he didn't mind questions in that they presented other views of the issues and he added, "I encourage friends to come down and speak." He said that would allow for a diversity of opinions to be expressed.

The current increase allowed by the state for a contingency budget is 3.36 percent. When the state looks at the budget figure for a failed budget, it allows the district to take out debt service costs. The current increases in the 2008-2009 budget include increases in enrollment and increases in the cost of special education, said Ms. Dando.

In her report at the March 18 meeting, Dr. Harrington said when going through the budget with Ms. Freifelder she identified some areas where additional cuts could be made. One was staff for the business office; a change which was suggested in the recent audit. There is a need for furniture for Vernon - which is being expanded. They were considering SMARTBoards and Elmos (when teachers use the SMARTBoard they put questions on the boards. The students work with Elmos which put their answers on the board. Each answer shows up with a number so the teacher can see who needs extra help). It was decided that those purchases will be held off. There is a need to replace carpeting at the Theodore Roosevelt School because of wear and tear, but it is not in the budget. The seventh-grade orientation and the data disaster recovery system are not included in the budget. She said overall she had cut the budget by $87,000 but added that she had a mixed comfort level with the cuts. Those cuts brought the budget increase to 4.7 percent with the debt service included - down from the original 4.9 percent.

If the budget were defeated twice and the district were on a contingency budget, the allowed increase would be 3.36 percent which is what the budget itself would be when the debt service is not counted - which is allowed for in a contingency budget.

Ms. Freifelder said the district would not have taxes reduced if they voted down the budget as a result of the way the contingency budget is calculated - minus the debt service.

Mr. Zoeller said it would be worse for the district because of the restrictions when on a contingency budget.

Ms. Dando said it would mean a cut in staffing and programs. "We have wonderful programs and are not adding that much staff." She said the recent audit recommends that duties in the business office be segregated but she said, "not this year." She added - "Next year you will see that recommendation on the auditor's report - again."

Ms. Dando said the district is always looking to cut expenses and still improve the schools, in spite of losing another half-million dollars in state aid.

In her budget presentation Ms. Freifelder showed a chart of the declining state aid. She said in the 1988-1989 budget, the district received 15.50 percent of state aid. Since then it has declined to 4.51 percent for 2008-2009.

Ms. Dando said in setting the budget number the district is always fearful of falling short the following year and therefore needing an even larger budget increase then. She added that the average teacher salary goes up 4 percent a year.

She said it was important to let the public see the wonderful things the schools are doing including the multisensory learning at Roosevelt and Vernon. "There's no question they would see how incredible this education system is working."

Ms. Dando said this year the bond kicked in for the construction work at the Vernon School and the high school and it represents about 10 percent of the budget increase. The problem, she said is that "Budgets are not a science. It is at best a guesstimate of what is needed for the next year." The district does not want to underestimate the figure.

She asked rhetorically, at what point is it risky to cut the budget figure? She explained that in the budget there are items such as unemployment insurance, which is an unpredictable item. She said the district was still fighting a previous employee on unemployment insurance.

She added they were not cutting anything from the students. They were still putting in $80,000 for a summer literacy program and funds for the SAT program.

Trustee Keith Kowalsky said he was concerned with the district's capital reserve fund, saying it is starting to dwindle down.

Ms. Dando said, "We are on the verge of a recession." She said a family told her they might have to move out of New York State - with their two kids. She added that parents do vote no on a budget.

Later in the evening Ms. Searby spoke again. She said, "I'm always their target, but I care about the community and I see no reason not to voice opinions." She said the only time parents attend the board meetings is when they have an agenda. She added she had no personal agenda, but had spent two to three hours going over the budget figures. She asked what other neighboring school budget increases were like. The answer was that Jericho is going up 5.9 percent and Locust Valley is going up 5.47 percent.

Ms. Searby returned to the subject of debt service and the interest on bonds, said she "foiled" for the revenue schedules and found codes missing; she questioned the STAR exemption; and the fund balance; and asked about Dr. Harrington's salary increase to $210,000, that was voted on after the budget was approved last year. She asked, "If you are planning on another increase, why decide so late?"

Ms. Dando said last year the board was busy working on the budget and didn't talk about the salary raise until after the budget passed and actually discussed it in February and March of this year, and therefore it was retroactive. She said this year again, they would be focusing on the budget and added that there are funds for the raise when given.

Ms. Searby questioned a $9,000 stipend the current guidance director received and asked if the new director would automatically receive it. The answer was no.

Ms. Searby wanted to know if the STAR program funds could be used to reduce the budget and was told that they could not be used to reduce the budget. Mr. Kowalsky said the budget is only the outlay of funds that are needed. He explained that if he bought a car for $10,000 and his uncle gave him $8,000 to buy the car the price of the car would still be $10,000. "Revenues don't change the budget," he said.

Ms. Mattel had two comments for the board. She said the trend in state aid is down, and asked what will the future consequences of that be. "I know people are hurting financially but incremental increases are easier to budget for," she said.

She said the district's professional staff keep up the quality of education in the district and added, "I want smart teachers rather than SMARTBoards."

Ms. Searby had another comment. She said the board was going against district policy in regard to negotiating on Dr. Harrington's salary. "It has to be done now," she said.

Ms. Dando said they would work on the budget first. She stayed on topic saying they reviewed the student's clubs to see if they are all well-attended, and decided therefore to keep them in the budget.

Barry Curtis Spies of Centre Island said he was there to support the work of Ms. Searby. He said it is important to have someone like Ms. Searby questioning the budget figures because, "She speaks for us. Guys, we are bleeding - those who are living on fixed incomes." He said, 5.8 percent is a huge tax levy. "We have to tighten our belts. We want the best for the children, but 10 percent of the homes on Centre Island are for sale and no one is buying, but taxes keep going up. We, (people in my age bracket) appreciate what you are doing but 'God bless you Ms. Searby'."

Mr. Zoeller said one of the problems is that the state imposes mandates and doesn't pay for them. He said it would be very good if people would write to their legislators. "We don't disagree with you. That's why we put pressure on Dr. Harrington to bring the budget down because we recognize the problem."

Ms. Dando talked about the problem of state aid. She said, "Because of the high property wealth of areas like Cove Neck, Oyster Bay Cove and Centre Island, the district received the least amount of aid - while those areas are very different from the rest of the Oyster Bay-East Norwich area in relation to property values. The state looks at the average property values in this wealthy community and the district has no control over that. The other side of the equation would be to have 30 kids in a classroom." She added, "We spend an unbelievable amount of time on how to cut the budget." She said they don't want to cut the music program, which brings wonderful results. She said they already cut the Driver's Education program from the budget and now it is paid for by the families.

To Ms. Searby she said, "You missed the Roosevelt and Vernon School presentations where you would see what our dollars do."

Mr. Zoeller said he has been told real estate property values have been hurt by the school district and said, "We should get the realtors here to educate them on how well the district has been doing." [That has been done in the past.] Dr. Harrington reminded the audience that members of the Columbia University Teacher's College came here to see the programs at Vernon School.

Ms. Mattel said she didn't see one person as the spokesperson checking on the school budget but said, "I expect the board to be looking at the budget, not just Ms. Searby. We are all looking at the budget."

Ms. Dando said they were asking Dr. Harrington to look at the budget again to reduce the figure needed and Dr. Harrington said she would come back to the board for the April 1 meeting.

The board is proposing one referendum on using the capital improvement funds they already have, but that need voter approval for the use of the funds. They need $280,000 to repair the Vernon track that is used by the entire community. They also need $215,000 to repair 45 windows at the high school and $21,291 for bleachers at the Vernon track which was built in 1992. The items will have no impact on the budget since the money is already in the capital improvements fund.

Ms. Searby questioned a date in the school calendar and was told it was a misprint.

At the March 18 Oyster Bay-East Norwich School board meeting Interim Assistant for Business Sydney Freifelder reported on the construction work at the Vernon School. She said the steel work was done, they were working on the underground waste system; the plumber was testing the pipes, that the site would be backfilled; the slabs put in; and said, the building at Vernon looks like a school. She said the roof is on the faculty room, and the fire access road is complete.

Part of the work being completed with the current bond is the creation of new science rooms at the high school. At the Vernon school they are adding six classrooms and renovating the interior of the building. All the construction work will be completed for the first day of school in September 2008.

Dr. Harrington reported on a meeting at Vernon where Principal Allison Brown demonstrated where and how the district resources were spent. "Unfortunately not enough people attended, including those who questioned how funds are spent," she said.

She complimented the work of the PTSA for creating the fabulous Taste of the Gold Coast which raised money for scholarships and enrichment programs for the district.

She added she was publicly acknowledging the work of the After School Intervention for Acadmic classes arranged by Laura Seinfeld, assistant superintendent for instruction, using grant money. The classes are available for every subject, for homework help. Dr. Harrington said at first the number of students attending was small, but that word has gotten out and attendance is growing. The district hopes to continue the program in the future with more grant money.

During the Community Comments section, a mother spoke on behalf of several of her children who have learning disabilities and need a remedial reading program, saying that early intervention was needed. She talked about the problems of special education saying that in 1978 a reading test costs $20 and today it costs $400. She added that for students at the high school there was nothing for those who don't read at grade level. She said 13 percent of American 17-year-olds are illiterate. She said dyslexic students need intensive language remediation to avoid getting meaningless diplomas.

Dr. Harrington said there is never one way to solve a special education problem. She said it is not easy and they are not 100 percent successful but said they provide adequate public education but that there is no one magic pill. She added. "There are different levels of dyslexia and like blindness - you can't make someone see. We teach them to compensate - we approach every student on an individual level."

Maureen Hardovan said she has three children and is happy with the school district and said, "I don't have an incentive to come to meetings." She did however have a comment, that the band wear their uniforms for Homecoming, saying that it was a showcase for the school. She said Dan Freidman, chairman of the district music department, said it costs $1,000 to dry clean the uniforms each time they are worn. She asked if there were another way to handle that problem, saying that looking well shows pride in the schools. "Let's take a little pride in the band members" and added again, "I'm very happy with the district."

Judi Pullman had a different take on the uniforms. She said they all had white three-button, short-sleeved shirts with a logo, and added, "Boys who are 15, 16 and 17 don't want to wear the purple and gold uniforms with a hat with a fancy feather. They looked fine with the shirts."

Ms. Pullman was co-chair of the Taste of the Gold Coast fundraiser for scholarships and special enrichment programs and she thanked Tom Gould, public information officer for all his help. She thanked Scott Lyle, custodian, for putting up a thank you on the Taste of the Gold Coast sign on the front lawn visible for all who drive by the school.