Lindenhurst 2012-13 School Cuts Include Orion, ALC, World Languages

At the same budget workshop where the Lindenhurst Board of Education elected to until April 18 at 8 p.m., the board passed numerous tweaks, changes and cuts to program and staff that netted $623,000 in expenditure .

And next week's , where the BOE going to meet to adopt the budget, will now be a regular at the at 8 p.m. budget talks will continue.

(For more information about the expenditure numbers and the tax rate, as well as the decision to postpone the , click . For more information about the now adopted budget, click , and , and take these polls about it and .)

Cuts and Transformations
Cuts passed at the 's meeting included World Languages, the 10-week program at that was designed to introduce students to the cultures of each of the four languages the district offers at the high-school level (French, German, Italian and Spanish).

They also included transforming the Orion program at the elementary and middle-school levels into an after-school program, and turning the current ALC program into an after-school program.

All three represented significant savings, according to Superintendent Richard Nathan. 

(See below for the associated savings, click to read an opinion piece about the Orion program and click to read an opinion piece about this year's proposed budget.)

The superintendent and the board assured worried residents at the that the after-school programs would better serve the students currently enrolled this year and next year.

The ALC program, in particular, is going to be revamped with the blessing of the program's teacher Donna Casale, who, Nathan said, agreed with administrators the program in its current form might not be helping students as well as it could be.

Nathan indicated the transformation of the three-hour-a-day, in-school program would include input from Casale and administrators.

As for the Orion program Nathan strongly felt that despite high enrollment, gifted and talented students would be better served after school than through the program's current in-school program.

Expenditure Cut Breakdown
These particular program cuts were included in Phase Two of the four-phase plan of expenditure cuts the superintendent presented at the , at the request of the .

He presented all four phases to the board, as well as to the residents, parents, teachers, administrators and civic leaders in attendance.

However, the board only voted on the cuts in Phases Two, Three and Four because Phase One personnel cuts were already factored into the budget at the start of Tuesday night's meeting at the .

The staff cuts include a total net loss of nine teachers.

"All are a result of lower enrollment, and were based on class tallies and elementary school enrollment for next year," said Nathan. 

The cuts, changes and transformations in Phases Two, Three and Four that were proposed, passed and defeated by the BOE at the latest break down this way:

• Elementary Orion gifted and talented program (Phase Two): Transforming into after-school program for total net savings of $130,000.
• LMS sixth-grade Orion (Two): Transforming into after-school program for total net savings of $35,000.
• LMS World Languages (Two): Cutting for savings of $100,000.
• LMS sixth-grade (Two): Transforming from 10-week to 20-week program for net cost of $70,000.
• LMS eighth-grade computers (Two): Keeping half-year program (for now) at cost of $240,000.
• LMS Advanced Art (Two): Keeping at cost of $42,000.
• LHS Dance program (Two): Keeping at cost of $110,000.
• LHS JROTC program (Two): Keeping at net cost of $155,000.
• LHS ALC program (Two): Transforming into after-school program at savings of $205,000.
• LHS Art (Phase Three): Making changes to Digital Photography for net savings of $41,000; keeping Media One and Two at cost of $86,000; cutting Introduction to Computer Arts for net savings of $36,000.
• LHS Theater Arts (Three): Keeping Art, Music and English at cost of $115,000.
• LHS Business (Three): Cutting Sports and Entertainment marketing, Sports Management and Personal Computing for savings of $72,000.
• LHS Family and Consumer Marketing (Three): Cutting Food and Nutrition for savings of $72,000.
• LHS English (Three): Keeping Film Study, Creative Writing and Drama at cost of $65,000.
• LHS Foreign Language (Three): Keeping Italian and Spanish B1A accelerated classes at cost of $78,000.
• LHS Social Studies (Three): Keeping Psychology A/B at cost of $112,000.
• Elementary Music (Three): Keeping Fourth-Grade Instrumental program (three teachers) at cost of $310,000.
• LMS Sports (Three): Deciding against combining Seventh- and Eighth-Grade Sports teams at cost of $83,000.
• Full-Day Kindergarten (Phase Four): Deciding against cutting back to Half-Day program at cost of $1.5 million (13 teachers).

Many of the program changes and cuts at the high school involved electives, not core classes, the district said.

Editor's Note: Don't forget to share your thoughts and concerns about this year's budget process for the with Lindenhurst Patch on the site in the comments section of articles about the topic like this one, on Facebook and Twitter, and by e-mailing barbara.loehr@patch.com with an opinion piece.