Massapequa Schools Propose Eliminating 35 Teaching Positions

Massapequa School officials plan to eliminate 35 teaching positions, in a move they say will help close the district's nearly $6 million budget gap.

The recommendation was made at Thursday's Board of Education meeting, which featured the district's third and final presentation on the proposed 2013-14 budget.

Deputy Superintendent Alan Adcock, who is in charge of putting the district's budget together, announced the proposed layoffs while outlining how the district planned to close the budget shortfall.

"Due to declining enrollment, we are recommending that 35 teaching positions be excised," he said.

It is the second consecutive year that Massapequa School District is eliminating positions. Last year, they eliminated 29 teaching positions.

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The district is also eliminating a number of non-teaching positions in the proposed budget including: 

• One facilities and grounds position.
• Two clerical positions in the District Business Office.
• Five teaching assistant positions district-wide.
• Five Monitor positions district-wide.

In addition to those proposals, Adcock said the district plans a reduction in the level of Kindergarten Support Services and the number of Coordinating Chairpersons. They also want to re-assign the duties of the lead nurse.

The staff reductions will save the district a total of $4.8 million, which combined with $1.1 million in proposed cuts to programs outlined at the previous meeting will close the budget gap.

The elimination of the 35 teaching positions will save the district $2.8 million in salary and the lion's share of the $1.3 million the district will save by excising tachers and employees in other departments.

The Board of Education will vote on the proposed budget on April 18.

In recent years, that approval has been easily obtained, but some board members made some pointed questions and comments during the presentation.

Board member Gary Bennett said he doesn't have enough information to approve the layoffs. He called for the board to have an executive session that would include department chairs and possibly union leaders to discuss the plan.

"I don't know how to find out how necessary this is without going over each and every position with each and every chairman and each and every department head," Bennett said.

Bennett described the teachers as  "professionals who've dedicated their lives to their students, in some cases years to this district."

"And I can't vote to let them go unless I'm absolutely certain this is necessary."

Another Board member Joseph LaBella asked why administrators weren't included in the cuts.

"Why have we as a district borne the burden on the teachers?" he said. "Why are we laying off 10 percent of our teachers over the last two years and not doing the same thing across the board?"

Superintendent Charles Sulc, responded by saying administrative positions were cut in previous years.

"We have restructured the administrative staff over the past four to five years," he said. "We have eliminated chair positions over the last few years, we've eliminated Director's positions, we've eliminated Central Office positions over the last few years. There were very few teaching positions that were eliminated if you go back two years ago or three years ago."

Sulc said they held off on eliminating administrative positions this time around because they've been overworked due to unfunded mandates such as New York's new Annual Professional Performance Review legislation.

Board Secretary Jane Ryan said she's been lobbying against cuts to school aid in Albany and Washington and blasted the state's tax cap law. 

"I think it's very sad that the property tax cap has put us in a place that pits the community against the school district," she said.

While district  administrators have railed against the cap in the past, Adcock said that the district would still make the recommendation to eliminate the teaching positions even if there were no cap in place, saying it's related to declining enrollment.

"We're going to be graduating over the next few years, classes [with 600 members] that are being replaced by classes in the 400s," he said.

The next Board meeting will be on April 4.

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