Clarkstown Schools: Overtime Expenses Down

The Clarkstown Central School District reports it has cut overtime costs within its staff by $760,000 over the past three years.

Superintendent Margaret Keller-Cogan said that through a series of initiatives and a tight approval process, the district's overtime spending dropped from $948,000 in 2006-2007 to $186,000 in 2009-2010.The cuts came in the district's buildings and grounds operations, transportation and staffing for nursing, life guard food service and security jobs.

Keller-Cogan said a series of changes reduced the need for overtime spending while maintaining the quality of service. Among the changes were creation of staggered work schedules, changes in work assignments and the requirement that the superintendent personally review and approve all overtime requests.

In terms of hours, the changes meant that district workers went from nearly 11,000 hours of overtime to about 4,300 hours.

The savings were outlined in a presentation to the Board of Education at the July 15 meeting.