GCSD restores jobs and fund balance with extra $1.4M

The Enterprise — Melissa Hale-Spencer

Literacy Coach Helen Ball, right, who teaches at Lynnwood Elementary, tells the Guilderland School Board Tuesday about the benefits of the program as Lynnwood’s principal, Alicia Rizzo, listens.

GUILDERLAND — An extra $1.4 million in state aid led school leaders here to recommend changes for next year’s budget — putting $740,000 into savings and adding roughly $374,000 in expenses — measures school board members largely supported in a workshop Tuesday night.

The board is slated to adopt the $93,689,600 proposal next week and voters will have their say on May 19. The current spending plan represents a 1.69-percent increase over this year’s budget and a 2.76-percent increase in the tax levy.

This is $161,535 under the state-set limit for property taxes, meaning a simple majority of 50 percent is needed to pass the budget.

The lion’s share of the district is in the town of Guilderland; residents in Guilderland paid $21.84 per $1,000 of assessed valuation in school taxes this year. With the $93.7 million proposed spending plan, the district estimates Guilderland residents would pay 65 cents more per $1,000 next year, or $22.49 — an increase of 2.99 percent.

“For the first time since I’ve been here, we had resources,” Superintendent Marie Wiles told the board. To close multi-million-dollar budget gaps as state aid was reduced and a levy cap was put in place, Guilderland cut 227.6 posts since 2008.

Wiles told the board Tuesday, “We started with meeting the needs of students. We also have to think about our taxpayers…We do need to put ourselves on firmer financial footing,” she said, alluding to the state comptroller’s reports two years in a row finding, partly because of Guilderland’s low fund balance, that the district is susceptible to fiscal stress.

“The attempt here was to give a nod to each of them,” said Wiles of meeting student needs, not overburdening taxpayers, and shoring up the district’s rainy-day account. “It’s always a balancing act…We tremendously value our community coming out and supporting the budget every year…Our teachers and students have borne the brunt of difficult years as has our bank account.”

“Turning a massive ship”

In a free-ranging discussion that lasted nearly three hours, school leaders answered questions from board members. What emerged, as board member Gloria Towle-Hilt put it, was a shift in district philosophy that “turned this massive ship around,” basing allocations on individual student needs rather than pre-existing programs or procedures.

She mentioned, for example, that, rather than an automatic $10,000 for music instrument repairs and replacement, $7,710 was restored to the budget proposal, based on an administrator’s recommendation after a parent had raised the issue.

The most striking example was the shift in special education, which came up in the budget discussion because a teacher is to be added at the middle school.

Listening to questions and concerns about special education from Guilderland School Board members during a budget workshop on Tuesday are Farnsworth Middle School Principal Michael Laster, left, and Lisa Knowles, the district’s new director of pupil personnel services. “If we hadn’t had this windfall,” asked board Vice President Allan Simpson, would an additional special-education teacher still be requested at the middle school? “We were making it work, making our best effort to maintain compliance,” said Knowles.  “I would say yes,” responded Laster. The Enterprise — Melissa Hale-Spencer

 

The middle school principal, Michael Laster, said that 19 percent of the incoming class, currently fifth-graders, has disabilities. This compares to 17 percent of the current sixth-graders.

Laster said programs are now being developed to fit student needs “as opposed to putting students in programs.”

Lisa Knowles, the district’s new director of pupil personnel services, said that last year 30 students needed support and next year 50 will. Formerly, she said, if students didn’t fit in the pre-existing programs, they were put in other programs. This year, each student was looked at individually.

Assistant Superintendent for Business Neil Sanders concurred. “We went through student by student and child by child,” he said, to see what service needs would be. He noted that placement fees could range from $30,000 to $90,000.

“Our goal is always to try to be less restrictive,” said Knowles.

“It seems like this is a serious change in program,” said Towle-Hilt of the student-by-student analysis. “The shift is good,” she said, but she urged, “Keep us in the loop.”

Simpson said that several years ago the district paid a consultant to look at Guilderland’s special-education program and Simpson said, “I question what we got.”

“Nothing,” piped up board President Barbara Fraterrigo, who participated in the session through a computer hook-up since she is out of town.

Another example of shifting philosophy could be seen in the discussion on coaching teachers rather than using teacher leaders.

A program began at Lynnwood Elementary School, which houses programs for special-needs students from across the district, after the school failed to meet state requirements. Lynnwood’s principal, Alicia Rizzo, backed by a dozen or so staff members, enthusiastically told the board about “literacy collaborative coaching,” where teachers are trained to coach their peers.

Two years ago, Lynnwood had two coaches, each teaching classes half-time and coaching teachers half-time. This year, the two coaches work full-time at coaching. They’ll do the same next year, too, because of a $78,000 addition in the budget.

Helen Ball, one of the literacy coaches, described her two years of training, including stints at Lesley University in Cambridge. The other literacy coach is Kathleen Barker.

“This year, we’re hitting our stride. We’re at a turning point,” said Rizzo.

“What’s our return on the investment?” asked board Vice President Allan Simpson.

Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Demian Singleton said results at Lynnwood would be studied as a model to use at the district’s other schools. If finances permitted, Singleton said, he prefers the imbedded coaching model to the current model of teacher leaders. “There are needs in other schools as well,” he said. He called the coaching approach “incredibly powerful.”

Board member Christopher McManus asked if teachers who didn’t want to be coached could say no.

“It was not thrust upon us,” Rizzo responded, stating, “This came from the staff.”

Third-grade teacher Christine White, at Lynnwood for 24 years, concurred, saying she had learned more in the past five years from the coaching model than she had previously. “My kids have benefitted,” she said. “We love going to coaching,” she concluded as she patted Rizzo on the back.

Overview

Near the start of the workshop, Wiles went over a list of restorations — “items we reluctantly put up for reductions” to close the original $130,000 gap. A high school hall monitor is to be restored, at $22,000, for safety reasons; $20,000 is to be spent on replacing computers from a heavily used lab at the high school; $39,000 is for summer maintenance help, which Wiles said is a “cost-effective way to get important work done” when students aren’t in school; and $4,000 is to reimburse teachers for graduate class tuition. “We’re encouraging staff to go back to school for additional certification,” said Wiles; earlier, board members had urged that foreign-language teachers be certified to teach more than one language.

Wiles also went over lists of additions and new items. Another teacher of English as a Second Language, for students new to America, is being added for $78,000, to partially meet new state requirements. This will allow “push-in support” for high school students, Wiles said, noting that, when students are pulled out of class for English instruction, they are “missing the very content they need to be successful on Regents.”

Additionally, $8,690 is for science and technology equipment repair at the high school; repairs had been delayed because of “tough times,” said Wiles.

And $10,150 is for a health and safety support specialist. She said that Tim Murphy, who works through the Board of Cooperative Educational Services, would now be able to work in all seven school buildings.

When Fraterrigo questioned the need for this, Sanders responded, “Every second counts....You don’t want to lose seconds because people aren’t prepared. Terrible things can happen.”

Wiles said that, while the district had added cameras and labeled doors, more staff training is needed; tabletop exercises have revealed “holes in the plan,” she said. She noted that a gas leak at the high school or a power outage at Altamont Elementary School in recent times needed prompt responses. “We’ve been lucky,” she said. “You’ve got to keep working at it.”

Another $78,000 is for the literacy collaborative coach at Lynnwood Elementary School where Wiles said there has been “lovely growth.”

New items include an additional $129,190 worth of special education services along with $78,000 for another special-education teacher at the middle school.

To pay for a Tech Valley High School student who moved to Guilderland, the district is adding another slot at a cost of $13,355, which is partially reimbursed the following year so, for two years, Guilderland will pay for five slots at the regional school instead of its usual four.

Also, $7,710 was added for music equipment and $20,770 for freshman sports. When, faced with a large budget gap, the district planned to cut freshman sports, there was a large uprising. Emilio Genzano, a former school board member, headed a group, Friends of Guilderland Athletics, that for several years raised funds to pay for half the cost of freshman sports while the district paid for the other half. Next year, the district will foot the entire bill for freshman sports.

Fraterrigo commended Genzano and FOGA for “stepping up to the plate.”

Other concerns

Simpson was concerned how Governor Andrew Cuomo’s requirements for teacher evaluations would affect Guilderland’s aid. He also wondered if students opting out of taking required state tests would penalize the district.

Wiles said opting out of tests was widespread and the financial impact was “murky” but tied to meeting federal rather than state regulations.

“Our current APPR is close to being approved,” said Wiles of the required Annual Professional Performance Review plan.

She also said that, since the new state regulations haven’t been decided on, “No school district in New York State has negotiated on APPR.”

She further surmised “without a commissioner, without a deputy commissioner, and with five new Regents” it is unlikely the new requirements would be in place in time for schools to meet the Nov. 15, 2015 deadline.

“It’s the wild west,” Wiles concluded, as laughter rippled across the meeting hall. “There’s a lot of tumbleweed blowing by. We’re not sure where it’s going.”

Finally, Simpson expressed concerns that the added state aid along with the $1.3 million reduction in retirement costs for next year over this year could be a one-time windfall, and urged more be put in the fund balance.

Board member Catherine Barber asked about restoring the $5 a day that had been cut from substitutes’ pay, surmising it was hard to get substitutes since neighboring districts pay more.

Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Lin Severance said an auditor would present his findings on May 12 but he had found, “Our colleagues are also having difficulties filling vacancies,” indicating it is a regional problem. She also said of Guilderland, “We do have a higher rate of absenteeism than other school districts.”

Barber also noted that the proposal is $161,535 under the state-set levy cap whereas this year’s budget was just $12,000 under the cap. “We could put more in the fund balance or spend more on programs,” she said.

“Theoretically, that’s true,” responded Sanders. “We’re comfortable we’ve met the needs of students while being respectful of the community.”

Barber also raised the issue of reducing the number of unassigned or free-floating posts from five to four next year.  The unassigned posts are used to fill unanticipated needs, for example, if there is an influx of students moving in over the summer that would raise class size over the limit. The posts are often used in bits and pieces; this year, .15 of a post was left unused.

Five other board members agreed with Barber, so that the number of unassigned posts for next year — at $78,000 each — will be cut from five to four.

“What am I doing with $78,000?” concluded Wiles. “Why don’t I surprise you,” she told the board members.

More Guilderland News

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  • Guilderland Supervisor Peter Barber described the building as being “frozen in time” and said he’d also like to acquire from the district the “big pot-belly stove” and the original desks and chairs that had been in the school until recent years because he’d like to “recreate what a school looked like at that time.”

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