At GCSD first budget session
Citizens urge saving and spending



GUILDERLAND — The first volley in the school budget-building process has sounded. Nine citizens addressed the board Tuesday about a budget in the $80 million range that voters won’t decide on until May.

Their suggestions ran the gamut from cutting costs by reducing health-insurance benefits to spending on items like musical instruments or foreign-language instruction at the elementary level.
David Langenbach, a one-time Guilderland bus driver who now works for neighboring Bethlehem, talked about how "tough" it is being on a contingency budget as Bethlehem is.
"I’m going to challenge this board and administration...to keep in mind the older, less financially fortunate in the district," he said.
Although the tax-rate hike for Guilderland was one of the lowest in the region this year, Langenbach concluded, "We can always do better."
Ray McQuade spoke about the importance of reducing health-insurance costs. "This is a crisis every business in the United States has addressed...We need to face it now," he said.
McQuade urged the board, "Reduce the benefit coverage for the purpose of dropping the premiums...Take the money you save and share it."

Since Guilderland workers pay 20 percent of their health-insurance costs, McQuade said that, for every $1,000 the district cuts, teachers would save $200. He said the money could be put in flexible spending accounts for teachers.

Second, McQuade said the board should address health insurance for retirees, saying board members might be surprised what such benefits will cost the district in five or 10 years as more employees retire early and live longer.
Donald Csaposs said "ditto" to most of McQuade’s points. While Csaposs said he didn’t know if the health-insurance crisis has been fully addressed in private industry, he concluded, "It’s here, staring all of us in the face."
He said of health insurance, "This is something that you have at least a measure of control over."
Csaposs also said he had long advocated a public session for input on the school budget in the fall, now in its eighth year. "I’m really glad you guys do this," he said.
But he went on to say that a half-hour isn’t enough. "You need to have more community input in the fall," said Csaposs.
Tim Burke said he got "a lot of flack" for supporting this year’s budget. He called the plan "a good first step," stating, "People are aware there was a crisis."
Burke called the "short school day" at the elementary schools "alarming" and urged the board negotiate "a better contract" with teachers.

In the wake of a transportation report that recommended reconfiguring school days for more efficient bus runs, a committee has been appointed to look at a variety of issues related to the length of the school day.
Burke went on to suggest "simple steps" that he said would cost little but improve learning. These included "zero tolerance" for the use of bad language and adopting school uniforms.
"I wouldn’t mind a dress code for some of the teachers also," said Burke.
Late in the evening, Peter Golden reported to fellow board members on the work of the business practices committee. Referring to the public comments on health-insurance costs, he said that the board had looked at that last year. And the district’s newly hired consultant "seems to be very aggressive," said Golden.
"We’ll be able to make some clear decisions," he said. "There should be some savings."

Parents’ requests

Five parents spoke about issues they believe are important to learning.

Karen La Freniere, who identified herself as the mother of three children in the district, said the elementary-school day should be extended from five hours and 45 minutes to six-and-a-half hours.

Guilderland, she said, has one of the shortest school days in the area. The added time could be used for academic intervention and for foreign-language instruction, she said.

Bridget Brown, who has a daughter at Altamont Elementary School, the smallest of the district’s five elementary schools, thanked the board for restoring a social worker position at the school, which had originally been slated for a cut.
Brown said it "meant a lot to our community" and she said of the social worker, "That trusted ally within our school community is vitally important."

She urged the position be kept and said the decision should be based on the needs of the students not the number of the students.

Elizabeth Miller stood at the microphone with two other mothers beside her, all members of the support group for music in the schools.

A record number of students in all seven of the district’s schools are participating in music programs this year, said Miller.
There is a "desperate need," she said, to repair and replace instruments so the superb program can continue.
Terri Standish-Kuon, the mother of an Altamont third-grader, raised three curriculum issues under the "umbrella of competitiveness."

She spoke in favor, as she has before, of the Foreign Language Early Start (FLES) program that would, for $160,000, provide some instruction for all elementary students.

The PTAs at the Altamont and Guilderland elementary schools now support after-school foreign-language programs, which cost $60 for six weeks, a price that is out of reach for some, she said. Instruction should not be a matter of socio-economic class, said Standish-Kuon.
While praising the "Everyday Math" curriculum, she said the reading curriculum does not currently reach every reader.

Finally, she suggested looking at research programs for the high-school curriculum.

Leslie Gohlke, with three children at Westmere Elementary School, told board members she regretted their cutting the assistant-principal post at the school. The two largest elementary schools, Guilderland and Westmere, had had assistant principals, posts that were cut last year as a cost-saving measure.

Gohlke cited a Pride survey that showed Guilderland has problems with drugs, alcohol, and violence; she said that an added administrator would help address these problems as well as continuing with the district’s anti-bullying campaign.

She also said her daughter’s class size increased from 15 last year to 22 this year and that behavioral problems were more likely in larger classes.
Gohlke said that the Guilderland and Westmere schools have a "more transient" population and concluded that maybe the formula shouldn’t be exactly the same for staffing all the schools.
"This is just the beginning," said board president Richard Weisz, at the close of the comments. He reminded people they can speak at the start of any board meeting.