The Liverpool Central School District Board of Education met at 7 p.m. to hear Superintendent Dr. Richard Nick Johns' 2010-11 budget proposal.
Several parents of Wetzel Road Elementary students were in attendance to voice their support for the school that was confirmed to be Johns' choice for building closure. Signs that read, “We love Wetzel,” and “Save Wetzel,” were waved in the air as the presentation unfolded.
WRE is being suggested, according to Johns, because there is currently a capacity of82 percent, which is far off the goal of 97 percent school capacity.
In a recent report from the Star-Review, Johns said that a utilization report performed by Educorps revealed that one school be closed this year and another be closed by 2012 in order to secure funding stability.
"If we close that building (Wetzel Road Elementary) we will be at 87 percent capacity," Johns said.
Johns said one school will need to be closed by the fall of 2011 and another will be closed by the fall of 2012.
The next school that will close is Morgan Road Elementary, according to Johns' current projection. The district will put off the second building closure until 2012 so not to exceed 100 percent capacity, Johns said.
"I looked at Wetzel Road first because it's near two buildings that can readily receive students," Johns said.
WRE students would then be divided between Elmcrest Elementary and Willow Field Elementary.
The WRE building will be converted into the LHS Academy, according to Johns' proposal.
After Johns gave his proposal, BOE member Donna Marsh O’Connor said that no school in the community would want to come forward and offer to be closed.
During the recess that began at 8:25 p.m., a WRE student and her mother went to the auditorium lobby to fill out a form so they could ask Johns why the elementary school would be closing.
Denise Baird, a former WRE student and a 1984 graduate of LHS, said she moved back to the area to have her daughter Tabitha, 9, attend the same elementary school as her.
“I was heartbroken,” Denise said about hearing the news of the school closure. “I feel like I have been crying all week.”
Tabitha, a WRE fourth grader, insisted on filling out the form so she could ask the question.
“I would miss all my friends, and my nice bus driver, and all my teachers,” Tabitha said.
The board of education provided numerous forms for the community members to fill out in order for taxpayers’ to have their questions answered.
Although BOE Vice President F. Joseph Unangst told the crowd that every question would be answered, he also said there was a chance that some questions might need to be answered at another board meeting.
Because the superintendent’s proposal must be discussed extensively, Unangst said there will be more chances or taxpayers to ask questions before the final budget is put together.
The main points of the proposal are the following:
1. Create a sustainable budget.
2. Smooth out technology budget.
3. Bring Elementary program to 97 percent enrollment capacity.
4. Restructure Liverpool High School.
The $10.3 million gap
Johns discussed the $10.3 million shortfall that cannot be cured by making "small deviations in line items." In his estimate, this represents an 8 percent shortage in the budget.
There are three factors that caused the tremendous shortfall, according to Johns. The cut in state aid that Johns believes is about $4.4 million, health costs and pension costs are the main reasons for the shortfall.
To make up for the deficit, Johns said closing WRE will save the district $1,596,480. Direct savings would come in the cut in staff positions such as one less principal or one less librarian with a total of $777,609. Indirect savings with excess personnel such as the amount of teachers per student would save $818,871.
The proposal also contains “a modest tax increase” of a total of 1 percent that will replenish the budget with $674,770 in property tax revenue. A 2.18 percent is comprised of $1 million in general obligations and $472,079 for the debt service increase, according to Johns’ calculations.
Personnel cuts
Within the budget proposal, Johns had a total of 130 positions on his list to be eliminated for the 2010-11 school year. This number includes 47.4 teachers, 38.5 teaching assistants, 14.0 support staff, 3.0 administrators and managers, 12.6 of staff with project help and SPED related services, 6.0 transportation workers and 8.5 operations and maintenance personnel.
Johns explained that “85 percent of the district’s budget is people.” Having to cut more than 100 people is something the superintendent does not look forward to doing, but that it’s a major factor that will affect the future of Liverpool schools.
The academy proposal
The mention of an academy program stirred up the crowd and caused BOE Vice President F. Joseph Unangst to remind the attendants to wait and ask questions during the appropriate time.
Many community members called out, “What is the academy going to be?”
Johns explained that he would like to see WRE transformed into a high school academy by the fall of 2010. With this plan, the elementary building capacity will be at 97 percent and teacher-student ratio at the high school level will be significantly lower, according to Johns.
The academy would provide a smaller environment and allow students to have more individual time with teachers, Johns said.
The superintendent also said that he looked at the way the district is viewed from a real estate perspective. He said that a real estate analysis showed that families wanted to look elsewhere from LCSD because there are almost 2,000 kids in the high school. Johns said the high school is viewed as “too big” by new families.
In the long run, Johns said he would like to see two academies, one focusing on the fine arts and another that focuses on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The fine arts academy will most likely be created in the WRE building.
The STEM academy will be housed in Morgan Road Elementary by the fall of 2012 if the board ultimately approves the current budget proposal.
LCSD Board of Education member Patricia DeBona-Rosier asked why there would not be a humanities academy or programs for students interested in communications and broadcasting fields.
Johns said he felt that the proposed academies would better serve college bound students in the district.
The next board of education meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Monday Feb. 22 at the district offices.
