The Journal News has more school district propaganda up today, courtesy of our old pal Aman Ali. It’s Richard Organiciak and John Quinn making the same old tired arguments they have been making for the past month at budget meetings, arguments that even the normally docile school board has rejected.
The only news in the piece is Organisciak’s assertion that all salaries will go up and no staff will be let go.
“Everything is tied into ongoing negotiations right now,” Organisciak said. “We’re negotiating all our contracts with the board and our teachers as a part of a big package. You can’t make changes to one without making changes to the other, and vice versa.”
The district is working on renewing a contract with its teachers union set to expire in June. Organisciak said the district doesn’t anticipate implementing any salary freezes or layoffs next year.
My favorite line is from John Quinn.
John Quinn, assistant superintendent of business and administration, said the district will cut costs in several areas, including an 11 percent reduction on classroom supplies, which translates to savings of a few hundred thousand dollars. Elsewhere, Quinn said the district will cut what it spends on energy.
“We’ve set up a network program that will turn off all our computers at night districtwide, and we will turn off lights in unoccupied spaces,” Quinn said. “It sounds like something simple but it will end up saving us about $285,000.”
After the last board meeting, I drove past New Rochelle High School at about 11 PM and stopped to take pictures. As you can see it was lit up like a Christmas tree. EVERY light in the building was switched on.
It’s sad to revisit the
It’s sad to revisit the district’s position on the budget especially in introducing the new wrinkle of “contractual obligation” to defend outrageous increases in salary and possibly benefits for Richard Organisciak and others on his team. Surely a number of his peers in other districts have “contractual obligations” but deferred their increases recognizing the fiscal difficulties faced by taxpayers in their districts. Some have even taken hits in pay. But Mr Organisiciak has no problem in looking forward to his $13,000 salary increase as I am sure his team will have no issue, and when the collective bargaining negotiations are completed, I don’t expect much in the way of givebacks to the district.
This so-called “maintenance budget” is also problematic. During difficult times, you translate maintenance into more substantial actions than I am aware of at this moment. You look at contingency budgeting and, most importantly, what is needed years ahead to compensate for the overpopulation problem a number of our schools are experiencing. The size of the student population at the High School is a significant issue and my sense is that Ward and Trinity are stretched pretty thin.
Maybe you need the upcoming annual salary rate Mr O has to maintain a Suffolk County residence but in the absence of any corrective action, the diminishing tax base in New Rochelle will have to bear up under a significant burden. Of course we should be able to see Nita Lowey’s work resonate in the revised budget — she has been instrumental in restoring lost funding. Now the district has to manage it, the board must properly oversight, and frankly, the performance results we have experienced in the past five or so years must improve. But, of course Mr O asserts the unfairness of comparing our student performance to Scarsdale, etal indicating that our student population is too “diverse” and we must compare ourselves to White Plains, etc. Sounds like a veiled implication that we have too many of the “wrong kinds” of kids here.
Well, Mr O, it is true that a contract is a contract and it is enforceable. If the AIG scenario played out, most of the attornies I know would have said that the people who received year-end bonuses probably would have prevailed in court. Happily that did not happen — happier still would be the news that the district school leadership waives it contractual rights, bargains aggressively to protect the taxpayers interest and, yes, the proposed school budget eliminates the suggestion that parents need to pay for supplies.
warren gross