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Newbury district's future depends on school levy
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - October 15, 2008)
Newbury district's future depends on school levy
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
Newbury teachers, staff and students realize the desperate situation the district is in, School Superintendent Richard Wagner said. Now, school officials hope the voters will too by supporting the district at the polls on Nov. 4.
Some of the support was evident in a new pact approved Monday between the district and the Newbury Educational Association. The Newbury Board of Education voted unanimously to approve the pact that is expected to improve the district's bottom line over the next two years.
"We had to come out of those negotiations with a better bottom line than we had going in, and the staff cooperated in that," Mr. Wagner said.
Although raises of 1 percent and 1.5 percent will be granted under the new two-year agreement, he said, those nominal raises will be offset by give-backs that the staff agreed to under the health-care plans. "The long-term fiscal health of the district is in the health-care costs," he said.
With the new agreement, staff members agreed to higher deductible health plans and increased their premiums from 10 percent to 12 percent.
The result of the negotiations means that the district will remain in the black by approximately $177,311 in 2010, instead of the $30,819 deficit that had been projected last month, Mr. Wagner said.
On the same night that the school board approved the new pact, winners of student-of-the-month honors told officials what they want to see as improvements to their schools.
Students were not seeking things for themselves, but for the school. Among their requests are more equipment and supplies, more Advanced Placement courses and simply more appreciation of the school from the public.
Some of those wishes could be fulfilled if voters approve a 4.94-mill, 10-year emergency levy on the Nov. 4 ballot, Mr. Wagner said. The levy would generate $870,000 annually for the district, and homeowners would pay a net increase of $151 a year for each $100,000 of property value.
In April, the district made another $300,000 in cuts. Ten employees were cut from the payroll. Mr. Wagner said, if voters approve the levy, he would like to see more offerings in science, technology and mathematics, which students see as lacking in the district.
Mr. Wagner said teachers also had the opportunity to seek the district's reimbursement for new background checks in the latest negotiations. But they realized the district's financial difficulties and chose to pay for the background checks out of their own pockets, he said. "They understood, again, some real problems with the financial health of the district."
Administrators and supervisors, including those heading the cafeteria and custodial departments, will receive no pay increases. Mr. Wagner asked that he be given a pay cut, a move that could only be made with his permission. The board approved a reduction in his salary from $92,500 to $90,500, a 2.16 percent cut.
Mr. Wagner said he realizes voters may not be in a giving mood because of the ailing economy, but the levy is the only meaningful means provided by the state for financing schools. "I apologize for having to go to the voter, but that's the only method the state has given us," he said.
Like everyone else, he said, he is seeing his fuel costs rise. Mr. Wagner said he paid $1,600 for gasoline for himself, his wife and his three children last month. And he's likely to be looking for loans to get his children through college, he said. "Believe me, I know."
Even if voters approve the levy, Mr. Wagner said, with rising expenses, the money generated is expected to keep the district in the black only until 2011, and it still will be making cuts to get by.
Without new money coming in, there's a good change that the Newbury School District will not survive, he said. Because of the state's financial troubles, it is unlikely that the money will be coming from Columbus. He said all schools will continue to see financial problems until the state forms a partnership with them to resolve the issue.
Until that time, schools will be dependent on the local residents, Mr. Wagner said. "They have to decide whether they want to keep the district they have."
Beyond 2010, he said, without new money, the district will have to begin discussions on whether it can survive any longer.
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