Staff reductions were the topic at the most recent Roslyn School District board of education meeting.
Carlos Perez, Jr., assistant to the Superintendent for Administration and Human Resources, gave a 2014-15 staffing presentation at the meeting.
There, Perez summarized that total district-wide staffing reduction would include seven full-time employees. The secondary schools including the Roslyn Middle School and Roslyn High School, would take the brunt of staff reductions with five full-time equivalents (FTEs).
Perez attributed the staff reductions to projected decreases in enrollment in for the 2014-15 school year in both the middle school and high school.
Projected enrollment for the middle school for the 2014-15 school year is 744 students, which is a decrease of 30 students from 2013-14. The impact of enrollment on staff budgeting would result in the cutting of three full time staff members.
In addition, the high school’s projected enrollment in 2014-15 is 1,013 students, which is a decrease of 17 students from the previous school year. The impact of enrollment on staff budgeting is a reduction of two staff members.
The school district’s Custodial/Bus Driver unit and Secretarial unit will also lose a total of two staff members due to employee retirement.
Joseph Dragone, assistant superintendent for business, presented the Salaries and Benefits portion of the proposed budget. He summarized the financial differences between the 2013-14 and 2014-15 budgets.
“There is a $788,762 change from the 2013-14 to the 2014-15 budget,” said Dragone. “The amount of money in the 2013-14 budget was $83,531,596 compared to $82,742,834 in the 2014-15 budget. That is 81.8 percent of the budget in 2013-14 and 80.5 percent in 2014-15.”
Dragone noted that there was also a minus-seven difference in full-time staff members who are regularly appointed by the Board of Education from 2013-14 to 2014-15. The number for FTE in 2013-14 was 542 compared with 536 in 2014-15.
The Total General Fund, which includes certified salaries, classified staff and benefits paid as salary, was $55,828,940 in the 2013-14 budget. In the 2014-15 budget the number is $55,248,084.
