Follow Up on the News

Redistricting

This is despite the fact that county Democrats spearheaded a successful drive to gather signatures on a petition that would subject that very redistricting plan to a public referendum in November. But the question remains - if the redistricting plan is subject to a referendum in
November, in what districts will county legislators then run for office in that same election? The previous plan, under which the 24-9 Republican majority was chosen in the last election for the body in 2001, was declared to be unconstitutional by State Supreme Court Justice Vincent Bradley, who, nonetheless let it stand for that election.

The Republican majority this year voted in the new, multi-member district plan that is now under a referendum challenge. Savago's suit seeks to have this plan be used for this year's elections. Savago said he is suing to ensure that an orderly election process is put in place.
But Democrats say the suit is an attempt by Republicans to nullify voter choice by imposing their chosen plan.

"Let's get this straight This has nothing to do with the petition," said Savago. "That petition [referendum] will be on the ballot. All this is doing, is asking the court to approve the plan that was agreed upon by the county legislature." That plan was approved in December by a narrow, 17-15 vote - a two-vote margin in a body where Republicans 15 vote advantage. County Democrats have been vocal about seeking single-member districts, in which each citizen votes only for one candidate, and is represented by one member. In multi-member districts, by which the county has been governed since the advent of the legislature decades ago, voters choose from a slate of more than one, are grouped into larger areas, and, as happened in the 2001 election to the town of Ulster, sometimes includes Ulster elected six
legislators from Saugerties and one from Woodstock.

County clerk Randall Roth last week certified the petitions as valid, thus forcing the plan before voters to accept or reject. But, as that vote will not be held until November, there is currently no valid constitutional plan to elect the county legislature.The attorney for the county Democratic Party, Josh Koplovitz, said Savago's suit was part of an ongoing pattern to manipulate the electoral process to benefit the county Republican party, which has held large majorities in the county legislature almost continuously since the legislature was first seated to replace the governing Board of Supervisors in 1968. The process calls
for new districts to be drawn every ten years, after the census figures are received, to ensure the one-person one vote principle is adhered to. Savago's suit seeks to have a federal judge issue an order that the county legislative plan adopted in December will govern the 2003 election, even though it has distinct similarities to the plan Bradley ruled unconstitutional.

Koplovitz said Democrats are likely to petition the federal court for status as interveners in the lawsuit. They are also contemplating bringing action in state court, to force a state judge to rule on a plan to
govern the November elections. Koplovitz said if they decide to proceed that way, the Democrats will request the federal judge step aside and allow New York state's legal system a chance to decide the matter.

 

School budget

 

The least thrifty strategy, which would save $600,000, entails keeping students in their current schools but reducing staff through creation of several multi-age classrooms. The fourth plan is a hybrid, which entails using the Princeton Plan at West Hurley and Woodstock andmulti-age classrooms at Phoenicia, with no change at Bennett and a savings of $780,000.

Rowe's presentation was preceded by business administrator Chuck Snyder's outline of the budget crisis which precipitated the proposals. Snyder cited unavoidable cost increases such as the 12 percent increase in health care premiums, the rise in required donations to the teaching and non-teaching employee retirement funds, and the scheduled debt payment for the construction at Bennett. These increases would cause a rollover budget-without any increases in programming-to go up $4.3 million or 11.18 percent, from this year's total of $38 million to $42.6 million, raising the tax levy by 16.67 percent. A contingency budget, which would result if the board's budget were defeatedtwice at the polls, would limit the rise to approximately three percent, or $1.1 million, with a tax increase of 5.37 percent. The administration, therefore, is attempting to reduce spending by $3.1 million, down to the contingency budget level, under the assumption that higher taxes could not be borne by the voters.

Adding to the crisis is Governor Pataki's threatened state aid cut of $1,150,000, which may be restored in the final state budget, but the government has failed, year after year, to finalize its budget until after the school budget vote in May, leaving school districts uncertain about how much revenue they can expect. Another problem, said Snyder, is
the state's new policy to delay paying out building aid until eighteen to twenty-four months after new construction is completed in order to solve the state's cash flow problem. This year's state aid may also be delayed into the next school year. Snyer urged concerned parents to write to Pataki in opposition to such tactics, including the proposed aid cuts. "The politicians don't want to raise [state] taxes, but it's getting passed on to us at the local level."

Trustee Marty Millman said that when he sat on the board ten years ago, the budget was $19 million. "Now it has doubled. Will it double again in the next ten years? When will we stop the bleeding?" Snyder again pointed to the state government, which has passed more and more laws mandating programs in schools but has not funded forty percent of the cost of its mandates, as promised. "They've never given us more than fifteen percent," said Snyder.

Another factor is the decreasing enrollment in the elementary schools, where class sizes have dwindled, in many cases, to fifteen or less. Rowe's proposals all aim at increasing class sizes in order to reduce staffing, the biggest expense in the budget. "One of the things done in the district is to acknowledge that the desire people have for neighborhood schools is so powerful," he said. "We have been willing to maintain that and lose a lot of our efficiency in the use of space in the schools. But now it is not possible to maintain low taxes and low class sizes. We will need to shake the patterns people have fallen into that make them comfortable."

Trustee Greg Walters asked what would happen if the West Hurley school were closed, and then enrollments went back up. Rowe said demographic data collected four years ago indicate that the elementary-age population will continue to diminish for at least three years, and the recent enrollments confirm the accuracy of the projections, although he admitted it may be time to update the data. Parent Jim Sofranko had pointed out earlier that post-9/11 migrations from New York City may skew the figures upward, but Rowe said he was confident the district would be able to operate comfortably for at least five years with only three elementary schools. Meanwhile, BOCES may want to lease the West Hurley school, which would keep it in operation as an educational facility, enabling the district to re-open it as an elementary school in the future if necessary.

BOCES has indicated that its willingness to lease the building would depend on its needs for next year, but Rowe said, "Ever since I've been here, BOCES has been looking for space. They may consider us to be in the hinterlands, but I think they'd take it."

Rowe briefly discussed the Princeton Plan. "Some experts argue that the benefits of K-6 schools are continuity and a sense of community. Advantages of the Princeton Plan are that it clusters together more teachers and students with the same goals and grade levels. It would also reduce the disadvantages of having kids coming from four different elementary schools. It would be two different schools and would resolve some of the problems of the transition to middle school." While there would be some increase in transportation costs because of the duplication of bus routes, Rowe did not feel this expense would be a deciding factor. "We have two hundred kids now on variances," attending schools outside their designated school area, he observed.

Board member Meg Carey asked whether variances would still be available. "There's a good chance we could continue to have variances," Rowe answered. "It depends on the balance" of students in each school and whether there is room in target classes. Board president Marino D'Orazio asked that parents bring their questions to the two special meetings scheduled to discuss the reorganization options. The first meeting was to take place on Wednesday, March 12, at the West Hurley Elementary School at 7:00 p.m. The second will be on Tuesday, March 18, at Bennett Elementary School in Boiceville, also at 7:00 p.m. D'Orazio suggested that parents form groups of like-minded individuals and designate a spokesperson for each group to speak at the meetings, in order to encourage "an exchange of information instead of people shouting at each other."

Based on the feedback from the community at these forums, Rowe plans to recommend to the board which of the four options to pursue, along with his budget proposal, at the March 24 board meeting. D'Orazio praised Rowe and Snyder for giving thorough background information on the plans, saying they had "diffused a lot of problems I was anticipating."

Barbara Boyce said the staffing portion of her Pupil Personnel Services budget could not be determined until the board settles on which of the reorganization options to choose. She has trimmed non-staffing expenses down to the minimum, with the expectation that students requiring special education and related services (academic intervention, homework programs, remedial reading, etc.) will remain approximately the same. If staffing is not reduced, her budget total will go from $7,097,000 to $7,274,000, a rise of 2.49 percent.

Interim director of secondary education Frank Gorleski presented the instructional budget, which will also be dependent upon the reorganization decision. The operational portion of his budget is cut from $171,603 this year to $131,000, a 25 percent reduction. His proposal would enable summer school programs to continue but would reduce such expenses as conference attendance, journal subscriptions, reference books, in service training for some areas, and school evaluation services.

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Shultis

A lifelong resident of the town of Olive, Shultis is quick to point out that the store also housed the post office at one time, making the latestin the day-to-day activities of sorting the mail and assisting customers, working along side her coworkers. In fact, her relationship with her team is another reason for not wanting to retire just yet. "The people I work with are great," she said. "We have a lot of fun. I think it's nice when you
get along with the people you work with."

With the closing of the Krumville and Samsonville post offices, the popularity of shopping over the internet, and the influx of new home owners over the past 10 years, Shultis has witnessed a substantial increase in the volume of mail that moves through Olivebridge. Today, she said, her team handles about 25 feet of letters and magazines and anywhere from 75 to 100 parcels on a daily basis, making the larger space at the current location a welcomed necessity.

While some residents bemoan the new post office's lack of charm and are already reminiscing about the quaint familiarity of the previous location, Shultis agrees the old place was "cute," but "not if you had to work there." It's a pleasure, she said , to be able to accommodate parcels without having to constantly move them around to find things.Shultis takes pride in the fact that all the mail that is received goes out the same day. "We try to do a good job," she said as well as help people as much as possible. As an example of the extra attention that customers get (not to mention the lollipops available at the counter), Shultis said, "If we receive a package that needs to be signed for, we'll call the person so that they can stop by on their way to work."

One anonymous customer was so impressed, Shultis said, that he or she surreptitiously hung a laminated certificate in the lobby of the old building thanking the Olivebridge staff for being pleasant and never making customers feel rushed."We go out of our way to give good service," Shultis said, "and people appreciate it."