Just something else the kids will suffer from!! Walking isn't a terrible thing, but what about the kids who rely on the bus because their parents work and will now have to walk in inclement weather......

Good. Kids these days can use the exercise.

Before we entertain increasing the bus milage limits, I'd like to see the administrators (like Simon) bonus', perks and health insurance premiums adjusted. Why should the kids services be the first thing on the block. The administration and the BOE are the ones responsible for the mess we're in. In the present economic times, all executives and worker bees alike are experiencing pay freezes, cut bonus', etc in the corporate world. Why should the educational sector be any different.

If the kids have to walk to school then the hours have to change. They shouldn't have to walk in the dark that early in the morning to the High School. not everyone has a buddy to walk with and many kids have been approached. the school can't deny that because they are the ones sending all those letters at the beginning of the school year about the "White" van story! For an admisnistration who is "Supposed" to be "For" the kids, why put them on the chopping block first! Adjust the "BENIFITS"..perhaps, walk the walk!

Again the stupidity is amazaing. They keep cutting and the stupid West Islip residents keep accepting it. Its like the MTA ,lets cut the very thing that brings in income which is service, so next year when you can't meet your budget your in the red again.

The constant in this district that always increases in EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS. You can close every school reduce every service children receive and you will always have a budget issue until you address the COMPENSATION AND BENEFIT ISSUE. Get it through your thick freaking skulls they are bleeding you dry, with the BS of telling you to keep quality in people in the district we need to pay them these salaries and benefits. Its a lie people get it through you heads, this is a public relations crock put on by the teachers union along with your super.

Hey Scott Craig you think you could throw soft balls to kids roosevelt and get paid 150K per year.
Kevin Lewis how about teaching ping pong to kids in wyandanch.

Your getting raped across the board and you just keep accepting it. Then you stupid idiot residents go and vote in more union cronies to your school board, and wonder why they won't address the compensation and benefit issues in this district.

They are going to slice and dice this district to pieces, and kill your real estate values as well. So enjoy it you idiots that voted for your union friends on the board, enjoy watching them cut your kids benefits for the benefits of their union cronies.

With so many parents working, it is not safe to expect 14 and 15 year olds to walk two miles to school in the dark. High schools begins way to early in the morning to expect this of children. This should not be looked at until all other options have been exhausted.

Larry, do you walk or drive to work in the morning?

It is not overprotective to think that a 14 year old girl should not be out walking in the dark by herself if it is not necessary, and this is certainly not necessary. Cutting the buses to these children will save $500,000? Gee, that number sounds familiar... Oh yeah, that's how much additional they could have saved if they had combined the middle schools. One bad choice does not justify another. Make the money up somewhere else - not by compromising the safety of our children. They can get plenty of exercise playing on all the team sports they refuse to cut.

Right on Anna!

How can we recall board members?

Gimme some big ears and pin the tail on me if this doesn't sound like someone is fishing to see how the community feels about their proposal. You do realize by changing this, almost no one will get a bus, right? Maybe we can make up the $500,000 by selling off the 2 SCHOOLS FULL OF SMARTBOARDS.

I think we should watch the BOE walk 2 miles to and from school, lets see how fast that changes! Add another 100 cars in front of Beach Middle next year, oh that should be a joy! I will offically be driving from 6:30 AM- 9:30 AM.... then again at 2:00-3:30 Excellent! Genius!! It'll cost me 500K in gas!!

Irene, if you are going to comment on my typing (like that matters) than I too will correct you. I think you meant "my children too take the bus" but whatever. I agree with you 100% that this should not even be a conversation, with the taxes we pay these kids should be driven to school in coach buses. However, you cannot tell me we have parents that are treating their kids like big babies, so when you kid goes out at night with their friends and walks up to the stores is it any less dangerous, it would say more so because most degenerates are probably sleeping in the morn.

As for these kids having to walk to school in the rain, buy an umbrella, and to your comment that walking to school is a job well god forbid that a kid gets a job! Listen I don't mean to get into a pissing match with you, it's not productive and I do agree that they have diverted the conversation from the fact that again EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS ARE NOT BEING ADDRESSED!!!! Irene did you vote for any of these union board members, if you did than you have nowhere to look but inward. They are going to keep cutting until there is nothing left, your taxes are going to continue to higher, affecting your home values in a tremendous way. Don't beleive the rhetoric that we have to offer these compensation packages to attract highly quailified people, its a crock! You could have 3 new young eager to teach individuals for the same price that you pay scott craig. I know its real tough to loft softballs to girls, or teach them to play ping pong, oh thats right he is the coach of the lacrosse team so we must keep him. thats the menatlity of the stupid west islip resident. who the hell is going to pay over 10k per year in taxes to live north of union. whatever sorry if i insulted you but this is ridiculous, i have lived in this town my whole life and it has turned into a joke!!

@Larry, I know where you are going with what you are saying, but it's a convo for a different thread. I could join you in certain dialogue about kids today. I have already said so in other threads. I know where you are going with all the excessive salaries too. But Jack, Rome wasn't built in a day. From what you have written, I don't disagree with you on the issues, but you are like a bull in a china shop. lol
I hear the frustration you have and I understand why you just want to SCHOOL some of these people, I honestly don't blame you. We are living in dire times, brought to us by COMPLACENT SYSTEM FOLLOWERS who don't have the fight in them because they are followers of the PC tolerance=right movement. Still, children should hold umbrellas when they walk from around the block to school, but not 2 miles or even one mile anymore. My school district tax dollars better afford for the children today an improvement upon the very thing that back in my day had the potential to RUIN MY WHOLE GOSH DARN DAY. I think that is a reasonable expectation and I do want kids today to have it somewhat better than I did, at least in the dry and safe to school and return home department. That's all.

Cross posting here:

I'm seeing a YTD amount of $220 for Simon, plus Health care.

If my numbers are accurate, our budget of $107M, has a payroll component of ~$60M, and benefits component of $20M. That's $80M of $107M going to personnel.

A 4% savings off that number could help keep all our schools open, no redistricting, and no change in bus distance limits.

The remaining $27m is for operations, fuel and electric, realestate, and last but not least the educational programs.

The budget shortfall factors in a 2% pay raise for personnel (the numbers above do not include the raise. Freezing wages would yield another $1.2M in addition to the %4 suggested above.

The constituents of WI are employers, the business owners of the educational system. We need to start thinking like business owners. 75% of your tax dollars are going to pay salaries. Even the state aid we get is coming from your taxes.

Perfect put @Larry.

All - These topics are just distracting the community from the real issue. It's just noise that's serving to cause debate and division.

This said, the issue is not the school closings, and not the bus limits.

The issue is money - the budget.

The biggest line items in the budget are:
Salaries = $60m
Healthcare = $20m

That represents 75% of the budget and that's without the upcoming 2% raise.

This is where the communities focus should be !

Find the money to close the gap and you can keep the bus limits and the schools open !

Looking to the remaining $27M (which is not payroll and healthcare related, will only serve to cut services and programs from the kids.

page 40 of the Feb 9th BOE meeting agenda on school website: they are willing to dish out $200,000 to install security cameras to protect their precious turf field from vandalism, but would like to take a vote on whether or not our children are precious enough to protect by bussing them. Always there to protect the "communty's best interests"!

Just so you know, we already pay out $428,000 per year in hourly security wages.

WEST ISLIP IS DYING .THIS SCHOOL RIP OFF IS ONLY THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG GYM TEACHERS MAKING 120,000 A YEAR SUPER OVER 230 WHAT DOES HE DO THIS IS THE WEST ISLIP MAFIA . IF UR SMART YOU WILLGET THE HELL OUT OF WI AND NYS THEY TAKE AND TAKE UNTIL THERE IS NO MORE OH I FORGET ITS ABOUT THE KIDS LARRY UR RIGHT ON TARGET

Making my way through the agenda for the 9th. There have been a total 10 retirements in the district.
* Four Administrative - Salaries combined $623,766
* Six Teaching - Salaries combined $671,309
* For a total of $1,295,075
This does not include benefits, one time payments, etc.

It is completely unfair that a school district has to run its balance sheet under guidlines they cannot control. The taxpayors of this district and for that matter all districts on Long Island are getting railroaded by Washington, New York State and The teachers union. It is a juggernaut and the only way to destroy it is to just refuse to pay, play hard ball with them, let them strike, let them walk out. Vote in people on the board of education who actually care about the district and not their union buddies. Look what the stupid residents of this town have done with their BOE. They voted in 2 retired cops in Zotto and Brady. Then you have LaRossa a teacher and Gellar a former educator. Have any off those people prior to being elected to the BOE ever sat in a board room and negotiated deals the size of the budget that West Islip has. Have they ever sat across from high powered attornies hired to destroy you for the benefit of their clients. I don't think so!

This town has some serious high powered people here, that would destroy some of those teacher union attornies in a negotiation, we need to get them involved. The people of West Islip need to stop voting for their friends and think about what is really happening financially to the district and the taxpayor.. The s__t has to hit the wall for there to be change its the only way. Also the people of New York need to repeal the Triborough Amendment NOW, call you elected officials and stop that BS as well. We are getting scammed at every corner.

LEFT THEM WALK OUT AND U WILL HAVE EVERY POSTION FILLED IN 15 MIN THE LINE OF APP WILL BE FROM WEST ISLIP TO MONTAUK .DONT U PEOPLE UNDERSTAND ITS NOT ABOUT THE KIDS ITS ABOUT THEM IVE LIVED HERE FOR 30 YEARS NOW THE CAT IS OUT OF THE BAG WITH THESE CROOKS .CHECK OUT WEB SITE SEE THROUGH NY.COM OM THESE OUTRAGEUS SALARIES . HOW MANY DAYS DO THESE CROOKS WORK 180 OFF EVERY HOILDAY SPRING BREAK . THE JOKE IS ON WI RESIDENTS GET OUT NOW BECAUSE IN 3 TO FIVE YEARS U AR GOINT TO SEE A GHOST TOWN . THIS SNOW BALL IS ONLY STARTING . AND WILL NEVER END . OH I FORGOT ITS ABOUT THE KIDS WHAT A JOKE AND UR THE DUMMIES

Phil - Talking about days off. Here's Simon's:
25 Vacation days
16 Holidays
5 Bereavment
4 Personal
12 Sick days per year
36 More sick days in the bank

** Not counting the later that's a whopping 62 PAID day off !!!! That's 12.4 work weeks. Meaning he's off 23.4% of the time.

SO WHOS THE JOKE ON WHILE BOTH PARENTS ARE WORKING INC THE SUMMER MONTHS. WE ARE ALL WORKING 10 T0 12 HRS A DAY TO GET BY THEY LAUGHING ALL THE WAY TO THE BAHAMANS . LIKE BOB MATHERSON SAID YEARS AGO GET OUT OF THIS NIGHTMARE THEY CALL WEST ISLIP.

I think Phil and Larry discuss the town over double espressos with cappuccino chasers.
Actually, I'm kinda jealous that the All and Powerful Oz and I weren't invited. LOL!

hey phil the joke is always on the taxpayer. every single agency that is paid for by public taxpayer money is a sham. we need a revolt but people keep passing the school budget bc they do not want to "harm" the kids of the district. a message needs to be sent to these fifedoms. how does a 1/2 mile really effect bottom line? it does not. unreal! but mr. simon and his cronies think everyone is a fool. every taxpayer is a fool for accepting their lies. privatization is the real answer for the taxpayer. how many times a week does the athletic director pose for pictures? does the taxpayer really know what these administrators do all day? it is the taxpayers fault. when a retired social studies teacher gets a pension of $103,000 annually for teaching american history something is seriously wrong with the system. we need to sub contract anything and everything including the teachers and administrators so efficient responsible bottom line oriented companies manage taxpayer money. and the big question is when are pensions going to end? how in the world did this happen that taxpayer/public money goes to pay pensions? why is it that everyone who is not working for an taxpayer funded agency has to fund their own pensions? how about we begin by demanding that all custodians and grounds crew employees get replaced by a company that pays these workers what they really deserve. eliminate all vehicles, all supplies, all perks, all pensions for these type of school workers just for starters.

LETS CALL THIS THE GREAT SIMON HEIST. U CAN SEE WHAT HE IS DOING SAVING ALL HIS TIME SO HE GETS A BIG BUY OUT CHECK WHEN HE GOES OFF INTO THE WILD BLUE YANDER SAVE TIME APPRO 150000 PENSION 160000 HE SHOULD BE MADE TO USE HIS TIME JUST LIKE IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR USE IT OR LOSE IT . WHO WILL PAY THIS LOOK IN THE MIRRIOR

SOON IN WISD U WILL HAVE GYM TEACHERS MAKING MORE THAN THE PRES OF THE UNITED STATES BUT REMBER ITS FOR THE KIDDIES

@Phil, if you really want your head to explode, do a little digging and see what Beth Blau got when she retired (and I mean everything she cashed in). Makes this look like chump change.

Hey Larry.....you talked about a teacher working in Roosevelt not making what they make here? You're wrong my friend. It's almost exactly the same...... http://longisland.newsday.com/schools/rankings.php?id=pay

West Islip ranks 92nd out of 116 districts in avg. teacher salary....
In WI, average teacher salary is 63k, median household income in WI is over 100k....

Roosevelt ranks 93rd out of 116 districts in avg. teacher salary, however.....
In Roosevelt the median household income is 71k........

So yes, if you moved to Roosevelt the teachers would be making pretty much the same but your household would have 30K less....I think your head would explode!

I never said they did not make the same, the comment was meant that the teachers have it pretty cushy here. Go to a district like roosevelt, brentwood, wyandanch, and see the poverty those poor kids are forced to deal with every day. The gangs,shooting stabbings lets see how the teachers in this district would fair in those districts. Lets see how they handle seeing kids come in undernourished and lacking proper clothing. Lets see how they handle that. Or better yet lets see what they do when a member of ms, latin kings, bloods or crips walks past them. The teachers in this district have it way to easy, and there constant bitching.

THIS IS ABOUT WEST ISLIP

Some people are trying to throw this town under a bus. Next September they will either do it from a little further distance or not. But seriously people this is not that big of a deal. Most kids can walk the extra half a mile in 6 minutes. K thru 6 is not going to change. There will be a vote and most likely it will not pass because the most of the people who are going to go down and vote are the people who kids could lose a bus unless of course we have a another art show.

I for one don;t have a problem if cuts have to b made, however our budget is made of $80M in personnel expenses and $27M in programs, infrastructure, and transportation.

Why are the cuts coming out of the smaller side of the budget, where they will be felt by the children the most.

There have been 11 resignations/retirements already. If we cut another 13 teachers, 1 per grade, we'd come close to closing the gap without any impact on services, programs and/or closings.

What's wrong with this picture ?

TO WENDY MY HEAD HAS ALREADY EXPLODED

Larry,
Did you graduate from high school

You are all losing sight of what is important: our kids should NOT take the brunt of this crisis!!! The corrupt BOE has already closed the LARGER school, they will lose computer labs, have class size inrease while the administrators sit pretty!!! Forget the pool, forget sports, spend the $$ on keeping class sizes small! The ES kids are already losing!! Do what Baldwin did! Do what Centereach did! Do not stand for this! We only need 1 Super, 1 Asst to run a district w "declining enrollment". If howdy doody ran for the BOE, he would do a better job!!!!

Just making my way through the audit report. Remember those budget numbers: $60M in personnel expenses (WITA) and $27M in infrastructure, progarms, etc.

Guess what, WI schools tax collected = $58M. That's right, virtually 100% of your collected school tax goes to, that's right, WITA !

The balance of the budget revenue comes from state aid ($20M), and other assorted sundries.

With a name like "Liitle Indian" your talking. Sit down and shut up beore you hurt yourself. MBA in business thanks jerky~

Your probably on of the retards that voted in 4 of your union cronies.
Point being you can close schools stop buses(which is no biggy) but whats happens next year. Close what cut what?
You can't get to where you want to be without addressing the simple issue of employee compensation, go figure the only thing the board has not tried yet wonder why, hmmm Maybe we should ask those two retired cops and the 2 educators on the board I'm sure they have the answers.

Larry, you need to learn how to spell, MBA in basket weaving that's what you have good luck. I thank god you do not teach young children.

No way ! I will drive anyone to the polls who wants to vote no on this nonsense. Once again the BOE wants to make the kids suffer for their inadequacies to properly prepare a budget. But let's waste more money, 1.3 million to be exact, to refurbish the HS Pool and lockerooms. Someone needs to go to jail or resign. I'm so tired of this nonsense.

Clear the Board, start with Geller and Annmarie, the modern day Bonnie & Clyde. What a joke !

All, it is pathetic that only 100 people showed up today at this evening's board meeting. This referendum takes away from the greater issue regarding admistrative and instructional costs. For example it is silly that Simon receives 400 car allowance. In addition, that the boe negotiated an additional 2 year contract extension for the teachers who agreed to have the raise in 6 months and pay an additional 2 percent in pretax dollars towards healthcare. Oh and this all occurred while the stat was considering the tax cap. Poop fiscal ape ding has brought us to this mess and it's time the board take a responsibility and plays tough with the unions. Remember schools are here to educate our children, not act as employers. Vote this referendum down so we can cut compensation to ensure our children's future. Also everyone should attend the first budget session and come with ideas.

*poor fiscal spending*

@Walter, Teachers paying a higher cost for health & dental is not a personal attack. I agree that any and all changes need to start with adminstration. I agree that last year alone WITA agreed to pay more healthcare and delay pay raise, while adminstration maintained the same health/dental and renegotiated fringe such as carry sick pay and it's value upon seperation or retirement, additional personal days,additional pay for "work meals". etc. The fact is that leadership needs to start the process by paying greater than the present 15% for health/dental that is paid. Leadership should be acknowledging the financial issues and the importance of a district that pays a very nice salary continueing quality education by relinquishing perks such car expenses. But for the long run the reality is that all employees will have to contribute more toward the health/dental plans or the district will have to look at provideing a more cost effective plan. It is the only long term financial stability that can be accessed. There are only so many buildings the district can close and still continue to operate, plus the 'real' savings in closing those buildings was not the building expense it was the termination of employees that will follow. There are only so many teachers we can afford to let go but the catch is that at present expense rates there are only so many we can afford to pay. So it's not an attack just an unfortunate reality that change is needed.

Walter, I am not sure there is a personal attack. I am simply referencing that we live in different environment; hence we need to evaluate benefits and other compensation expenses. Essentially we cannot afford to impact our children's education through program cuts. It actually should begin with administration or those that are higher paying. Also there are other items that the district could reduce such as declination pay. In reference to your comment regarding Wall Street you should read the papers to understand that there is significant reform to compensation whih is tied to longer term earnings. Oh and if you're implying somehow that I benefit in those bonuses provided to management you are mistaken. I simply chose finance because I enjoy math. Moreover I had great teachers during my primary and secondary years that had such enthusiasm; thus prompting my enjoyment of finance.. As a result we need to continue that enthusiasm so teachers don't have to start work every year worrying about if They will will have a job at the end of the year. I am sure many teachers who lost their job would be willing to pay a bit more in pretax dollars if they could still be teaching. All I am asking is that we look to reduce costs (while maintaining the integrity of teaching) outside of simply cutting programs. At the end of the day I care about education and we must adjust to the current environment so our children can learn and prosper for the future.

This is just ridiculous now these kids are going to have suffer even more.... its not safe to have children walk home or to school when it is dark out, also the parents who work that cant bring there child to and from school. I walked to school when i was a kid, and it was a pretty far distance but now a days its not safe to have children walk...this is my opinion and I have a right to express how i feel....they should look into cutting coss elsewhere, where it doesnt effect these kids.

I am a father of a young daughter who isn’t school age yet. I did walk as a West Islip student 25 years ago living just inside the limits. I saw no issues with walking back then. But that was a VERY different time.

Using only Patch as a source I am posting my reasons against making even more students have to walk. Keep in mind this is only last 3 months in districts that are within 15-20 miles.

Hauppauge Nov 2011

Superintendent Patricia Sullivan-Kriss notified district parents a female student was approached outside Hauppauge Middle School on Wednesday afternoon by an older man in a gold car who asked if she needed a ride. The student was able to leave the area safely, and the man drove away.

http://hauppauge.patch.com/articles/student-approached-by-car-outside-hauppauge-middle-school

Hauppauge Nov 2011

Hauppauge school district officials confirmed that a second female student has been approached by a suspicious vehicle while on her route home from school within the past week.

http://hauppauge.patch.com/articles/second-hauppauge-student-approached-by-suspicious-car

Lake Grove Nov 2011

Early Thursday morning police released a sketch of a man wanted for approaching a 14-year-old girl as she walked home from her Lake Grove bus stop in November.

http://sachem.patch.com/articles/men-wanted-for-harassing-14-year-old-girl-in-lake-grove

3 of the five articles you posted stated that they were either walking from their bus stop, meaning they took a bus, or that it happened right out side the school. so whats the difference! Its happenning in both ways. This should not even be a discussion, address employee compensation and be done with it. With the amount of hours the average taxpayer in this town works to provide for their family and the taxes the district charges, this should not be an issue. Stop talking about whether they should or should not have buses, they are diverting you from the real point which is employee compensation. next year they will move it to 2 miles, when does the cuts stop and the sacrifice on the employee come into effect. why are the people of west islip not totally flipping out about the amount of cuts these kids have edured over the years while. employee compensation continues to increase, they spend god knows how much on some idiotic ball field, smart board, etc.. i would love to know who got the fence contract for the school, its like a damn prison with all the fences that school has around. its a joke there are fences literally surrounding other fences wtf! Stop electing union cronism to your board of ed, they will never stop cutting until you get a board of ed with no union people on it, then maybe employee compensation will be addressed

What's the difference? Of course that is your reply. The only point I was making in a comments section for a story relating to voting on extending bus limits was that our children are already vulnerable as it is. I choose to not Increase vulnerbility of any child. I vote no to extending the bus distance. Seems to me you have the experience, passion, and education to make a run for school board. Will you announce today?

Mr. S should be giving up his car allowance(which never should have been given).If he needs a ride during working hours he can use 1 of the 3 new trucks the district now owns.
The BOE and Mr.S should be making a public presentation of a district reorganization.It should contain the decrease in the # of directors positions as well as show a consolidation of duties from 2 asst.supers for ed.back to 1.
Next Mr.S should offer to reopen his contract and accept a health/dental plan by which the district pays no more than 75% of his healthcare costs.
Then the BOE and Mr.S should be approaching the other bargaining units in the district to renegotiate their health/dental coverage as well.
As opposed to a "give back or pay freeze" the district should be seeking to renegotiate the teachers contracts to allow the district to operate 1 or 2 fewer calendar days per year.The state only requires 180, I believe the WITA contract requires 185.By renegotiating fewer work days, there would be fewer paydays and a more permanent savings with a large up front gain.
The community needs to find nominees for the upcoming election 2 are needed this year to replace the present BOE.Look for the nominees who at least promise(although political promises are rarely if ever kept) that they will end the August administrative perks session.Those sessions have Always been a large cause of the financial issues.In Dr.B tenure unused~yet paid sick went from $450 per day to over $1,000 per by retirement.

@ Walter~ the above is in no means a dismantling of the middle class. It is simply salvaging our education system and FAR less damaging to the middle class than the job losses that WITA will suffer if these changes are not met. I for 1 would feel far less dismantled in a career path that meant paying more for healthcare/dental care or a revision to my pension plan than seeing dozens of co-workers unemployeed each year. Particularly since everyone has a # and each passing year that a dozen or more employees are let go the odds increase that one day that # would be mine and I'd be out a job. Then who'd pay for all my benifits??? Paying more now and taking less from the system is far far better than continuing the greed and being on the streets later. Especially in the field of education right now!

Heard today that one of the Asst. Supts is retiring and the BOE and Simon plan on replacing him..WHY, WHY, WHY????????? UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!!!! With the number of teachers, aides, custodians, secretaries and teacher asst. being cut why is he being replaced?

ok AJ or Greg- you did it again and removed another post. Don't know what was wrong with my statement to Larry- that it would be sad to think that teachers would not want to renegotiate health/dental plans if it were a practice initiated by the dist. supers., don't know why you wouldn't want people to understand that many teachers are not just staff,but they have children in our schools as well. So accepting cuts would benifit their own childrens educations as well as ours. TRULY cannot imagine why either yourselves or staff continue to cut certain posts, but so be it. Guess you have your reasons.

Jimmy, which asst superintendent is retiring?

This is obviously a charged issue for my community of Hauppauge. I increasingly find myself in agreement with many that pension and health insurance need to be reformed within the school districts, though I am not as ready to suspect a conspiracy amidst our districts' teachers and administration. I think we were locked into this notion that our communities would continue growing in population, income, or both into the future, hence the pension plans and health insurance rates seemed reasonable given this environment where continued growth was expected. Now that we've stalled for the moment, we need our school districts to become financially sustainable based on our present resources. The employees of the school districts are fighting no harder than any other employee for whatever compensation was given or promised them, and they like all of us made life decisions based on their income expectations. This does not by any means remove the necessity for concessions to be yielded all around, especially in an environment where payroll occupies such a significant portion of the budget.

I simply wish there was a means of addressing this in honest compromise instead of school district residents needing to head out with pitchforks or the district employees feeling the need to tightly circle the wagons to fend off impending attacks.

I apologize for my first sentence, it should have read: "This is obviously a charged issues for the community of West Islip, as it is for my home community of Hauppauge."

As, an additional comment, I would recommend that the school district apply any cost savings from increasing the bus mileage limits to making it safer for students to walk and bicycle to school. There are a number of efforts presently being utilized to address the concerns of parents when it comes to the suspected dangers posed by traffic and strangers.

For anyone who is interested, this website provides more info: http://www.saferoutesinfo.org/

At trouble intersections, crosswalks, flashing lights, and walk signals can improve safety.

Bicycle lanes, paths, and and signage can improve the environment for any student who wishes to cycle to school. This option is ideal for those students 2 miles or further.

FInally, to mitigate the fears of strangers there are programs such as walking school buses and bicycle trains, crossing guards, and safety education.

New York State is due to make applications for Safe Routes to School grants available soon as well, so long as the program is not defunded in the upcoming transportation reauthorization bill.

Chris, I understand your trying to be very diplomatic about the entire situation understandably so. However, schools cannot be run like a business, there is no product they produce that brings in revenues. They receive their money from the taxes the people of the district and the government. Plain and simple the resources are not infinite, its not like the district is going to produce a hot new product to sell that will bring in additional revenues. Unfortunatley, thats the way it is and if you took employment with a cschool district you should understand this and also understand that there is a limit as to what the residents of that district can afford or should afford. The taxes are starting to affect real estate values in certain districts, who is going to pay over 10k per year in property taxes to live north of union blvd. The majority of this district is not south of montauk residents making 250 300 per year, the employee compensation must be addressed.

Larry, thank you for your measured response. As part of being a public good, schools should in no way be run as a business seeking to maximize profit, in this we agree. I also ultimately believe that we are splitting straws as we have expressed the view that pension and health insurance reform are essential at the level of school districts across the island. I'm not aware if salaries are as much of a problem, but that may be worth consideration as well. I think however, that school districts have to be extremely cautious when making decisions to diminish the compensation of its teachers, as it would ultimately be diminishing the appeal of a school district to talented teachers, versus others on the island. I almost feel that an islandwide tier system or cap on teacher pay and benefits would be the most equitable way of addressing this issue, however good luck getting all of the school districts to give up the ability to offer compensation of their own design.

Additionally, even though schools are not businesses they are ultimately still hurting from our present economic times, because the communities they serve are hurting. The compensation the districts offer their employees is a holdover, however, from better economic times and should be adjusted accordingly. Unfortunately, the district employees are a much better organized interest group within the district than the ponderous quantity of district residents sporadically calling for change.

So, given the confrontational manner that district employees face off against district residents no small concession can be made and the responsibility for balancing the budget falls onto the heads of the interest group with almost no voice, the students. I can remember the constant threat of cuts that seemed to begin the year after I graduated where schools were regularly losing sports, clubs, and art programs.

I champion walking and bicycling to school not because of its cost savings (thats just an added bonus) but because of what it can do to reinvigorate communities with at least some elements of traditional neighborhood structure. Get students walking again, and maybe the adults will follow. Put more eyes on the streets and they suddenly become a little bit safer. Save the gas money and buy something good to eat after walking into town. All little things that could stand to make a community, a community. At most this should only be encouraged; it will ultimately be up to the residents to choose where their community goes.

Regarding your comment on taxes, I'm all too aware of the cost and it will be something that will delay my purchase of a home on the island for at least a couple of years.

Repost to keep us ocused on our children.
It's time for the BOE to unite our community and start the hard work of Saving All of Our Schools for All of Our Children. The community won't accept overcrowding, poor Teacher to Student ratios, loss of computer labs, shuffling around of our Special Needs Children, and the loss of a great Elementary School Program.
Rather than closing two ES, their Teachers, and their staff, let's start the long term hard work of solving the budget crisis. Recoup the 1.5 million lost through negligence and insure that the error is not repeated. Trim from the top. We are top heavy with too many Administrators, administrative assistants, and supervisors, some have to be cut (ex. don't replace the retiring superintendant) . Healthcare benefits for all must be decreased, a $30 co pays is a start, its the standard for many business. No no purchases or updates only fix or repair. If and only if cuts need to be made to the students, they MUST be made evenly across All grades 1-12. Never just one group of students. By spreading the cuts, the cuts are fair, balanced, not completely on the backs of any one group..

Repost to keep us ocused on our children.
Unfortunately it's all up to our BOE now. If they want to work with the community to save our schools, we are ready to work with them. If they are unwilling to reverse this decision and insist on closing two ES, they will be putting passage of the school budget in jeopardy.
Each year passing the school budget can be difficult. There are taxpayers who won't vote for any increase and Seniors who can no longer afford the increases. Now the BOE will be now be adding over 2000 digruntled ES parents to potential NO votes or NO SHOW votes. How are they going to get the ES parents to support the budget, when their children's schools have been closed, they are going to be packed 29 to a classroom, they've increased teacher to student ratios, elimatinated computer labs, may eliminate indoor playgrounds, may have put children in trailers, and broke a promise with the Special Needs children that the would graduate from Westbrook. Just how are they going to get the support of the ES parents when they totally stuck it to their kids???

Just wait and see what happens when they try to pass the budget. Close our ES and overcrowd our children, Vote NO on the budget.

Larry
Obviously you are against teachers and you definitely have no idea what teaching is about.

Actually Larry it seems like you are jealous of the teaching profession.

Actually we have some really great Teachers who are very dedicated to their students. The Teachers are definitely Not over paid but rather rather often under appreciated. But in order to save money and save our school, we need to increase the co pay for all district employees. This saves large sums for the district. We need the Teachers but we also need our present Teacher to Student ratiios, the cut backs come not at the expense of our students or their education, but rather at the expense of things.

Don't fall for it Larry. Tiny Indian is going to twist the meaning of every one of your posts in order to change the subject at hand. I have been following your posts and you do not present as one who is 'anti teacher' or 'jealous'. In fact you make quite a bit of sense, and as some of us have already experienced, the more sense you make--the more you will be subjected to personal attacks in an attempt to change the focus from where the focus should be.
I hear you and yes, at 20 million dollars a year in employee benefits, you are 100% correct that it's an issue that must be addressed by our Board of Education. I for one, am NOT looking to punish district employees with a sub-standard health care policy---not even close! I'm stating that there are more than a half dozen FAIR ways that our Board of Education can reduce the 20 million dollars it spends per year in employee benefits. Other Board of Eds in other districts have done it, why can't they?
We've got your back, Larry. Carry on.

wiseol'owl
Mr. S should be giving up his car allowance.If he needs a ride during working hours he can use 1 of the 3 new trucks the district now owns.
BOE & Mr.S should be making a public presentation of a district reorganization.It should contain the decrease in the # of directors positions as well as show a consolidation of duties from 2 asst.supers for ed.back to 1. HS decrease asst.princ.
Mr.S should offer to reopen his contract & accept a health/dental plan by which the district pays no more than 75% of his healthcare costs.
BOE & Mr.S should be approaching the other bargaining units in the district to renegotiate their health/dental coverage as well. Add 10% to employee contribution.
As opposed to a "give back or pay freeze" the district should be seeking to renegotiate the teachers contracts to allow the district to operate 1 or 2 fewer calendar days per year.The state only requires 180, I believe the WITA contract requires 185.By renegotiating fewer work days, there would be fewer paydays and a more permanent savings with a large up front gain.
Community needs to find nominees for the upcoming election 2 are needed this year to replace the present BOE.Look for the nominees who(although political promises are rarely if ever kept) say they will end the August administrative perks session. Last year teachers gave back & added 2% to healthcare. No giveback or add on by supers or non-rep. employees. But most got added fringe in Aug. minutes. Super. contract renewed.

I also agree with Wendy and Larry, no one is complaining about the Teachers' salaries. Rather we need to renegotiate the Healyhcare for all district employees so we don't loose more good teachers. Cuts need to be made on the Administrative and Supervisory level. We are way too top heavy. We also can't afford to upgrade or buy. This about saving. A school system is nothing without a good foundation and without a solid ES system we are lost. We can't be buying things and closing schools. We can't be giving out perks and bonuses and pack our ES children 29 in a classroom like sardines. We can't be refurbishing things and closing down two great schools like Westbrook and Kirdahy. And we can't be move on when we promised the Special Needs children that the home in Westbrook and they would graduate from there just because we don't feel like digging in a really solving our over spending and deficit problems. Closing two ES is just like taking out a new credit card when you are broke. It will help next year, then what will you do close another school. At some point we have to solve our spending problems. Save Our Schools.

Mr. Simon and Mr. Gellar will be attending Westbrook's PTA meeting tonight. Special Ed parents now is your chance to speak up and demand answers. There are laws in place that protect special ed students and programs. Research IDEA Law and make sure they take care of your children ! Apparently they can break promises but they cannot break the law!

IDEA 2004 clarifies Congress’ intended outcome for each child with a disability: students must be provided a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) that prepares them for further education, employment and independent living.[3]

Under IDEA 2004:

Special education and related services should be designed to meet the unique learning needs of eligible children with disabilities, preschool through age 21.
Students with disabilities should be prepared for further education, employment and independent living.

I guess this means that they shouldn't be breaking their promising to our most vulnerable children. Closing their one true anchor school Westbrook. And then just shuffling them all over the district.

Not only doesn't our BOE care about the overcrowing and decrease in the academic quality of our Elementary School children, they break promise and fail to follow Federal Laws.

This IDEA Law is there to protect special ed students from these type of rash decisions by a school district. If there is no plan in place for these programs then it is a violation. Since Mr.Simon and Mr.Gellar stated tonight that the sole reason Westbrook is closing is because of the "Potential to generate more money" I don’t think the Commissioner of Special Ed would like that reason! Let me refresh everyone's memory as to how they voted. Only 2 board members Gellar and Smith voted to close Westbrook for potential marketability, Zotto deemed Westbrook as unsafe, LaRosa gave no reason, Ulrich, Brady, and Maginniss voted to keep Westbrook open because of size and special ed programs. If they are closing Westbrook soley on the marketability. which they stated tonight, then we win...3 against 2. We cannot let this board get away with the lies, intimidation, rude condescending behavior and most of all letting our kids pay for their negligence! I’m tired of expecting them to do the right thing because they never will!

If you feel that Westbrook must remain open for many very important reason but especially for the Special Needs children, write, call , or email Commissioner of Special Ed.
Don't let this mistake go forward. Make your wishes known. Our children are more important than "potential marketability".

The bottom line is this is not an educationally sound decision. The BOE's job is to do what is best for all of the children of West Islip. It is not their job to be realtors. This decision is short sighted and not in the best interest of any of the students, especially the special education students.

Agreed. The BOE doesn't want to listen to the parents and the community, they would rather listen to the Realtor. We must make them listen and reverse this terrible mistake. The only one who will benefit is Winkler Real Estate and there has been a suggestion of a connection with this Realtor and our BOE. We need smart and tough cut that don't result in overcrowding, decrease teacher to student ratios, and broken promises to our Special Needs children. The community rejects the BOE decision as wrong for all our children and we will not support their decision. The must make cuts from the Administation level and programs that do not affect the education of our students.

@DebK Did they mention anything about the int classes or more important, did anyone ask? I would be interestrd in knowing if they are going to keep them at 2 schools still or in one like it was before.

Sorry by one I meant Cap/Bayview

Everyone remember that the BOE are elected officials who work for and and are responsible to the community. They were never elected to make decisions that are not in the best interest of our children but rather in the the best interest of the Realtors. Maybe the decided that Westbrook was more marketable for Winkler Real Eastate because Oquenok has a significant mold problem. The mold problem is okay when you are going to 29 kids into a classroom but not okay when the Realtor wants to lease the building. Just who are the BOE watching our for???

Yes Rich you are right EVERYONE needs to write, call, email The Commissioner of Special Ed, Senators,The Govenor, Lawyers and the media. I am certainly not only posting my grievences here. Bottom line the special ed issue is just one of many. There are so many layers to this bad decision. Many people posting here have valid important information. I'm going out on a limb here to suggest getting together as a group and form some kind of action committee?? WE know this decision is WRONG for our children and WRONG for our community so let's put the hard work in to try and stop it.

What is the best way to stop the decision?
Who has immediate jurisdiction over the BOE and Mr. Simon?
Who can investigate whether or not there is a connection between a BOE member and Winkler Real Estate?
Which agency of the government investigates building safety for children when there is mold contamination?
Which NY State and Federal Agency investigate when the children with Special Needs educational program is sacrificed due to the "potential marketability" of a building?
Please who ever has these names, addresses, or contact information, please post so that we can get this campaign going. Let's get together and Save Out Schools for All Our Children.

Rich,
NYSSBA is nys school board association. Also NYSED. Check out the code of conduct for nyssba and the following on NYSED website.....duty of care/duty of loyalty/conflict of interest. Nepotism. Duty of Obedience. Top 10 warning signs for boards #10. Best practices for boards to follow. Read carefully!
Also, Schumer and King are pro education. And Owen Johnson is local senator

Good leads Lauren. We have tried writing to the BOE and Mr. Simon and they were uninterested in the helping our children or saving our schools. If everyone who is following this injustice on the Patch or Topix will sit down and write to Sen. Owen Johnson, Sen. Schemer, Sen. King, NYSSBA, NYSED, NYS Board of Regents. Include these points. BOE not taking recommendation of its own Search Committee, BOE ignored the testimony of the majority of public that testified at their own meeting, voted on school closings at a secret meeting which took place several weeks before the scheduled meeting for the vote, impact of the deficit was dumped completely on grades 1-5 resulting in overcrowding, poor teacher to student ratios, loss of computer labs, and dispersal of our children in out Integrayed Special Needs Program, loss of 1.5 million due to negligence and not filing paperwork, choosing to close the school with our Inegrated Special Needs Program because of its "potential marketability" but keep open a school with severe mold problems found by the NY State Inspectors, don't forget the BOE giving Mr. Simon an contract extension, perks and bonus all while our district is in debt and they are closing our schools. I believe they slipped in his extension, perks, and bonuses, during summer when schools are closed and we are not watching.

The time for posting is over. I have written to Sen. Owen Johnson & Shumer, Congressman King, NYSED, NYSSBA, and Newsday. If everyone of the other 2,157 parents whose Elementary School children are going to suffer by the BOE's decision can write a letter or two, maybe we can get this disaster reversed for our children.

Anyone interested in following the issues concerning the BOE and our Elementary Schools, can go to the Topix forums at :
http://m.topix.com/forum/city/west-islip-ny/TLUINTND2H5O4L748

I am surprised there has been no mention of the Budget Advisory Committee meeting that was held last week. I believe a few posters from the Patch were on the committee. I was not able to go, but I have heard that it was said the budget is set. I would love to know if this is true if anyone was there.

TO EVERYBODY ATTENDING WEST ISLIP'S SCHOOLS:

NEXT WEEK! (March 27th)
There will be a VOTE at West Islip High School!
TO END the bus services for MANY in our school district.....including me!
VOTE NO! Against the proposition! PLEASE tell your parents to VOTE NO!
There are MANY like me who do not have parents who can drive them to school.....
The school claims that this will save the budget 500,000 dollars. Do you know how much MONEY is in the budget?
$12 Million dollars!!!
Please ASK your parents to vote against this.... many like me will have much trouble getting to school....
IF you take a BUS 2.0 miles away from the school (Including Bus S + OTHERS) YOU WILL GET CUT! THIS APPLIES TO YOU THE MOST!
Please consider this post... and repost this if the transportation of MANY kids means anything to you! Thanks for reading!
(This is Christopher Chiusa)

Thank you Chris for a 'wise student's' point of view. I agree with you and will be saying NO to the bus referendum.

I agree, too. I hope everyone realizes this can affect them, even if their kids are already walkers. Think how crazy it will be trying to drop your kids off at school if virtually no one gets a bus anymore. It is crazy enough now with the traffic dropping kids off, think how much worse it will be.

I also agree. Vote NO on Tuesday to the new bus limits. Our students have lost too much due to the BOE's fiscal negligence. We are down two ES too many. Two miles is too far to walk when it is dark, raining, or snowing.
Vote NO on tuesday.

Don't forget to vote NO tomorrow night on the BOE's proposal to extend the busing limits.

Anyone else think that teachers making over $100,000 a year base salary and only working 180 days is outrageous!?!?

Contractually we are obligated to employ them for 182 days plus two conference days for a total of 184 days. This said, our school calendar runs 185 days so in essence we're paying them for an extra day at an additional cost of $300,000 (according to Mr. Simon).