SF60K and BOE address concerns over program cuts as district nears budget finalization

Talk about reductions to Northport High School’s Students for 60,000 (SF60K) program took center stage at the district’s last board of education meeting, during which the latest budget draft was presented, as well as cuts deemed necessary to bridge a $3 million deficit. 

A tax levy increase of 2.33% and several cuts made to expenditures made the deficit closure possible, Assistant Superintendent for Business Robert Howard explained at the April 4 meeting, leaving a total proposed budget of $187,932,561 for the 2024-25 school year. (At its March 14 meeting, the board agreed to a tax levy “starting point” of 2.4%.)

The current budget draft as presented represents an estimated increase of $194.20 per year for homes with a valued assessment of $500,000, though numbers may change before the board of education is scheduled to finalize the budget at its next meeting on April 16. 

At last week’s meeting, the board focused on specific information regarding the district’s reserves and fund balance. The non-instructional and instructional budgets were presented at prior meetings. 

During the preliminary public hearing on the proposed budget that also occurred on April 4, a gathering of parents and students from the high school’s SF60K program spoke in support of the service club, after talk of possible scheduling changes for the program’s lead coordinator Darryl St. George circulated throughout the group. 

Draft #3 of Northport-East Northport budget
The third and most recent draft of the 2024-25 district budget represents a 2.67% increase from last year, driven in large part by significant cost increases in employee health benefits and premium insurance.

In order to reduce the budget and bridge the $3 million deficit that was revealed during the first phase of the budget process, the following cuts have been made:

• Cuts to clubs and activities by approximately $100,000 across all schools; cuts will be based on an analysis of enrollment, meeting frequency and other factors

• Reduction of one contingency position ($94,000 savings), leaving three contingency positions intact

• Reduction of .5 staff member in food service department ($45,000 savings)

• Removal of proposed purchase of backhoe ($129,000 savings)

• Removal of proposed purchase of Laser Cutter fume extraction system ($23,000 savings)

• Reduction of four large school bus routes ($400,000 savings), a consolidation unrelated to a new district policy that removes transportation for students with variances and will be seen in next year’s budget process

• Reduction of postage for mailings ($30,000 savings)

• Removal of HEPA filter replacement ($50,000 savings)

• Reduction of paper and toner funding ($74,000 savings)

A detailed explanation of these cuts, provided by Howard, can be found at the 35-minute mark of the April 4 board meeting video.

“We are not isolated from cost increases as school districts. We have employment contracts, utility bills, insurance bills – they are all impacted by rising costs around us,” the assistant superintendent said. He explained that the district’s budget and levy increases have been lower than customer price index increases over the last four years, which has been made possible by the district making yearly cuts. 

Howard also stated that among the 124 school districts on Long Island, Northport-East Northport (NEN) has the 24th lowest tax levy increase over the last ten years. The Long Island average is 1.82% – the average tax levy increase over the last decade for NEN is 1.31%.

Superintendent of Schools Dave Moyer spoke after Howard’s budget presentation about the future financial state of the district and impact of the LIPA glidepath completion, which will result in a 4.18% tax increase in two years without any action from the district. 

“I’m concerned that at some point we’re going to get to a point where the community can only bear so much and I would like to soften the landing for that day, between now and then, so that we can maintain as much flexibility as possible to preserve the programming that the community has come to expect,” Moyer said. 

Moyer stated that he wants to minimize significant reductions to programs and staff in the future when the district does not have employee retirement incentives in place to buffer the impact. 

He explained how the administration strived to make all staff reductions through attrition, after the retirement of 30 staff members due to a retirement incentive program. Though they struggled with the reduction of what’s equivalent to one full-time position, district administrators were able to “reimagine” some positions and resolve the issue without having to excess staff. “That did take a lot of hard work to be able to do, so I appreciate the work that went into that,” Moyer said. 

Reserves and fund balance
A fund balance should be utilized to cover unanticipated one-time expenses or provide time for the district to adjust to macroeconomic conditions, Howard said, adding that relying on reserves and fund balance to balance budgets is not a recommended practice. 

He explained that of the district’s fund balance, 4% is unassigned or liquid, a percentage set by the state that would fund district operations for a total of 14.6 days. The remaining funds are restricted or assigned, to be used for capital projects, unemployment insurance, worker’s compensation, assigned encumbrances, and more. 

After accounting for restricted reserves, and assigned and unassigned fund balances, the district last year had a net change (or balance) of $533,219, according to Howard. “It has been reported as higher numbers than that. That is the actual number – it’s in our financial statements,” he said. “There has not been a multimillion-dollar surplus that has been rolled over.” 

Next year, Howard is projecting a $925,606 increase to the fund balance, which will be reserved for capital projects, such as roof replacements, after voter approval via proposition. 

“We are not a high fund balance district,” Howard said, explaining that within the district’s peer group with a median fund balance ratio of 28.9%, NEN is lower at 13.8%. 

To view the presentation on revenue, fund balance and reserves provided by Howard on April 4, click here.

Students for 60,000 speaks out
During the preliminary public hearing of the proposed budget, several SF60K students and parents spoke in favor of preserving the program as is and asked that the district keep it funded. Public commentary ranged from asking that St. George’s “prep time” not be compromised to emotional requests that the program itself not be cut. 

Since its inception, SF60K has facilitated student trips to Nicaragua, where students visited a poverty-stricken area and built an entire village from the ground up, said club founder Peter White; West Virginia, where opioid-related overdose deaths are still the highest in the nation; hurricane-stricken Puerto Rico for relief efforts; and most recently to the Iviani region of Kenya, where students have been helping build community school houses since 2020. 

SF60K also serves the local community, helping stock and maintain the high school’s food pantry, makes annual pilgrimages to New York City to help the homeless, and recently partnered with the Northport-East Northport Drug and Alcohol Task Force (with SF60K families hosting students from four high schools in Mingo County, West Virginia) to take on local acts of service, including an environmental scan and beach cleanup at Crab Meadow, as well as other educational and recreational activities with their guests. 

The current draft budget includes a $100,000 cut to clubs and activities across the district, but those cuts are being determined by an assessment of various factors related to participation. The issue related to SF60K pertains to “release time” for club coordinator Darryl St. George, Moyer explained after the hearing. 

SF60K parent Lauren Cierski urged the board to continue to preserve the current level of support for SF60K, saying that the program’s “value far outweighs its cost.”  

“For decades, the club has left indelible marks on two generations of Northport graduates,” Cierski said at the meeting, with the experiences offered by SF60K profoundly affecting her daughter Vivienne who, after three years with the program, has decided to pursue journalism and service as a career. “This would not be possible without the continued support of the staff that provides such wonderful guidance for our kids,” Cierski said. “The time and the dedication that they give is truly incredible, we’re very grateful for it as parents.”

Northport High School student Owen Simpson said the club has shaped his life “in a way I could not imagine,” giving credit to trips to West Virginia and Kenya for teaching him lessons that “could not be replicated in a classroom.” 

Many who spoke at the meeting agreed with Simpson, saying that trips are an integral part of the club, which require the hard work, time and effort of St. George and the club’s advisors to make happen. 

“I don’t know if you really know what you have here,” said White while addressing the board. White, who founded the club in 1987 and was its guiding force for almost 20 years, said Northport High School remains the flagship school for a community service club of this magnitude, calling SF60K “the most far reaching community service program in the nation.”

The board responds
Midway through public comment, board of education President Larry Licipoli, who went with SF60K on its last trip to Kenya, commended the club, and attempted to quell fears that the program was in jeopardy. 

“There is no intention on this board of education to cut a program,” Licipoli said. “Really, the question here is whether or not one less period of release time is going to impact this program. And that’s a discussion that we have left at the building level to provide a recommendation to us.”

According to Moyer, Northport High School Principal Robert Dennis was asked, along with direct office administration and HR, as well as his principal peers, to find staffing reductions that would reduce district costs without harming programs. Dennis has “accepted the practical reality of the current fiscal situation and the long-term fiscal situation of the district, and tried to navigate what could be possible to preserve programs in the building without seriously impacting programs at the building level,” Moyer stated. One of the suggestions made was reducing release time related to SF60K.

A full-time teaching load at Northport High School is five periods, not including lunch and additional supervision time. Special assignment teachers have periods of “release time,” during which they work on assignments unrelated to teaching students in a classroom setting. St. George, for example, currently teaches three classes per semester and has two periods of release time for work related to SF60K, making up his full-time schedule. It was proposed that his release time be reduced by one period in order to lower the overall cost of running the club. 

The current cost to run the SF60K program is $55,256, Moyer explained. This includes $45,120 for St. George’s two periods of release time and two stipends for other group organizers totalling $10,136. “In light of all of the challenging decisions that we’re dealing with, the only thing that we are suggesting as it relates to SF60K is that we run that program next year on $32,696 a year instead of $55,256. That’s it,” Moyer said. 

“We are trying to do a lot of juggling to make some of these realities work in a way that it preserves our programs and different things that the community is proud of,” the superintendent said. There are currently 7.7 teachers in the high school on special assignment; Moyer said he worked with several groups to reduce special assignment positions in multiple programs. “It was painful. There was a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth,” he said, but he and administration were able to reduce the number of staff in this category to 5.7, or the equivalent of two full-time positions.

“I feel terrible that somehow it was like the telephone game, where kids got it in their heads that Students for 60,000 was on the chopping block as a club when in fact, it was not,” BOE Trustee Carol Taylor said. “The fact that we have someone who will maybe have to go back into the classroom for one class is what we’re talking about here, that’s it.” She added that she was not minimizing the teacher’s involvement or commitment, but trusts Dennis’ opinion about the proposed cut because “he’s on the ground and in the trenches.”

Sources close to the Journal agreed with many of the night’s speakers, saying the planning and prep time for all aspects of the club – from travel arrangements, fundraising and networking to making time to meet with student leaders and participate in after-school and weekend events – is  greatly time consuming and that reducing prep time could also reduce the number of trips SF60K takes. 

In a follow-up email received yesterday by the Journal, Moyer reiterated his position on the matter, writing, “The district recognizes the value that Students for 60K offers and will ensure that the program continues regardless of any adjustments to teacher schedules.” 

The next BOE meeting is April 16 at 7pm in the Brosnan Building cafeteria, at which time the budget will be finalized. The meeting notice can be found here.