Planning with purpose: Moyer faces practical realities in preparing budget, creating three-year plan
Superintendent Dave Moyer hit the ground running upon his arrival to the Northport-East Northport school district in January of this year. His first several board of education meetings were dominated by talk related to the sale or lease of three district buildings: Dickinson Avenue and Bellerose Avenue elementary schools in East Northport and the William J. Brosnan building in Northport. By the end of January, the sale option was removed from the district’s contract with Newmark Realty – a contract set to expire in June.
While navigating his new position, and the hot topics he inherited as superintendent, Moyer stayed busy visiting district schools, meeting with students and teachers, and creating long and short-term goals with his administrative team. He also met with a variety of community groups, including elected officials and non-profit organizations.
Quickly, it became all about the budget, Moyer told the Journal in a lengthy interview last month. With the LIPA glidepath – and a decrease in revenue – approaching in just a few years, Moyer knew there were going to be some challenging budget seasons ahead of him, “but I really didn’t anticipate that this year was going to kick into high gear right out of the gate,” he said.
Moyer, who has closed major budget deficits in his previous positions as superintendent, said that of the next three budget seasons, he expects this year’s may be the least challenging. It’s a complex situation, yet Moyer seems confident that the district will make decisions in a way that are both strategic and considerate of all district stakeholders.
The 2024-25 proposed budget, finalized and approved by the board of education last month, comes in at $187,932,561, a 2.33% tax levy increase that represents an increase of about $194 for the average taxpayer. The annual budget vote is on May 21.
A soft landing
Significant increases in healthcare and insurance costs were major drivers of this year’s budgetary challenges. The district’s transportation contract with Huntington Coach not being renewed was another curveball that Moyer and Assistant Superintendent for Business Bob Howard had to wrestle with. In order to close a $3 million deficit that existed during the first phase of the budget process – when comparing expenditures to revenue – cuts were made in numerous areas, including to clubs and activities (by $100,000, district-wide), bus routes, postage mailings, and staffing, through attrition.
Moyer’s goal is to allow for a “soft landing,” with the district looking at its financial decisions as part of a three-year process. (The LIPA glidepath, which doesn’t end until 2026-27, will leave the district with an annual loss of $2 million in revenue.) “We’re not just impulsively reacting to knee-jerk types of things to balance the budget,” he explained. “It’s in the context of a plan – we’re going somewhere and trying to soften that impact to the taxpayer and program over time by being thoughtful about it.”
A major challenge as the district moves forward after the LIPA settlement, Moyer said, is making a plan to preserve the programs and experiences for students that community members have become used to and want to see, while also being sensitive to the taxpayer.
The district, in large part, took LIPA revenue for granted, Moyer said, with some expenditures exceeding usual practice. “We’re spending $43,000 per kid. I don’t know if people really realize how out of the norm that is,” he said, adding that many aspects of spending were never scrutinized because the district didn’t have to wrestle with budgetary constraints.
Most districts cannot support the programming and services that Northport-East Northport (NEN) has gotten used to with LIPA revenue in place, Moyer said. He believes that moving forward, the district needs to recalibrate and begin to analyze spending; when all is said and done, he said, the schools will still offer programming that’s well above what other districts would ever have the ability to fund.
Avoiding job loss
This year, the district was able to use a teacher retirement incentive to reduce expenditures through attrition. Thirty staff members retired, resulting in a reduction of 20.4 full-time equivalent positions. Of these retirements, six elementary teacher positions were cut, which will affect class sizes in upper-elementary sections, Moyer explained. “Our class sizes here are really low. So for us to nudge class sizes a bit, say from 20 to 22 in a section, that’s still below our target,” he said.
In a school organization, over 70% of the budget is in staff, Moyer explained, and the rest is mostly fixed costs. “The only way to manage resources, where you’re actually recalibrating your expenditures structurally, is by looking at the way you’re staffing your programs. That’s a practical reality,” he said.
The large number of retirements served as a buffer this year, Moyer said, and allowed the district to avoid job loss. There will be another teacher retirement incentive in 2026-27, when the LIPA glidepath ends, and an administrative incentive starting next year, although Moyer said it’s more difficult to eliminate administrative positions, which could create a challenge for next year’s budget.
“I don’t see it being catastrophic, but I do see it being conversations that I don’t think people are necessarily used to here,” Moyer said, suggesting that reducing expenditures in coming years without the same number of retirements in place could be tough.
The essence of what people want
In preparing future budgets, having a clear understanding of the programs and experiences that the community values most needs to be part of an ongoing discussion that includes not only parents of current students, but all community members, Moyer said. “We tend to speak to people in our own social circles, who think like us, and then believe that everyone thinks that way,” he said. “But there is no gauge of community thought as a whole without purposeful engagement that defines what we value.”
Moyer said he’d like to “depersonalize the conservation” when discussing district finances, and that while some decisions will impact individuals, it’s important to continue having conversations that look at issues from a community-wide perspective. He has stated clearly in public that while the upcoming revenue shortfall is a problem, he plans on being open and honest about how to solve it, all while soliciting and considering feedback from district residents.
Moyer said he wants to be straightforward with the community about what the district is dealing with and work with all stakeholders to preserve what residents value and what they’re proud of. “To do that, we need to define those things,” he said. “If we don’t define what we want and develop a vision, we’ll be making indiscriminate cuts with no context.”
At the end of the day, Moyer said, students and how they learn should drive decisions.
“I think we can preserve the essence of what people want to see in their schools. It might look a little bit different. Some people may have to adjust a little bit,” he said.
The other stuff will erode
Moyer knows that communication is an important part of running a district and NEN is not immune to the distrust in government or leadership that is being seen today around the country. The average person feels like they don’t have a voice at the federal level, Moyer said, but the local ballot box is where people believe to have the greatest impact.
The superintendent understands the difficulties inherent in today’s climate and culture, within NEN and beyond. Critiques of the district during these times, some productive and some disheartening, are to be expected, Moyer said.
“I try to tell the truth and I guess if I do that enough and people see that I’m backing up what I say, then maybe, hopefully over time, some of that other stuff will erode,” he explained.
Overall, Moyer spoke about the kindness he experienced when he arrived in Northport-East Northport. “I go around our schools and I see that the adults in the system actually treat each other well. And I’ve appreciated that.”
Leading with logic
As the district leader, Moyer talked about grounding himself and being purposeful in his approach. “I recognize that I make mistakes and I don’t have it all figured out, but I’ve also, over time, been fortunate enough to work with some of the top people in the field,” he said. Being around that expertise has helped him – Moyer feels confident in his ability to focus and balance the needs of all district stakeholders, by leading with logic more than emotion.
Trying to win a war of logic around people that view public education from an emotional standpoint is difficult, he said, but he has the knowledge, resources, and experience to see it through. “I’m a little more comfortable in my own skin than maybe I was 14 years ago during my first year as a superintendent. I’ve seen a lot,” he said.
Moyer recognizes, though, that a school district is a human enterprise and there’s uncertainty in the system because there’s always human error, varying personalities, and personal challenges. He doesn’t expect people to be perfect, he said, and mistakes bother him far less than bad attitudes.
His goal is to cultivate and facilitate a culture where it’s about the students. “In schools, the balancing act cannot be skewed in adult interests over what’s best for kids. The kids have to be at the forefront of the decisions. I believe that that’s why we’re here,” he said.
