Guilderland Central School District Potential Budget Changes and Rational Impact Budget

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1 Guilderland Central School District Potential Budget Changes and Rational Impact Budget Program/Service HIGH SCHOOL Math Instructional Staff HIGH SCHOOL, ATHLETICS, PHYSICAL EDUCATION, ART, AND MUSIC Budget Impact Impact and Rationale FTE Cost ($13,140) The current class of Accelerated Algebra 1 students at FMS is smaller than the previous year (112 students vs. 144 students) which allows for the reduction of one section in either Honors Geometry or Regents Geometry. ($13,140) The second section reduction would impact the Math 12N course which is a senior math elective that focuses on advanced algebra for college bound students. With current course requests, three sections could be offered with average of 22 students per section. Reducing to two sections, would result in 5 students not being able to take the course and both sections having 30 students. The reduction of two math sections (above) will have an effect on Regents Course class averages (Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, and Pre-Calculus) because additional sections cannot be allocated to help reduce the average class size. In the current school year the average Regents class sizes are The current projected average class size for the Regents courses next year is Math Equipment Purchase Science Instructional Staff If the staffing were not reduced, it could be deployed to offer additional electives that if offered, would have sufficient student interest to support a section (e.g. statistics). $1,100 Purchase of one set of Graphing Calculators to replace broken and missing calculators. This purchase is in light of not making purchases in the prior years ($19,710) The current class of Accelerated Biology students at FMS is smaller than the previous year (104 students vs. 139 students) which allows for the reduction of one section in either Honors Earth Science or Regents Earth Science. If these FTEs were not reduced the staffing could be deployed to offer General Physics, for which there is likely to be sufficient student interest to fill a section. There are currently 13 students requesting this course, a number that would likely grow if the course were offered. With this reduction, most of these students will not have another course option.

2 Equipment Purchase Technology Instructional Staff $2,100 $2,400 ($13,140) Purchase 6 Compound Microscopes to replace damaged equipment. This is in light of not making purchases in the prior years. In addition, spectrophotometers will need to be sent out for repair and calibration; they have not been serviced since The first reduction in Technology sections will impact Digital Photography. Normally the course requests for this popular elective justify running 3 sections of Digital Photography 1 and one section of Digital Photography 2. Only one section of Digital Photography 1 and one section of Digital Photography 2 will be offered so that students can take the full sequence of courses. Not running two sections of Digital Photography 1 will impact approximately 36 students. The majority of the students that take Digital Photography are juniors or seniors. Project Lead the Way Training Technology Equipment Purchase ELA 12 Electives: Journalism, Acting & Directing and Screenwriting Social Studies 11 & 12 Electives: Psychology and Criminal Justice ($13,140) The second section reduction will impact one of the Project Lead the Way courses. Based on course requests to date, the affected course will be Civil Engineering and Architecture and will affect 11 students who will not have access to another PLTW course. 5,930 If a reduction in staffing at the high school level is necessary, one staff member would be reassigned to the middle school. As a result, the district may have to provide training over the summer at RIT to an additional high school technology teacher in order to offer Digital Electronics in the PLTW sequence. $4,190 Purchase of equipment needed to address curriculum and program changes to the Digital Electronics course in the Project Lead the Way program ($19,710) It is predicted that these three electives will have the lowest enrollment and will impact the smallest number of students. There are other ELA electives offered into which students will be able to enroll. Based on course request data available in February: Estimate of students requesting Journalism: 10 Estimate of students requesting Acting & Directing: 10 Estimate of students requesting Screenwriting: ($19,710) The Criminal Justice elective would be reduced from 4 sections to 3 sections; Psychology would be reduced from 5 sections to 3 sections. These two electives are not required for students, but both are popular courses in the department. Students would not have an opportunity to take another elective in Social Studies because Psychology and Criminal Justice are the only electives offered in that department. Based on course request data available in February: Estimate of students affected by the reduction of a section of Criminal Justice: 30 Estimate of students affected by the reduction of sections of Psychology: 30

3 ELA and Social Studies Travel and Supplies Focus Program Coordinator ($4,880) After a thorough review of line item codes, the following decreases are suggested as they are the items that have the least direct impact on students. Conference Travel $2,100 ELA Supplies $1,300 Reading Supplies $ 680 Social Studies Supplies $ $13,140 The Focus program has been in existence at Guilderland High School for over 30 years. The purpose of the program is to provide at-risk students in grades 10 through 12 with a supportive learning environment characterized by smaller class sizes, social and emotional supports and community outreach. The number of students with socio-emotional needs has increased throughout the years, as has the number of students whose families are economically challenged. The goal of the program is to support students who might not otherwise successfully meet the requirements of high school, so that they can earn a diploma and graduate. Focus Coordinator This person would have a.8 teaching load and a.2 assignment to coordinate the Focus program along with the Focus administrator (a duty of one of the high school assistant principals). Teachers assigned to the program need time to work with students, faculty, and staff for the success of every student in the program. This time would allow the Focus Coordinator to facilitate meetings, meet with students, coordinate events, and plan community service. The coordinator would also provide leadership in program planning and curriculum development, provide instructional support to colleagues, assist with communication among students, teachers, counselors, administrators and parents, and stay apprised of student discipline and concerns. Social Worker--Re-allocating part of a social worker s current position so he/she can attend Focus meetings, connect with students, assist teachers and students, and work with the Focus aide/monitor. BOCES Regional Summer School Aide/Monitor Position Replace the TA position (currently being filled with an Aide/Monitor) with a permanent Aide/Monitor position whose role it would be to supervise the Focus lounge, make connections with students and work in collaboration with the Focus Coordinator, Social Worker, and Focus Administrator. ($44,560) Due to low enrollment numbers last summer (which caused many courses to be either combined or eliminated) and the absence of a neighboring district to partner with Guilderland as a regional summer school site, Guilderland cannot serve as a BOCES Regional Summer School site for Given the change in the passing score at GHS from 70 to 65 as well as other factors, the projected number of students requiring summer school in 2015 is likely to decline again. If the district participates in a Regional Summer School, GHS students would attend summer school at the Mohonasen site, where the participation of at least three districts will ensure that most courses (including health) will be offered. The cost for Guilderland to participate in the Regional Summer School in Mohonasen will be $40,100. Most of this cost

4 BOCES Regional Summer School (Continued) is BOCES aidable. It represents a savings of $44,560 from last year; those savings are derived from costs associated with having aide/monitors, a nurse and teaching assistants employed at GHS. However, it should be noted that site change eliminates a $12,000 revenue from BOCES to GCSD. Clerical Guidance Hall Monitor -4.0 Hours Included in the $40,100 cost is a credit recovery program that will be hosted at GHS for 20 days at 2 hours a day (1 class of 2 hours). This program would be offered for seniors, or students who have failed a grade level and are unable to fit the courses in their schedule which would impact their on-time graduation. A teaching assistant under the supervision of an assistant principal will facilitate the program. For comparison purposes, the estimated cost to offer summer school as a stand-alone program at GHS is approximately $58, ($15,800) There are currently 3.0 FTE clerical employees in the guidance office; two are eleven month and one is twelve month. As a result of changes noted below, there is reduced need for clerical assistance in the counseling department. One senior keyboard specialist had, at one time, the following duties: Letters mailed to colleges and parents. The number of letters has been greatly reduced by using more electronic correspondence and web-based programs. Report cards and interim reports used to have to be printed, copied, stuffed in envelopes and mailed. These reports are all electronic now. Course selection documents needed to be created and collected, and the data from teachers had to be manually input. Teachers now input that data directly into School Tool. Transcript production has moved to another clerical position. College fairs are now organized through Capital Area School Development Association (CASDA). GHS enrollment has also declined over the past few years. This reduction that will still leave three people in the office; one individual will be there for a less time each day. ($22,000) GHS currently has 18 monitors who work various lengths of time, ranging from 4 hours a day to 7.5 hours a day. The high school is constantly looking at how to efficiently and effectively allocate and schedule the monitors. To accommodate this reduction, GHS would have to schedule monitors in a different way, and there would be less coverage at certain times. Media Position 0.2 $13,140 In the budget development process, we reduced the media position from 0.5 to 0.2. FTE. That reduction has proved to be very difficult this year. It provides an every other day schedule that makes it hard to produce the students TV news program, The Reporter, on a regular basis. The every other day schedule also does not allow for the teacher to respond to immediate requests for technical assistance. Increasing the media position from 0.2 to 0.4 FTE means that the media program would be staffed each day. This will make it possible for the teacher to provide support for students, work with colleagues who wish to use media equipment, and ultimately help grow the program.

5 Co-Curricular Advisors ($4,240) This reduction would affect the following clubs: Latin Dance, Student Recognition and Graffiti, the high school literacy magazine. These three clubs did not run in the school year and are not anticipated to run in ATHLETICS Code Reductions ($4,040) These code reductions in supply, travel and conference will have no direct effect on student participation. Reductions in equipment repair & supply cuts will require faculty and staff to prioritize needs. Assistant Coaching Positions ($3,990) ($8,230) ($6,700) Wrestling Assistant This person works as a program assistant servicing student-athletes at three levels (Varsity, JV, Modified generally around 65 wrestlers). The primary impact would be, given wrestling as a contact sport, one less set of eyes in the wrestling room. Another impact will be evident when the JV & Varsity teams have Saturday tournaments in different locations. This is problematic because there are multiple wrestlers competing at the same time (tournaments can have up to 5 matches simultaneously). Boys/Girls JV Lacrosse Assistants Lacrosse is a contact sport that would now have one less set of eyes to supervise and properly instruct. Without the freshmen level, it is not uncommon that both the boys and girls rosters have over 25 student-athletes on the team. The make-up of the roster is generally 9 th /10 th graders who have developing skills and need as much instruction as possible. Lacrosse coaching staffs typically have one coach who would serve as the offensive coordinator with the other specializing in defensive coordination. Girls/Boys Varsity Soccer The primary function of assistant coaches is to assist the head coach with instruction and strategy. Again, when done right, one coach would be an offensive specialist and the other would handle the defensive responsibilities. Both rosters contain anywhere between student-athletes per team. Both positions have an instructional and supervisory responsibility and thus have an impact on both roles. Officiating Game Fees ($4,540) Gymnastics Assistant - This position is responsible for assisting the varsity coach in the set-up of equipment, spotting of the girls on the apparatus and supervision of the girls during practice. There are typically girls on the team. This reduction would impact the level of supervision of the athletes. $4,000 The increase in officiating fees is a result of the newly negotiated contract with officials in Section 2. The per game rate has increased at all levels of competition: modified, freshmen, junior varsity & varsity.

6 District Wellness Coordinator Position $8,700 The District Wellness Coordinator would allow the district to create efficiencies and maximize benefit to the district by combining the duties and responsibilities of three positions (clerical support in the health office, event coordinator, athletic trainer) into one (District Wellness Coordinator). Clerical duties associated with the high school health office would be reassigned to other building clerical staff. Nonclerical duties within the health office would be reassigned to the District Wellness Coordinator. The duties of the Athletic Trainer (ATC) would be included in the job description of the District Wellness Coordinator. The duties of the high school athletic event coordinator stipend would also be assumed by the Wellness Coordinator. The combined savings associated with these three positions equal $44,000 ($5,000 for clerical support in the health office, $4,000 for event coordinator and $35,000 contract for athletic training). The cost of the new position, with benefits is $52,700, translating to a budgetary increase of $8,700. Some of the duties the District Wellness Coordinator would be responsible for include: Coordinate district wellness opportunities for students and staff, including but not limited to: o AED, CPR & First Aid training for staff o Organizing wellness fairs for staff to track cholesterol, blood pressure, etc. o Organize hands free CPR opportunities for GHS students during health classes o Coordinate, in conjunction with the district s health insurance committee, wellness classes for staff both before and after the school day o Assist the Director of Health with the coordination of wellness programs & speakers at all 3 levels elementary, middle and high school o Research and keeping abreast of current information pertaining to relevant topics surrounding wellness Chart physicals on the Cumulative Health Record Check physicals for sports sign ups and working papers Track new student immunizations Communicate with district and community the timeline for sports sign-ups Communicate with staff on return to school protocols for injured student-athletes PHYSICAL EDUCATION Dance Styles -0.1 ($6,570) This elective serves as fine arts credit and typically has 20+ students enrolled, with 21 this year. The reduction of Dance Styles and Choreography would mean there would be no dance offered at the HS level. Dance -0.1 ($6,570) This elective serves as fine arts credit and typically has 20+ students enrolled, with 23 this year. The Choreography Intro to Sports Medicine reduction of Dance Styles and Choreography would mean there would be no dance offered at the HS level ($6,570) Very popular elective with 30 students enrolled this year. Many former students have gone on to college in a related health field after having success in Intro to Sports Medicine.

7 HS Physical Education Section HS Health Education Section Reduction of HS PE Supplies -0.1 ($6,570) Reduction of a 9/10 Physical Education section based on declining enrollment in the Freshmen Class. Because PE is influenced by Science scheduling, this reduction could create scheduling challenges ($6,570) Reduction of a Health Education section is proposed. Because the scheduling process is not yet complete, the number of Health Education requests is not known yet. This reduction could potentially close students out of Health Education for the school year pushing their need back a year. ($450) Reduction of $450 of supply money will mean we will have to prioritize and may have to delay purchases of some items into future years. ART High School Art Department Middle School Art Department ($2,500) ($2,260) This proposal will reduce the supply codes from $10,500 to $8,000 at the high school. To offset this reduction, it may be necessary to implement a supply list for purchase by students who choose to take elective art courses. This proposal will reduce supply codes from $7,200 to $5,060. It may be necessary to implement a supply list for purchase by students. GHS Reduce Staffing ($13,140) Due to lower enrollment, two 20 week courses that did not run in (Animation and Sculpture) will also not run in MUSIC Business Education -0.3 ($19,710) Business courses enjoy consistently high enrollments. This reduction would make it necessary to place approximately 75+ students into a different elective program if one was available. (If course placements were not available, students would go to a study hall.) Additionally, reducing this position to less than half time makes the retention of quality staff very difficult. Vocal Music ($13,140) The HS Vocal program maintains a consistent student enrollment in 2 choirs. One choir is open to all students and the other is admission by audition only. This reduction would result in having one full time teacher to do both choirs and so would reduce the number of possible small group lessons the teacher could schedule in a week. Fewer lesson opportunities may raise the number of students in each lesson. HS String Lessons -0.1 ($6,570) The HS orchestra program has doubled in size (from ) and continues to grow. There is currently a.6 position at the HS (shared with FMS). This reduction would reduce the amount of possible lessons in a week raising the number of students in each lesson.