Each year during budget season, special education at Sag Harbor is scrutinized by a faction of the community concerned over high classification rates and the associated costs of mandated services. But since Lisa Scheffer took the reins of the district’s pupil personnel office just over two years ago, the classification rates have continually dropped and this year the district will realize significant decreases in costs.
New Sag Harbor Superintendent Dr. John Gratto noticed three contracts with special education service providers at the district’s annual re-organizational meeting last month. Together with Scheffer, the two came up with a way to save the district roughly $100,000 by renegotiating one contract, hiring one new employee and choosing a new service provider.
The district has historically contracted with Out East Occupational Therapy for occupational therapy services. An occupational therapist works with students to improve their fine motor skills, such as a student who has trouble holding a pencil or a student who simply can’t sit still. Last year’s contract with Out East cost the district $85,000.
This year the consultants agreed to renegotiate their contract.
“They’ve reduced their contract by $13,500,” said Gratto. “Now we could hire someone at $70,000 including benefits and in the short term that would save us $2,000. But in the long term, if we continue to contract, that $72,000 would be less than we would pay an employee, because salary and benefits go up.”
The district currently has 25 students who require occupational therapy services.
Another contract, with Long Island Developmental Consulting, has been eliminated in favor of creating an in-district position to provide Applied Behavioral Analysis services to roughly 20 students. That move will save the district over $66,000 if they manage to fill the position at a salary of $78,405 including benefits. The contract cost the district $144,900 per year.
The services are geared specifically to children, who are autistic, either severely or slightly, as the spectrum goes.
“You might have a child who acts out, bites or hits or throws tantrums,” said Scheffer. “The ABA person will try to get to the root of the behavior and create a plan to modify it.”
Lastly, the district has chosen to go with a new service provider for inclusion and differentiated instruction in-service training for teachers. The district previously used Lakretz Creative Supportive Services to the tune of $50,000 per year. Gratto said the district will either contract with BOCES (Board of Cooperative Educational Services) or with another consultant to provide the same service and save the district roughly $17,000. The training service is available to teachers to assist them in developing different teaching techniques for different students.
As far as classification goes, critics have charged the district with having too high a percentage of classified students. When Scheffer came aboard in 2006, the percentage of classified students in the district was around 20 percent. The next year that number dropped to roughly 18 and this year Scheffer expects only 15 percent of the district’s students to be classified as special needs students.
She attributes the decline in part to a classification policy manual she created, something that did not exist before she arrived. The policy manual clearly states a procedure by which every student is classified.
“There are many steps we take before going to evaluation for a child,” said Scheffer.
She said the district has implemented a number of different intervention strategies to reduce the classification rate. She said the absence of such a practice could have certainly contributed to the high number of classified students in the past.
One of the goals Gratto has identified for the upcoming year is to decrease the number of classified students by at least one percent.
“Currently our rate I believe is 17 percent, but the average in the state is 12 percent,” said the superintendent. “So we would like to continually scrutinize the classification [process] to make sure they are appropriately classified and not over classified.”

Top Photo: Superintendent Dr. John Gratto has made special education a priority.

 

For the past year or so, members of the Noyac Civic Council have taken a keen interest in the local public school district, specifically its budget. On Tuesday evening, newly appointed Sag Harbor School Superintendent Dr. John Gratto was guest speaker at the council’s regular monthly meeting, and took fire from many in the room who raised questions about school spending and student performance.

Gratto began by explaining his background included many different experiences, which he believes will help him at the school.

“One of my strengths is bringing different perspectives to address the issues,” said Gratto.

Noting a set of goals the district is considering, he pointed to a chart that tracked the performance of student classes on Regents exams, where a specific goal would be to increase the percentage of students achieving a mastery of a subject by five points.

“These are achievable goals that will not cost money,” Gratto told the audience. “That teacher is going to work a lot harder to make sure those students have all the information they need.”

But many in the audience were concerned that the goals at the school were ultimately costly and designed to favor the teachers and administrators.

“We think you’re managing about six or seven diverse groups with different goals,” said resident Ed Grohan.

Noting that one goal which had been articulated in a mission statement from the school urged maintaining current programming, Grohan said that keeping the same programs “might be the be thing for these splinter groups, like the unions, but not the best thing for the students. It may produce nothing but stagnation.”

“It talks about zero-based budgeting and transparency; there’s no more closed agenda I have seen than what the current board exhibits,” continued Grohan.

To make changes at the school, Grohan charged “You would have to change the mindset of the district.”

Gratto said he agreed with the premise of providing a high quality education at a reasonable cost, but said the school board worked hard last year with a zero-based budget model.

“It doesn’t go forth with the belief that all programming and staff must be preserved,” said Gratto, noting that they recently combined two positions into one, saving the district money.

Council president Chuck Neuman asked about negotiations with the teachers union, and wondered if salary increases might “blow the 3.2 percent” already budgeted for.

“We’re not there yet,” said Gratto. “It’s like a dance.”

When asked what “painful realities” the school will have to face, Gratto responded “Everybody can’t get what they want. We might not have a tax reduction that some may want; or we may not have a 7^th grade program for violin that others may want.”

Gratto told the audience that the district is looking for ways to reduce costs, and said they have successfully made about $175,000 in cuts by eliminating some contracts from outside services, without affecting programs. He said he didn’t believe in the proposed 4 percent spending cap proposed by the state.

“It presumes the board and the superintendent can’t control costs,” said Gratto. “I prefer local control.”

Among other economies, Gratto said he would look at ways the district can share services and programs with other districts

In addition to AP classes, which Sag Harbor will share with Bridgehampton, they will also be sharing food services, and hope to put out joint bids with other districts for school supplies, and heating and fuel oil.

Patrick Witty asked if the AP classes were mandated by the state. No, said Gratto, “but we want to challenge our students. If we can offer them in a reasonable cost effective way, we want to do it.”

One audience member, a part-time resident of Noyac who lives in Georgia, criticized the district for not sending its students to Ivy League schools.

“I’ve been paying taxes here for 47 years,” he said. “You don’t send your kids to Harvard or Brown… You’re a joke.”

School board president Walter Wilcoxen leapt to his feet charging: “That’s inflammatory. We send our kids to Brown to Bard to Harvard. One student who graduated Harvard is now back here teaching.”

“In Georgia we do it for half the cost,” said the man.

“Good for you,” replied Wilcoxen.

Elena Loreto wondered if anyone was monitoring the number of special education students in the district, which she said, was high.

“The special ed rate is now 17 percent, not 20 percent as someone said,” replied Gratto. “But, we can’t reduce staff unless there is enough of a common group that no longer requires staff.”

Stacey Pennebaker wondered about a five year plan for capital improvements.

“A review of the whole school indicates it will cost about $5 to $7 million over time, of which $1 million has already been done,” said Gratto. “The community is going to review this and come to terms with how to fund it.”

 

 

A number of vacant positions in the Sag Harbor School District were filled at Monday’s school board meeting. It was also revealed that at least two of those positions would be reviewed during the course of the upcoming school year to perhaps revise the charges of the position or to decide whether they are needed at all.

Gary Kalish was appointed Pierson’s new assistant principal at a salary of $105,000 after a vacancy was created when Donnelly McGovern stepped down to return to teaching and coaching this year. Kalish is a 1997 Pierson graduate who according to board member Dan Hartnett “has been a very successful teacher in New York City.” This will be his first administrative position.

Board member Wes Frye voted in opposition to the appointment and questioned whether the board had done their “homework,” not on the applicant, but on the position in general.
“[McGovern’s] absence maybe opens up an opportunity for us as a board to review the entire position, to rethink what is [the position’s] critical task, and job description. Have we done enough to think about what are the true activities an [assistant principal] needs to do?”

Frye said he would prefer not to simply “backfill” a position but to rethink what the position entails.

“To that end, the board agrees,” said president Walter Wilcoxen. “We’ll ask the superintendent to report back to us by the end of the school year about that.”

As part of her PTA update, Chris Tice asked for clarity on a few issues she said “we’re floating around” among members of her group. One specifically dealt with the assistant principal position and possibly elimination of one. Currently the district has two assistant principals at Pierson and one at the elementary school.

Superintendent John Gratto said when any position becomes vacant it is prudent to examine whether that position is needed.

Parent Vanessa Leggard also asked about the position.

“The superintendent will work to flesh out job descriptions of all the administrators and what they do,” said Wilcoxen. “From a personal point of view, it’s a matter of communication. We hire them, we pay their salaries and we should understand what they do.”

Tice also brought up another issue, whether or not Gratto was considering creating an assistant superintendent position in the district. Gratto said he had no intention of creating the position “at this time.”

“I said I would listen and learn until about mid year and see what I find out,” he said. “But I don’t know enough about that yet to make a decision.”

The Pierson music teacher position left vacant when John Immerso resigned last year was also filled on Monday. Eric Reynolds was hired at a salary of $51,128. Pierson Principal Jeff Nichols told the audience Reynolds “graduated from Boston University, taught in the Brockton public school system in Massachusetts, did his student teaching at the high school level and also worked with the New York Symphony for a couple of years.”

However, Gratto proposed to the board the hiring of a consultant firm for the early part of the school year to look at how collaboration and continuity between the two schools’ music programs can best be achieved. The board held off on replacing Immerso last year in order to analyze the district’s overall music curriculum. Currently there is one music instructor at the elementary school and two at Pierson. There has been widespread criticism over the fact that while the elementary students are taught strings, when they reach Pierson there is no strings class, only chorus and band.

Again, Frye voted in opposition to the appointment and questioned the notion of hiring both a teacher to fill the position and a consultant to ultimately determine whether the position is needed.

“I like the idea of a consultant, but are we putting the cart before the horse,” he asked the board.

Gratto said he has heard equal points of view as to the filling of the position. But, he said, the decision to fill it was made because he felt the students might miss out on “valuable lessons.”

Frye mentioned the need to look at the number of students who take advantage of the music curriculum in relation to the need for the position. Gratto said he did believe “enrollment drives staffing” and that the analysis should take place, but that it was “wise” to fill the vacant position.

Gratto said once the consultant firm is hired he expects a final report on the music program by January.

The Sag Harbor Board of Education gets a thumbs up and thumbs down this week.

First, the thumbs down. It was disturbing to learn that a former district employee of five years was replaced after they resigned specifically because what they were earning was not enough for them to live comfortably. We understand their resignation letter apparently made this fact clear to the board. The letter also said they felt like they were a member of a family and that they loved their job. The sticking point was the hourly wage they were earning, the rising cost of living and the current state of the economy.

It is sad when in a community as close knit as Sag Harbor the value of someone who knows just about every person who could walk through the elementary school doors, including our reporters, was allowed to slip away. And it’s even sadder that the same person would have to find out their replacement will be making the kind of money they not only deserved, but that would have enabled them to continue being a friendly face in the school district. 

On Monday this position was filled and apparently the new person will be making nearly twice the hourly wage of the other person. We were told that the new hire had taken a class that might have necessitated the pay raise. We have also been told the former employee would have loved to have been afforded the opportunity to do the same.

Now for the thumbs up. Cheers to the board for filling the newly created position of  athletic director/buildings and grounds director and the assistant principal position so quickly. But more importantly cheers for listening to the people who elected you. This was your opportunity to do the right thing and that’s what you chose to do. You included the right people in the search for the applicants. You had the applicants meet with teachers and administrators and you didn’t have an “angry mob” waiting for you on Monday. And the teachers association will most likely not be filing a grievance against you. Way to go.

We were happy to see two school committees eliminated on Monday night. We have always thought there were too many committees to begin with. Our new superintendent told us he had never seen so many committees in a single district in his entire career.

And yes, we know a majority of the committees are mandated, and the board’s hands are tied to a degree.

However we were quite disturbed by the discussion over whether or not the budget advisory committee, a non-mandated committee, a committee that has existed for quite some time, should also be eliminated. We were told their greatest accomplishment was the institution of a zero-based budgeting system, which led to the overwhelming success of last year’s budget and the low tax rate increase. That’s all well and good. But we believe their greatest accomplishment has always been providing checks and balances to what the rest of the community might not be privy to.

We were also told that last year’s BAC did not function as well as in previous years, that there were too many voices in the fray and agreement on anything was seldom reached. The BAC did not even offer a verdict on the budget they apparently had a hand in forming. At the last budget workshop no member stood to either support the budget or not.

We see a lack of leadership on the board’s part as the obstacle last year’s BAC could not overcome. The board should not be asking the BAC to gather data. The board should not be asking the BAC to meet with administrators. What the board should be doing is giving the BAC a voice.

Three years ago we attended a board budget workshop where each member of the BAC was invited to sit down at the table. They even had nameplates. They were treated as equals in the process, at least for one night, and they in turn served as the perfect liaisons to the community on perhaps the most contentious aspect of each school year: the budget.

Think twice about leading the stakeholders of this district to believe their opinion is viewed as nothing more than a disturbance at board meeting during public input. There are knowledgeable people in this community that can help you pass your budget. They are the same people that vote you into office.  

When new Sag Harbor school superintendent Dr. John Gratto was handed a list of board of education sponsored committees, 16 in total, he scratched his head. Never had he seen a list of so many committees in his career as a superintendent.
“I thought that it must have been a very involved board of education,” he said on Wednesday. “I think that if the board and the public believe they are getting thorough information about issues, then there may be less of a need to have all of those committees. I think it’s prudent of the board to take a look at those committees and decide which are essential and which are nonessential.”
The board began to do just that last Monday at a work session. The majority of the committees are mandated, such as shared-decision committees, a health and wellness committee and an audit committee. But there are also a number of non-mandated committees and on Monday the board voted unanimously to dissolve two and discussed narrowing the scope, or charge, of another. The district will no longer have an athletics advisory committee or a personnel committee. As for the other, the budget advisory committee (BAC), discussion ensued over whether to eliminate it.
“I think there’s a universal agreement that [last year the BAC] did not work very well],” said board president Walter Wilcoxen.
Board member Sue Kinsella disagreed, “Because you had more representatives of different segments of the school district it in the community, you didn’t have four people with like minds forming all the decisions.”
Until last year the BAC consisted of a small number of community members with different backgrounds. Their charge was to evaluate and analyze the budget as presented and make recommendations. At the last budget meeting of the year they advised the board on the budget based on their analysis of the numbers.
But last year the board made the decision to expand the BAC and include more members from different parts of the community. One of those members was newly elected board member Mary Anne Miller. The BAC was also given a new charge of gathering data and meeting with administrators.
“I made every meeting but one,” began Miller. “After we made our recommendations early on, we continued to talk about what the board could do with contract negations, which we had no say on. But that’s all we talked about.”
Miller said they didn’t receive the information the board had intended to provide them, such as benchmarking, until the budget process was nearly over, and that the administrators never attended the meetings because they were apprised of them.
“They were apprised of them, just couldn’t make them,” said Kinsella.
Board member Ed Haye pointed out the BAC had been successful in the past because their analysis included administrator’s input. Haye said the biggest accomplishment of the BAC over the past three years was getting the district to move to zero-based-budgeting and the question arose whether the BAC was even needed anymore.
Haye said the recommendations from last year’s BAC were helpful
“We made them early on and then after that all we did was argue,” said Miller
The idea arose that perhaps the BAC’s new charge should be simply to attend the budget workshops and ask questions and then report back to the community as liaisons. Gratto asked why that would be any different from a regular community member doing the same thing.
Wilcoxen suggested the BAC had perhaps outgrown its charge and Gratto brought up the idea of eliminating the committee all together.
Wilcoxen mentioned the difficulty in giving such a group a specifically defined charge.
“It’s very hard to define that group of people,” he said “Some people want to limit everything, others want to open everything up.”
Board members Dan Hartnett and Theresa Samot both agreed that the BAC should remain in some fashion. Hartnett suggested they should perhaps meet less frequently but focus on one issue such as benchmarking. Samot pointed out the successful passing of the last budget and attributed it to the BAC.
“I’m a little bit leery of taking that away,” said Samot. “It will end up being interpreted as we don’t need their input.”

Top Photo: Ed Haye, Theresa Samot and Wes Frye at Monday’s board of education meeting.