M-W school board president says public education is at risk

Dr. Michael J. DiGeronimo says the task at hand is cutting, not building, education Central Valley — At the end of an evening where students, parents, teachers, administrators and school board members acknowledged the contribution each makes to create the Monroe-Woodbury school community, the school board president offered a blunt assessment of the future Wednesday evening: “We are overseeing the dismantling of education in America,” Dr. Michael DiGeronimo said. “We are fighting to maintain education by trying to anticipate what is coming next. We are looking for cuts every time we turn around.” DiGeronimo’s remarks tempered an otherwise celebratory meeting during which students, principals and teachers from each of the district’s seven schools thanked the members of the school board for their efforts. There will be more on that later in this story. Although he said he was not offering “doom and gloom” with his comments, it would be hard to described them otherwise. He referenced an article in the financial publication Barron’s which predicted that by the end of the decade, the Chinese Yuan, not the American dollar, would be the dominant currency in the world. He cited other studies that indicate the federal government spends $25 million an hour on defense items, but will end up spending the equivalent of 100 hours of that kind of money on education. DiGeronimo also referenced a comment made earlier in the meeting by school board member Theresa Budich, who asked what would the district’s approach to the 2012-13 school budget be. “I know the end result,” Budich said. “What will be our philosophy.” The school board president noted that 82 percent of the district’s $147 million budget involve personnel. He also said Superintendent Edward J. Mehrhof and his cabinet are already meeting with staff to get an early indication of “how much non-curriculum items could be cut, and then we’ll see what happens at that point.” The first of the 2012-13 budget presentations will take place in January. There will be few certainties, given the economy. But this much is certain: all taxing bodies in New York must comply with a state-ordered 2 percent cap on spending. For Monroe-Woodbury, a district with more than 7,000 students, 1,000 employees and a fleet of buses that travel more than 11,000 each day, a 2 percent cap would come to about $2.9 million. The district has been largely spared the large-scale cuts in staff and programs experienced by other schools systems in the state in recent years by reducing its work force primarily through attribution, including programs that included retirement incentives. That trend will be tested in the coming months. “No one realizes how much money we won’t be getting” from Albany or Washington, DeGeronimo added. “People need to speak up. The public needs to stand up. We need to educate our children. “And no matter our differences (on the board),” he added, “we have kept the district moving ahead. I am proud to serve with you.” Audit DiGeronimo said the district is being audited by the state Comptroller’s Office. He said that while the state audits most school districts every 52 months, Monroe-Woodbury is on a 21-month rotation. He said he could not explain the state’s timetable or interest. Jeffrey White, the assistant superintendent for business and management services, said the state auditors were asking questions about the amounts of reserve funds the district has, the type of bank accounts it has and what he described as typical queries one faces when the state reviews a district’s finances. The auditors expect to complete their work by Dec. 22. On a related matter, Budich asked what was the status of the district’s request to be recoup about $150,000 in state aid lost when the district exceeded the number of school cancellations during the 2010-11 school year due to bad weather. DeGeronimo said he expects the state Legislature to act on the district’s request (there are similar requests from other districts) in January. Sexual harassment policies The district approved changes in its policies governing sexual harassment of employees and students. The changes involve state-ordered changes in language defining sexual violence and the appointment of a male and female compliance officers to investigate any charges. School Board member Jennifer Trumper chaired the review committee. The revised policies will be posted on the district’s Web site (www.mw.k12.ny.us) within the week. Additionally, the school board appointed Brian C. Monahan, the assistant superintendent for human resources, and Kristin Randhare, the director of educational support services, as the compliance officers. Extra hours The board also approved additional hours for 15 bus drivers. Budich asked whether the damage caused earlier this year by the hurricane, tropical storm and then snow storm was behind the added expense. No, Mehrhof said, the transportation department did a good job re-routing buses after those storms. The increase was largely due to traffic, typical for this time of year. And it will get worse when work on Route 32 gets underway, added Budich. The superintendent agreed. Kyrgyzstan If you know where Kyrgyzstan is located, you are a good student of geography and geo-politics. The president of this former Soviet republic in Central Asia knows where the Monroe-Woodbury School District is located and was prepared to visit during her stay in New York next week, according to Mehrhof. During his report to the school board, the school superintendent said he recently received a call from the Kyrgyzstan embassy in Washington, D.C., indicating that President Roza Isakovna Otunbayeva would like to visit Monroe-Woodbury High School on Nov. 22. Otunbayeva would be in New York for business at the United Nations, but would have some free time. Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is one of the world’s six independent Turkic states. Landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and People’s Republic of China to the east. Its capital and largest city is Bishkek, all this thanks to Wikipedia. In December 1936, the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic was established as a full republic of the Soviet Union. Independence from the Soviet Union arrived on the last day of August 1991. It seems, Mehrhof said, that Kyrgyzstan diplomats have visited the area, trips that presumably included stops at Woodbury Commons Premium Outlets, located just across Route 32 from Central Valley Elementary and behind it, the Monroe-Woodbury High School. They apparently reported to their president about the area, specifically mentioning the design of the high school, which they presumed was a college. Mehrhof , DeGeronimo and High School Principal David Bernsley quickly said yes and began preparations for what would have been a one-hour state visit. However, U.N. politics interfered and Otunbayeva had to cancel. Embassy officials, however, indicated that the country’s new president, who takes office in January, would be in touch. Recognition It would be easy to dismiss the accolades offered to the school board members by the principals, teachers and students as little more than smart politics. And there’s certainly a measure of that. But there is something more if you considered what the students and their school officials offered: There were donations made in their names to food pantries and an agency that arranges housing for the families of veterans injured in Iraq and Afghanistan so they can be near their loved ones in the care of VA hospitals. There was “America, the Beautiful” sung with young voices, then signed with young hands. There were contributions to clothing and food drives, including four $25 gift cards from Stop N’ Shop that will be given to families who could use a hand this holiday season. There was beautiful artwork created out of recycled bottle caps. There was cookie dough and cookies, believe it or not, in the purple and white school colors. And there were T-shirts from the LEAD (Leadership Empowerment Achievement Development) mentors, who help kids from the middle school make the transition into high school. There is no state assessment to measure these things.