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Schools

Long Beach Residents Contribute to Budget Process

Budget Advisory Committee of taxpayers weighed in with proposals to amend the proposed spending plan.

The Citizens Budget Advisory Committee took the floor for its anticipated hearing before Long Beach Board of Education to deliver 17 proposals from representative residents and taxpayers of Long Beach who otherwise are left out of the budget process.

In addition to making proposals for Long Beach School District’s proposed $118.6 million budget for 2011-12, the Committee singled out the increase in employee benefits — $9.21 million or 44.3 percent higher than 2009-10 expenses — for special focus during its presentation.

Lilly Newman, committee chairwoman and retired banker, showed a slide, headed “Health Insurance Trends,” exhibiting medical insurance costs, which were about $11 million in 2009 and are projected to increase to $15.4 million in the proposed budget, as the most influential factor in the collective incline of benefit costs.

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Additionally, the presentation showed that the increases to state and teachers’ retirement combined, $1.4 million and $3 million, respectively, to about $2.5 million and $6 million, exceed that of health insurance in percentage. Their costs, however, add up to just more than half of medical benefits. Health insurance alone costs more than all other categories of benefits combined by nearly $1 million.

“If the trend in health insurance is allowed to continue, it’s inevitable that there’s going to be competition between programs for children and paying for health insurance,” Newman said at the March 22 meeting.

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Board Trustee Roy Lester agreed, calling health costs “unsustainable.” 

“And part of the problem is, of course, the insurance companies themselves,” Lester said. “When an insurance company would rather spend $25,000 or $50,000 for a by-pass than give somebody a gym membership which would probably prevent it, we can see why there are problems. They don’t look at the long-term goals, they just look at what they can do to solve the problem.”

Frank McQuade, a Long Beach resident and attorney who has been on the committee for three years, presented the recommendations to the board (listed below). He laid out proposals that ranged form micro, easy-to-implement ideas to broad, macro-type suggestions asks “the school board and the public to change the culture of over spending,” McQuade said in the lobby before the meeting.

The proposals received unanimous praise from the board and administration.

Lester, who called the recommendations “phenomenal,” said that the board had tried to act in the past to act on the committee’s recommendations, but that state law and mandates were roadblocks to implementing them.

“Unfortunately, legislation says that we have to have empty seats for any child who might ever take a school bus,” Lester said. “…We introduced legislation up in Albany about four years ago to try to get this changes: nothing.”

During the public comments, Diane Smith, a self-described educator and social entrepreneur, asked her fellow members of the 14-person committee: “Does it appear that we are all in agreement with the recommendations?”

“[It’s] always a concern that, if there is disagreement that, that be represented to us somehow,” said Board President Dr. Dennis Ryan.

McQuade said that the committee set a standard to table any proposal that did not have the support of at least 11 members.

The board did not vote on any of the proposed measures, except to accept the request to have them posted on the district website.

“I’ll work hard with [Michael DeVito, the district’s chief operating officer] to try to respond to each of your questions when we talk on April 5,” said Superintendent Dr. Robert Greenberg.

On that date, the school board will meet and plans to adopt a final draft of the proposed budget.

2011 Proposals:

  1. Support a decrease in the budget or a decrease in the tax levy. There has been historically high cost for public education in our district. Favor a budget that is prudent and looks to cost-containment where possible.
  2. Urge the School District to take confident negotiating stance that supports fiscally prudent positions at contract negotiations and takes general economic conditions in the community into consideration.
  3. Those who negotiate new contracts for the district should be independent of interest in the outcome. We urge the school district to abide by its conflict of interest policies.
  4. Engage in legislative activism with State and County legislators. Oppose new State unfunded mandates passed to the school district by our State legislators, and do away with existing unfunded mandates.
  5. Reduce staff through attrition where feasible -- when they retire or leave, and save those salary lines.
  6. Standardize the district’s list of supplies to maximize purchasing power. Purchase uniform product brands throughout the district in order to be able to purchase in greater bulk and to realize greater savings.
  7. Ask for Request for Proposals for all contracted services. Regularly send out RFP for insurance agents, auditors, brokers, attorneys, architects, etc. Renegotiate insurance rates.
  8. Put the Security Services contract out to bid. Investigate why Long Beach security costs are significantly higher than nearby comparable districts.
  9. The goal for Food Services should be to become self-sustaining, and even show a profit. Do not out-source the food services. Raise the cost of meals and look for other revenue means. Increase participation rates through regular ongoing meetings with students for obtaining their likes and dislikes.
  10. Increase the number of students assigned to school buses in order to reduce the amount of buses in use.
  11. Send on-line newsletters in place of printed mailings.
  12. Support greater transparency in publicizing bonding proposals.
  13. Investigate the possibility that Atlantic Beach joins our school district.
  14. Discontinue free tuition of children of faculty who attend Long Beach schools while living out of the district.
  15. For a fee, offer bus service to Island Park students attending the High School. They are currently paying for private transportation.
  16. Eliminate the purchase or lease of any motor vehicles for private or official use by administrative personnel.
  17. Enforce “green” practices throughout the School District. Conduct an energy audit.
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