Board of Education Meeting 6/18/20

Board of Education meets tonight at 7:45. On the agenda will be Bach Harrison Prevention Needs Assessment and Summer Learning.

Livestream information can be found here: http://www.northshoreschools.org/live/index.html

If you have something for public comment, please email us through the district website as soon as possible.

June 9, 2020 Election Results (aka June 16!)

Here are the results of Tuesday night's vote tally:

Proposition #1:2020-2021 Budget Passes- 3084-1892

Proposition #2: Capital Reserve Expenditures Passes - 3401-1441

Election of Trustees:

Richard Galati (incumbent)- 3585*

Andrea Macari- 3255*

Robert Mazzella- 1782

*Elected

Ballot Count Livestream

Livestream of the ballot count - details here:

http://www.northshoreschools.org/20june/ballot-count.html

Fact Check: Did You Get the "Vote No' Email?

Recently community members have been receiving emails encouraging them to vote in specific ways. Many have indicated that do not know the sender or how he would have gotten their emails and that the content is not consistent with the information from the district.

Importantly - all the information on the budget and supporting financial documents can be found here: http://www.northshoreschools.org/boe/Budget.html. This page includes the Superintendent's Q&A style emails on the budget as well as information on the extention to June 16 AND a description of how your ballots are handled securely and anonymously.

Profiles of all the candidates can be found here: http://www.northshoreschools.org/20may/meet-cadidates.htmlhttp://www.northshoreschools.org/20may/meet-cadidates.html. You can read more about your current trustees here.

Our Schools and this Budget are Good for Our Community

This budget preserves the hundreds of jobs North Shore provides as the area’s largest employer.  It also maintain the enormous, positive impact those jobs and district spending have on our local economy.

Most Importantly -- Our Schools are Great for Our Kids

Stanford researchers found our students learn more per grade than any other schools in the county – and 20% more each year than the national average.

Ballots: Drop Box Closed - USPS through 6/16

Locked!!

As of 5pm yesterday, the ballot drop box was sealed per the Gov’s executive order.

Ballots received By Mail through 5pm June 16th will be accepted again per the Gov’s executive order. Votes cannot be tallied until that time.

What Will It Cost to Reopen?

From School Superintendent Assoc via Twitter

If you still have not received a ballot, please email the district clerk

The Budget Process -- How Did We Get Here?

We're just days away from the deadline to vote - 5pm on June 9.

On March 26, the Board of Education voted unanimously on the budget and setting the date for the election (although later changed by Executive Order as we now know.)

But the process started long before March 26.

On Feb. 6, the Superintendent presented a budget proposal to the community and to the board.

Every board member reviewed every line. The minutes can be found here and the recorded, public meetings and public comment can be seen here.

This months long process involving the administration, board and the community resulted in the budget we are now voting on. If you were unable to participate at the time, there is still a treasure trove of budget information online so that you can make an informed decision.

Please vote!

School Budget Cut Calculator 2020

You can change any number in a white box. Hit 'enter' to see the result.

If you can't view the calculator, click here.

Answers to All Your Budget Questions

This district has posted an enormous amount of budget and financial information here.

Recently, the Superintendent has been posting shorter pieces in response to questions from the Virtual Budget Coffees.

Here's a quick Q&A on how the district's costs have been changing.

This Q&A addresses district reserves and fund balance.

And here's the most recent in case you missed it:

May 30, 2020Dear North Shore Parents, Community Members, and Faculty,As a reminder, absentee ballots are due back to the Central Office by June 9, 2020, by 5 pm or they will not be canvassed. On the ballot, there are two Propositions and the Election of Trustees (there are two seats available). Proposition 1 is the 2020-21 Budget Proposal which is under the tax cap and Proposition 2 is the subject of today’s Budget Blast. Please see this frequently asked budget question below:Q. Dr. G. will Proposition 2 cost our taxpayers additional money? I understand that it is for specific Capital Reserve projects, but why can’t we use money from the bond to pay for these improvements to our school buildings?A. No. Proposition 2 will not cost our taxpayers any additional money. It only authorizes the District to access existing funds that are currently in our reserves. On May 17, 2016, before we had the 2019 Bond vote, trustees designated the following improvement projects including the nurse’s office at Glen Head Landing and the locker rooms at North Shore Middle School in the Capital Reserve. Our community approved it. On June 9, 2020, we are asking our voters in Proposition 2 to allow the District to use up to $3 million dollars in this existing Capital Reserve for these improvements to our schools. Because these projects were already designated, they were not put in the bond.In addition, I will be hosting my last virtual Community Budget Meeting at 7 pm on Monday, June 8, 2020. All of our residents are invited to attend. Please help us spread the word. I will be sending out a link in advance. For more budget information, please visit the school website at www.northshoreschools.org or the budget/financial section at http://www.northshoreschools.org/boe/Budget.html.Have a nice weekend.  Very truly yours,Dr. Peter GiarrizzoSuperintendent of Schools

What if the Budget Fails?

All residents of the district recently received a mailer with this notice on it:

NYS requires districts to send this information out in this format including the statement at the bottom about a "contingency budget" -- the budget the district would operate on if the proposed budget fails.

It states that by law, the district would have to cut $2,680,973 from the proposed budget for next year.

Such a cut would leave the budget about $170,000 lower than it is this year. Because wages go up every year and 82% of our budget is personnel costs, the impact is described as "cuts will include administrative as well as teaching positions and cuts in buildings and grounds."

People will lose their jobs. The tax levy will remain the same.

If you're looking for your copy, the mailer looked like this: