District looking at cuts to staff

SACKETS HARBOR — The Sackets Harbor Central School District is facing staff and program cuts for the 2010-11 school year, Superintendent Frederick E. Hall said Monday at a Board of Education budget workshop.

"I would be remiss if I said there wouldn't be staff reductions of some kind," Mr. Hall said. "The rubber has met the road when it comes to funding and we're down to dollars. We will look at the cost of each program and position and make the decisions from there."

The board will be looking at every cost before making a decision on what will be cut, Mr. Hall said. Everything from staff positions and athletic programs to the school newsletter are on the chopping block.

The district is facing a roughly $526,000 gap between expenses and revenue for the 2010-11 school year, Mr. Hall said. That includes Gov. David A. Paterson's proposal to reduce state aid to school districts. Sackets Harbor would see about 10.7 percent less state aid for the 2010-11 school year than for this year.

About 15 people attended Monday's workshop meeting, both taxpayers and school staff members.

Angela A. Green,a district resident and wife of a Sackets Harbor teacher, said she would be willing to pay higher taxes.

"I chose to send my kids here because these teachers get kids into Harvard and the Rochester Institute of Technology," Mrs. Green said. "I'm willing to not eat out once a month so we can keep the school's programs."

Board members discussed a potential future revenue stream for the district: the payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement for the Galloo Island Wind Farm. The school district, Jefferson County and the town of Hounsfield each will see a share of the roughly $54 million PILOT agreement, but it wouldn't be for at least a few more years.

"We know that in three years' time, we could be the district in the area that's in pretty good shape because of the wind farm money," board President Gregg A. Townsend said. "But in the meantime, we want to do the least amount of damage to taxpayers and to the school. We're taxpayers and we're parents, too. It's all a balancing act."

The next board meeting is at 5:30 p.m. March 16 in the Board of Education meeting room.