PINE BUSH – School Superintendant Phil Steinberg's description of the $3.56 million cut in state aid to Pine Bush School District: "Worse than expected."

"There's a lot of things at work here, you see. It's not just the aid cut, but that comes on top of the fact that we're in the second year of the teachers' contract and the second year of the administrators' contract, too. So we can't do what districts have traditionally done, which is a rollover budget."

Instead, the district is taking a no-nonsense approach. "We're using zero-based budgeting, because we can't absorb a cut of that magnitude, coupled with other losses in revenue."

Asked what those might be, Steinberg said, "One thing we used to get was aid for decreasing class size in lower grades. Then that was absorbed into Foundation Aid, and since they cut Foundation Aid, it's like a double whammy. So we end up with a loss in revenue, and because of our teachers' and administrators' contracts, we have an increase in expenses. The teachers will get 3 percent more this year, and there'll be something similar for the administrators. When you add in 'steps' — the long established method for teachers to advance up the hierarchy of pay — it will be considerably more."

Nor does Steinberg think that this is going to be a problem for a single season or a year.

"It's such a sick economy right now. The governor is between a rock and a hard place. The gap there is huge. Where's he going to get the money to fill it? Unless the federal government is going to come in and bail us out like they did GM…well, I'm not holding my breath on that one.

Steinberg told of multi-day meetings with every principal and director from each of the schools in the district. He said that these were the latest in a series of meetings which had occurred well in advance of the proposed aid cuts.

"We've given them what we felt they needed to cut. Now they're coming back to us with their plans."

As expected, this year's budget season is going to be a tough one, very tough. But is it possible that the district can really avoid any tax increases?

"There'll be a slight tax increase," says Steinberg. "But it will be reflective of the times, not the loss of state aid. We plan to deliver a budget that is actually down in dollars from where it was last year. But, we can't just be irresponsible. Everyone here understands that these are tough economic times and the taxpayers can't endure this."

The superintendant feels that the school board chose him, in part because they knew that with him it wouldn't be business as usual…and the way this year's budget is being put together is anything but that.

"The board wanted someone who would be fiscally responsible. And I want to emphasize that it's not just me. We are working on this as a team: myself, with Assistant Supervisors Deb Brush and Joan Carbone, plus the principals. So this is a very different scenario from what it usually was, when the superintendant and Deb Brush would work on the budget and then present it to the board. This time around we're going for a much greater transparency in the process."

School budgets are built in three parts. The first is the instruction budget, the second is the administrative and the third is the capital budget.

"At next week's board meeting we're going to unveil what our process has been, how we've arrived at our conclusions. We're going to workshop each section of the budget, analyze each part and we're going to show the board how we put each part of the budget together. The whole thing will be a very transparent process."

However, Steinberg pointed out that whole programs and classes are not on the chopping block.

"Our philosophy is that we're not going to eliminate anything important. We're just going to scale things back. We understand that all our programs are important, so what we're doing is cutting them down. For instance we're looking to bring programs back in house from BOCES."

Taking over as the superintendant of schools has turned out to be a tough job for a tough time, and it was not easy for Steinberg to inherit such a situation.

"I had to cancel a lot of my plans. I had some great ideas for the district, but you know what? In this situation there are other priorities. We have to save programs, teacher positions — so many things. We have to keep in mind what we're here for: to give the youngsters the best education we can. If you like, that's our 'product,' someone who comes out of our school as a life long learner, who can make the best of opportunities."

Steinberg said that he knows he's going to get some criticism.

"Some people in the community will love me, and some will not, once they see what we've done. But one thing I can assure everyone is that they will see that we've worked very hard on this, to do the best we can in this difficult situation."

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