PINE BUSH – At the March 23 school board meeting, Superintendent Phil Steinberg presented a completed "Proposed Budget" for the district to see.

The figures in the proposed budget have shifted slightly from the earliest proposals, a month or more ago. Indeed the earliest tax warrant increase was 2.99 percent, and now it has edged up to 3.99 percent.

James Barrett, a member of the school board, had noticed this. "As far as I can see," he said, "We've added stuff back in that has pushed it up to the 3.99 percent level."

Steinberg replied, saying, "We have listened to people in the district at the budget forums, and we did add some things back in. These were things that people wanted. And we also took some other things out. So it's been a process of adding and subtracting. However, everything that's gone back in has been studied, because in these difficult economic times we have to account for every dollar."

Terence Mahoney, a taxpayer and parent in the district, raised another difficult point. "Our graduation rate from high school has fallen to 75 percent, down 8 percent from 2008. To me it's unacceptable that one in four of our high school students did not graduate."

Joan Carbone, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction, responded by noting that "You have to factor in the summer school graduates, too, and that brings it up to 80 percent. But you also have to include about 20 students who moved away from the district, but are still registered here, and 20 more who are in Special Education and are not required to graduate before age 21."

Steinberg added, "We have started to address this. It is a problem that begins in middle school. We are stressing 'Foundation Education' there, and building literacy blocks there. Without the ability to read, students cannot progress. One way we are working to improve this is by use of the Acuity program, which we are bringing into the schools. That allows for much better understanding by our teachers of how our students are doing."

Judith Pulver, teacher and Secondary Summer School Principal, addressed the cuts in summer school.

"I speak for a group of students who aren't represented here, a group that does not get support from parents, a group that needs summer school. By cutting summer school for grades 9 and 10, we are making it so that these students stay back a year. Ultimately your graduation rates could go down the tubes."

After the meeting, Mr. Mahoney said, "In this district, we're spending about $16,700 per pupil and getting a 75 percent graduation rate. Even if that figure is a little higher, say 80 percent, it's still not acceptable.

"The challenge is not the kids who are going to college. The challenge is the kids who are not graduating with diplomas, and we need to help them become productive members of society.

"My concern is whether in making these cuts we are doing so without sufficient reflection about our core values in education, and that is like shooting in the dark. We may end up compounding the problem that is evident in our graduation rate right now."

Jim McIntyre, teacher and Odyssey of the Mind leader in the district, spoke concerning the cuts to Odyssey.

"I know that all these cuts are hard to accept. But I want to point out that Odyssey of the Mind has been devastated. Last year we were hit with a 30 percent cut, and this year with a 50 percent cut. We have gone from 20 Odyssey teams down to seven. And in Odyssey, Pine Bush is a name that is known across New York State and, indeed, across the whole country, even the world, for its great Odyssey teams."