On the evening of March 6, parents and teachers filled the lobby of New Paltz High School holding signs that read “Education Cuts Never Heal” and “Cut Teachers Cut Opportunities” as students milled around them with trombones and feather boas rehearsing music. They had come to attend the New Paltz School District’s Board of Education meeting as the Board considered the district’s budget, and to voice their concerns about the impact proposed teacher cuts will have on district values and priorities.
The New Paltz Central School District is facing a budget deficit of $2.1 million for the 2024-2025 school year. Superintendent Stephen Gratto presented his proposal for eliminating multiple teaching positions across the district to close the deficit at the board meeting. Members of the teacher’s union New Paltz United Teachers (NPUT), along with students and parents packed the meeting room, sitting on the floor, pulling up chairs and making public comments regarding their opinion of the cuts.
Superintendent Gratto’s proposed cuts to close the deficit involve eliminating five to seven current employees across the district. The positions in jeopardy of being cut include two social workers, a high school P.E. and elementary P.E. teacher, an elementary art teacher, an academic intervention services math teacher, an elementary teacher and a bus driver.
In addition to eliminating current employee positions, the superintendent’s proposed cuts include eliminating vacant positions. The positions he recommends reducing are the floating nurse that works across the schools, reducing New Paltz pre-K staff and replacing them with outside employees paid for by New York State’s Universal Pre-K Expansion grant, reducing a social worker position, librarian position, an athletic trainer position and reducing one section of pre-K.
“I have not enjoyed going around and being the Grim Reaper and telling them that I might have to eliminate their jobs, but it is my job, so I do it,” Superintendent Gratto said at the meeting.
Employee reductions would reduce expenses, since teacher and employee benefits make up 30% of the district’s $75 million budget. According to the superintendent, the district is facing revenue challenges due to a 20% decline in the student population over the last six years, the 2% tax cap on how much local property tax a person is required to pay to the district budget and federal COVID-19 grants that gave aid to schools across New York State running out. Other factors he noted are inflation, which has caused prices to increase, and state aid at almost $20 million is historically lower than the Board would prefer.
President of NPUT Paulette Easterlin said prior to the meeting, “While there is lower student enrollment, there is also the need for us to give the most and the best opportunities that we can and the best programming, and that’s what we have been doing.”
“If we’re going to lose people, we’re going to continue to lose the best of the best. We’re going to come to a point where we’re left a shell of what we are now. We are a very good district and many people come into this district because of the things that we offer,” she said. “Why are we going to take away those resources, take away those assets and think of students as a number versus thinking of students as ‘these are our students, these are our needs and how are we going to best suit the needs?’” Easterlin emphasized that NPUT wants to “be included and have a seat at the table” regarding the budget. “We’re pulling up chairs. We can’t get a seat; we’re going to pull up a chair,” she said.
NPUT Vice President Eric Savelson said, “Our hope tonight is just to express our side so the community can see where our stand is in terms of making these decisions, and to encourage the community to take a careful and close look at what’s happening in this process so they understand and can make an informed decision.”
Before the Board opened the floor for public comments, Board of Education President Johanna Herget made a statement reminding the crowd, “We are your friends. We are your neighbors. Our kids are your kids’ classmates. Our kids are your students,” she said. “You have voted us to represent you in these meetings and we have made a commitment to be here volunteering our time.”
The public comment sections were charged with emotions, with some students crying as they discussed the prospect of losing teachers they connect to. Parents, teachers and social workers spoke about what cuts to social work, physical education, library and art programs would have on the students and community. Many of the attendees discussed how losing an art teacher and having one art teacher do the work of two would harm the district’s art program and the celebrated Lenape Art Show that features artwork from the elementary students at the end of each school year.
Morgan Profaci is the art teacher at Lenape Elementary School whose job is in danger of being cut because she has the least seniority. She shared at the Board meeting that she was informed 24 hours before the school year began that her teaching schedule was reduced in what she believes was to “justify the possibility of cutting [her] position.”
“It completely dismantled my curriculum, my time. I had such less classes that I was almost part time. I had to cover sub positions in teachers’ rooms. I was treated not great,” Profaci said.
According to Profaci, while the loss of her position does not mean there will be no art program, there will be less classes. “My job has an art show and prep. It’s 800 kids for one person to cover. I am here today to fight for that teacher, to fight for other teachers, to make sure our students get enough art. My art may be in jeopardy, but at least I can try to help get art for the students,” she said.
“It’s a central institution in the community. It drives a lot of things in the community in terms of who’s going to want to locate here, and what the outcomes for the kids and the families that live here are going to experience,” said Savelson about the district’s art program. “People should want the best for the kids in the community, and that’s what we’re arguing for — to do what we can do to keep the best.”
Easterlin said, “Educational cuts, you don’t heal from. That’s not something you heal very easily from. We’re still healing from those cuts from last year, and now we’re going to be among a bunch of other cuts.”
“The more we’re cutting away at who we are and what we are, it’s going to get to a point that no one is going to want to come work here,” she said.
Even after cutting the proposed positions, the budget deficit remains at $400 thousand, but Superintendent Gratto does not recommend further reductions. He said at the Board meeting, “Cutting further at this point has potential to significantly impact programs,” which the crowd disagreed with in a vocal uproar of scoffs and claims that students will be affected by the current proposed cuts.
“The thing about all these positions, the ones I recommended, is we have someone else that can do the job. I’m confident we have enough staff left to offer the same courses we’ve asked before,” said Superintendent Gratto. “I could keep going and say there’s 10 more jobs you could eliminate. But I didn’t say that because I don’t have somebody to do those jobs.”
“When you cut a person who’s providing services to the students, and you don’t replace those services because you’re not replacing the person, then you’re losing that opportunity.” said Savelson prior to the Board meeting. “Right now, the health of the district is pretty strong, and we don’t see the need to cut programming that’s shown to be successful in the past.”
While the district has $9 million in reserve funds, the Board plans to use 42% of their savings to close the budget deficit that remains after the proposed reductions and to pay for emergency needs such as fixing the fire alarms in the middle and high schools. The superintendent called the use of savings to close the deficit a “slippery slope” at the meeting and said, “You go down the road of using more fund balance, you’re going to run out of money. You’re not going to be able to cover your expenses if anything goes wrong. In a year from now, you’d have the exact same problems, but you’d have less savings.”
“We’re not the kind of people who would cut positions capriciously,” said Gratto.
Board of Education President Herget was voted onto the Board three years ago and has three children in the New Paltz Central School District. She discussed the prospect of increasing the tax cap to close the deficit instead of cutting positions. “If the only way to create a sustainable budget is to push a burden onto the taxpayers, then we’re just prolonging the same issue. We still have fewer students,” she said. “It’s really hard as a parent, with children in the schools to be making these decisions because you know all these people.”
She encouraged people to communicate with the Board and be involved with the community. “It’s really good to be involved in your community and to pay attention to what’s going on in in the local communities, the local governments and school board,” she said. “Be an informed member and write letters so that those officials know where their constituents stand. Pay attention and vote.”
The superintendent is focused on closing the deficit so the district schools remain open. “When you lose 20% of your population changes are needed, but we put a lot of effort into looking at where we can reduce without affecting programs,” said Gratto. “We’re not Cazenovia Çollege and we’re not St. Rose — these colleges that are closing. We don’t have to do that. We can’t do that. We don’t want to do that. But in order to not do that, we got to take some drastic steps,” said Gratto.
The superintendent expects the Board to reach an approved budget at the next Board meeting that New Paltz voters will vote on in May.
