Board Members Urge Public to Get Involved in Budget Process

Sayville Board of Education members Norm deVenau and John Verdone prefer to be called educational advocates, not political lobbyists. Their message to Albany and Gov. Andrew Cuomo is simple: If you are going to cap it (tax cap), you need to fund it.

“We have to let the politicians know our concern,” Verdone said. “We keep hearing the same thing from the politicians – they aren’t hearing it enough from the people. Even though they are hearing it from us, the elected board officials, they need to hear directly from the community."

Verdone and deVenau recently went to Albany to meet with State Assemblyman , and State Senator's , Owen Johnson and John Flanagan to get a better idea of what lies ahead.

“We are just trying to get a grasp on what really is happening,” Verdone said.

So far, coming from Albany and specifically Cuomo, have been many different distractions, according to Verdone and deVenau, an oft-used political tactic to skirt the issues and divert attention from the real problems.

“The administrators and teachers salaries that are being targeted are just a distraction from the real issues,” deVenau said. “If every school administrator’s salary was cut, it wouldn’t even match the cuts in state aid we are dealing with.”

For the third year in a row, Sayville’s teachers and administrators have agreed to either a salary freeze or cut.

According to the board, local residents need to have a basic knowledge of what’s happening with education and in their community.

“This community wants to keep the education of their children,” deVenau said. “If we don’t give them more than we had, then we are failing them. We won’t present a budget that the community wouldn’t support.”

According to Verdone and deVenau, many of the newly elected officials ran on a tax cap and now they are starting to get a better understanding of what the cap is all about.

In addition, the governor has said he also wants school districts across New York to use more of their reserve funds, which Sayville is already doing for its upcoming budget.

The unfunded mandates remain a major concern to the board members.

“We need to have mandate relief,” Verdone said. “We need it now and not later to offset the pullback from the loss of state aid. It is physically and financially impossible to keep up with all the mandates. When it comes to making cuts, we can only cut what isn’t mandated. New York State doesn’t want to use their own money to fund the mandates, but they expect us to use our funds.”

Approximately 13 percent of Sayville's current budget goes toward mandates, they said.

There’s also concern about the unfair distribution in state aid cuts. “The cuts made to the state aid were not fair; they weren’t equitable when they made the cuts. Some of the cuts proposed by Governor Cuomo may stick, but the local legislators may be able to distribute them in a more equitable manner,” Verdone said.

While the board of education is focused on dealing with the fiscal constraints of the spending plan for the 2011-12 school year, there is also concern about what a possible tax cap will mean in the years ahead and what programs could possibly be on the chopping block. Some feel programs such as music, art and sports could be reduced or cut altogether in the years ahead.

“Every extra-curricular activity is just as important as the mandated programs,” deVenau said. “If we take all those away, we will turn every kid into a robot." 

“We are out there at PTA meetings and we want the community to know we are listening,” Verdone said. “We’ve become familiar faces with the politicians. No matter what the community feels, whether they agree or disagree with the Board of Education, they still need to get in contact with their politicians. The more people they hear from, the harder they will work.”

And the two board members encourage Sayville residents to be involved in the budget progress.

“[The community] put us in place as their representative and they need to know what is happening,” deVenau said. “Letters from the community make a great impression and they really have an impact. But we need to keep it going; it can’t be a one shot deal.”

On March 24 there will be a rally at Hofstra University to support public education. “We need to have as many people show up as possible so it can really have an impact. We need to organize a real grassroots effort all over Long Island. We have to figure out another way to fund education instead of just taxes,” Verdone said.

He added, “Let’s all face this as a team and continue to fund education. These are our children and if we can’t continue to provide them with a quality education, I don’t know what we are going to do. Let’s ask the community to stand with us, toe to toe, shoulder to shoulder, to face this together.”

deVenau concluded, “Education is not an expense; it’s an investment. Call, write and talk to your legislators – they want to hear what you have to say. They may not agree with what you want, but they will listen. We gave them the power – we need to take back the control and we have the power to do that and have them start working for us.”