CIRCLEVILLE – Everyone in the Pine Bush School District knew it was coming. They also knew it was going to be painful. As such, the school board meeting at Circleville Middle School on March 2 was a crowded one.

After brief remarks by Superintendent Phil Steinberg, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Joan Carbone took the microphone and led the meeting through a review of the 2010-2011 Instructional budget.

Inevitably there were some heavy cuts to that budget. The biggest came under the heading "Staff Reductions Due to Increased Class Size and Lower Enrollment." Altogether, 34.7 positions were proposed for elimination, producing savings of $2,158,123.

These cuts included 10 Elementary School positions, five in Special Education, three in Physical Education, 1.5 in Foreign Language, 1.3 in Technology, and 0.5 in Science, Social Studies, English, and Librarian. One English as a Second Language and 1.4 Art positions rounded it out, along with 9.0 Teaching Assistants.

Carbone noted that since 80 percent of the district's total budget lay in Instruction, it was inevitable that in the current fiscal crisis that this was where the biggest cost savings would have to be made.

Turning to "Potential Savings by Reduction or Elimination of Programs," Carbone laid out a further $1,182, 338 in cost reduction, involving laying off 13 more members of the staff.

For many parents, this was where the real pain began. Reading Recovery would be discontinued, along with Elementary Band. The Elementary Library Program would be cut in half, and Elementary Summer School would be discontinued. Seventh Grade Foreign Language would be cut, Middle School Homework Help would be discontinued, and reductions would be made in Middle School Band and High School Music Electives. Finally, Summer School Transportation would cease.

Under the heading "Potential BOCES Savings," Carbone laid out another $485,200 that could be cut from the budget. The big items here were returning 10 students from BOCES programs to the School District Program at $350,000 savings, and hiring a teacher for the visually impaired, which would produce a net savings of around $80,000.

And under "Potential Cost Savings without Layoffs or Program Cuts," Carbone listed another $759,615 that could be saved. This would mean the elimination of Itinerant Permanent Substitute teachers, as well as a decrease in Discretionary Substitutes, which together would save $305,000.

A 50 percent cut in Materials and Supplies was projected to save $250,000, as well.

Altogether $5,469,112 would be saved from the Instructional Budget, and 62.7 positions would be cut.

After Joan Carbone had finished her presentation, John Jay Anthony, President of the Board of Education, asked her to go over the numbers for the STARS Academy, because he had been asked about it by several people in the district.

"We developed this program for middle school and high school students who were unsuccessful in regular school settings."

The first year's intake was 63 students, 18 from middle school and 43 from high school.

"Next year we're aiming for 75 students. The important thing here is that this is saving the district a lot of money. The total cost for STARS was $480,000," said Carbone. "That is equal to the cost of sending 12 students to similar programs in BOCES."

During the Public Participation, Al Otto, resident and taxpayer, asked if the administrative budget, which is given as $10.25 million, could be cut by 20 or 25 percent. He also said that any further raises for teachers in the district would only mean more job losses for younger, less protected teachers that were most recently hired.

Assistant Superintendent Deborha Brush responded to Otto's first question by pointing out that the Administration Budget covered a lot more things than just the administration staff. Cutting it by 20 percent was impossible.

Terence Mahoney, district resident, taxpayer, and parent, brought up the subject of the federal stimulus money ($3.3 million), which he pointed out would be gone after next year.

Superintendent Steinberg said that everyone was well aware of the so-called "Stimulus Cliff."

"We realized that this was going to be a four-year problem. Pine Bush is pretty unique among school districts: the only income it has is from state aid and local property taxes, nearly all of it from residents."

Mahoney noted that tax certiorari cases, which are increasing in the district, could become a problem. "I know that in Westchester they have crippled some districts."

Tax certiorari cases (where residents claim for lower property taxes due to loss of property value due to the real estate market decline) were understood to be a threat, said Steinberg.

Roseanne Sullivan, Vice President of the Board, said that in regards to the Stimulus Cliff, there was a lobbying effort underway in Washington D.C. to lift some mandates to help save money.

One taxpayer, 71-year-old Mr. Stack, then said "I pay $51,000 a year in property taxes. That's a thousand bucks a week. You can't raise taxes any more."

He said he had nine tax certiorari cases before a judge. "The kids today are spoiled," he continued. When I was young I hitchhiked here from Fort Sill in Oklahoma, today these kids — they won't walk across the street."

Judith Pulver, teacher and district resident, spoke in defense of Summer School, which has been much criticized in recent weeks.

"The sole purpose is educating and getting kids their diplomas. We have to educate them, so what's worse, having summer school and getting them passed, or holding them back? That way we could have twelfth graders sitting in ninth grade social studies classes — which is something that has been shown to be a bad idea."

Resident Eric Valentine wondered where all the local legislators were. "They should be here tonight."

Superintendent Steinberg said that Senator Larkin had sent a representative to one of the budget forums. That wasn't enough for Mr. Valentine. "They should be here, they should be fighting for Pine Bush; they should be fighting for the good schools."