Newfield school officials discuss educational budget

Newfield recently received a poor rating from the New York State Comptroller’s Office for the 2020-21 school year. In response to this rating, as well as community members’ concerns, Newfield Central School District held a forum March 9 to inform the public about the budgetary situation and what they are planning to do in response.

David Shaw, business administrator of Newfield Central School District, spoke to the public alongside Eric Hartz, superintendent, and the rest of the board. Shaw acknowledged the gravity of the situation but informed the public that the board was taking steps to solve the problem.

“It’s a serious matter — I would say that,” Shaw said. “It’s certainly not without precedent — it’s happened to districts before across the state — but it’s something that’s very serious, and we’re taking it seriously and responding in kind.”

During the forum, Shaw told the public that there are two elements to the district’s strategy to balance its budget — reducing expenditures and increasing revenue — and they are equally important. He said that for a few years, Newfield Central School District’s expenses have been higher than its revenues, and this discrepancy was the problem.

“At the end of the day, we have to have a balanced budget,” Shaw said. “We don’t have a choice in that. We can’t [spend] more than we take in; they’re part of the same equation.”

Shaw spoke about how the district has already taken steps to curb expenses, such as giving teachers on the verge of retirement incentives to retire early, not filling vacancies left by departing teachers and laying staff off when necessary, which resulted in nine layoffs and a total of 20 positions being eliminated. That represented about 10% of the district’s workforce of roughly 200 people.

Shaw described salaries and other payments to employees as Newfield’s greatest expenses, so cutting back in that area results in significant savings.

“We’re a people business,” Shaw said. “We pay our people. That’s the biggest part of our expenditure budget. Our staff account for 80% of our total expenditure budget. So, if we’re going to make a real dent into how much we’re spending, we’re really talking about people and positions.”

Shaw added that he wanted to limit the impact layoffs and staff reductions have on the district employees but added that if the district is overspending, it must cut its expenses.

Shaw said that the district’s revenue comes from various sources, with 25% coming from taxes, 70% from state aid and 5% from federal aid. He said he hoped to receive more state aid from Gov. Kathy Hochul this year because foundation aid will be increasing for this year and next year. He encouraged residents to reach out to their representatives.

“The comptroller labeled us the way they did, and that should draw the attention and support of any elected official,” Shaw said.

According to Shaw, these efforts will pay off by allowing Newfield Central School District to add to its savings this year for the first time in three years, although he said it is too soon for him to specify an amount.

About 50 people showed up for the event, whether in-person or via the Google Meetings link, with some participants asking questions in person and others posting their inquiries in the Google Meetings chat. Shaw praised the community members who showed up and asked in-depth questions.

“People are knowledgeable,” he said. “They care about this community. They care about the district. The conversations were very positive. I got a lot of thank-yous just for sharing and being open about it.”

Hartz reminded people that Newfield Board of Education meetings are streamed on YouTube. He encouraged people to check the district website, newfieldschools.org, which has links for people to view the streaming meetings, as well as archived footage of past meetings.

He said that to him, transparency is most important, and even if community members are unable to interact with board members while watching streams of meetings, watching those videos will help them stay abreast of what’s going on in the community.

“I don’t want people to feel like we’re hiding things and then, all of a sudden, getting to this point where we had to have a forum,” Hartz said.

Newfield Notes appears every Wednesday in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com.

In brief:

High school to perform ‘Shrek: The Musical’

Newfield Central School District students, as well as current and retired staff members and community members, will present “Shrek: The Musical” in Newfield High School’s Vincent Aiosa Auditorium on March 25 and April 1 at 7 p.m. and March 26 and April 2 at 4 p.m.

Based on the DreamWorks Animation motion picture and the book by William Steig, this performance tells the tale of an ogre named Shrek who finds himself on a life-changing journey alongside a wisecracking donkey and a feisty princess.

Tickets are $5 for students and senior citizens and $10 for all other adults. All tickets are sold at the door. “Shrek: The Musical” is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International. Any video recording made of this performance is authorized only for personal, at-home, noncommercial use.

For more information, visit the district website at newfieldschools.org.

Newfield Public Library hosts Author Talk with David Mould

The Newfield Public Library will host an author talk with David Mould from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. March 24. Mould, a journalist and historian, recently wrote “Postcards from the Borderlands,” in which he explores the meaning of borders.

For more information or to register, go to tinyurl.com/y9xbg5bq.

Newfield Public Library holds Family Storytime

The Newfield Public Library will hold its weekly Family Storytime event from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. March 29. Children are welcome at this weekly event, which will explore a different theme each week. The event will be held via Zoom when the library is closed.

Newfield board seats open for election

Four board member seats will be open at the next Newfield Board of Education election, which will be held from noon to 5 p.m. May 15. The seats currently belong to Board President Christina Ward, Vice President Jen Pawlewicz and board members Brad Nelson and Austin Kuczek, the latter of whom recently resigned from the board.