KL Superintendent Robert Roelle Offers Up Portion of Salary During Budget Crisis
Administrative costs defended by district official and Board of Education.
K-L Superintendent Robert Roelle offered to reduce his contract by $17,500 for the remainder of this year and for the 2010-11 budget year at last night's Board of Education meeting.
The move comes after several community members criticized the district's administrative costs including the superintendent and assistant superintendent salaries during recent school board meetings. At the March 11 meeting, KES parent Carmen Seleme-McDermott compared the KL school district to neighboring Ridgefield Schools, noting that they had only one superintendent and one assistant superintendent for 5,421 students.
"We have 3,850 students and a superintendent and three assistants. We need to look at these contracts," she implored.
Roelle said he felt the district's staffing levels were defensible, given the number of responsibilities and the long hours including evening and weekend events. "We're here because we love what we do," he said. "After I froze conference and travel expenditures last year, I used $3,000 of my own money to attend a conference that was important for the district."
The total compensation piece he offered was $40,000 including the two-year salary reduction and unused vacation time.
Though he was applauded, some felt it wasn't enough. "Do we need three assistant principals at the high school in these tough times?" asked Regina Andersen.
Board of Education President Mike Gordon reiterated that district savings on administrative costs since 2008 have been more than $1 million, after Roelle instituted a reorganization plan. Total administrators have been reduced from 34.3 to 26.5, and next year, two assistant principals will be replaced by TOSA's (Teachers on Special Assignment) at a net reduction of one administrator for the 2010-11 budget.
Gordon also presented the results of a BOCES study comparing eight other districts with roughly the same enrollment. The highest number of administrators was 36.9 and lowest was 26.2; Katonah Lewisboro was the mean at 26.5. Roelle's salary was the 9th highest in Westchester.
Gordon and other board members also explained that comparing districts was sometimes apples to oranges, due to different structural approaches. Katonah Lewisboro has no academic department heads, making the role of administrators even more critical.
An additional $185,000 in savings will be realized by not filling the Director of Technology position formerly held by Carol Ann Lee, current Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources. The work will be shared amongst existing staff.
Other administrative reductions include a high school math teacher, due to enrollment adjustments, at a savings of $114,114, a $50,000 reduction in the legal budget, eliminating conference travel, a public relations position, printing costs for public information pieces, and the purchase of smart boards.
The sum of budget adjustments presented was close to $600,000.
"We've cut the fat. There's not much else to cut," Gordon stated. "We need supervision of your children, of the day-to-day management of the buildings, and oversight of the $61 million payroll. If we cut more from the business office we will go against the advice of our auditors."
Some were still not impressed. More than one speaker during the two-hour public forum requested a deeper look at creative ways to slash costs, including merging back office functions with neighboring districts.
Check back with Patch next week for a full report on the March 18 meeting. The Board of Education expects to adopt a budget at their next meeting, March 25.
