The Katonah-Lewisboro School District held a marathon special meeting on Saturday at the John Jay High School library where for more than nine hours they presented each page of the superintendent's proposed budget for next year and listened to a chorus of community concerns.

As with an earlier meeting on the budget on Thursday, some 60 community members attended. Parents, students, and teachers voiced fears about increases in class size at the elementary level and the reduction of the music and arts department hurting students.

Assistant Superintendent of Instruction Alice Cronin explained the instructional part of the budget, speaking about the reduction in teaching staff. Although there is a proposed reduction of 43 position, Cronin said there is no direct correlation between the reduction in positions and the people leaving. Thirty-two teachers will be laid off, while others will have reassigned positions.

 "There is no doubt that there is going to be impact in art as well as music," Cronin said. "Music may be more significant because it's half the time, and so we don't expect that our teachers can do in one period what they can do in two."

Donna Walsh of Katonah, whose daughter is the assistant student director of the John Jay musical, said music is a universal language.

"Our most critical priorities need to be preserved," she said. "Music and the arts is the core of the community."

Cronin also spoke about special education, psychological services, library, and attendance that should be managed through the main office.

When School Board President Michael Gordon opened the public forum, about 30 people lined up to speak.

Many wore red shirts, part of a self-proclaimed "sea of red," and expressed their concerns about the increase in class size at the elementary level.

Lynn Siegel said she and her husband moved to Katonah because of the "exceptional quality of the school system and the small class sizes."

"I feel strongly that the wrong decisions are being made," she said. "There is extensive indisputable evidence that smaller class size is better and that smaller class size is even more crucial in lower primary grades than in higher ones."

Andrew Sussman of South Salem, who is one in five full-time orchestra teachers in Mamaroneck public schools, said that he has deep concern about the cuts in the music and art department.

"The proposed 22 percent cut in music staff that is in this budget in not reduction, it is destruction," Sussman said.

Lewisboro Elementary School art teacher Spencer Eldridge also spoke at the public forum.

"If we negate the importance of creativity, and regulate our children to 45 minutes a week, it sends a message that art is simply not important as the real classes," he said. "It's sad to think of a world where there would be less art. There is more to education than training a workforce for corporations."

John Jay sophomore Nick Tisherman said the music program is what makes the school unique.

"We need to find better ways of saving money," he told the board. "It's going to take a long commitment to get our music and arts program the way it was."

Other community members suggested that Spanish instruction be eliminated at elementary level and for the board to look for alternative ways to cut the budget. Others pleaded with the school board to listen to the community and give them what they wanted.

Josh Blum of South Salem, a high school English teacher in Hastings-on-Hudson, said the rewards in the teachers' cuts will be minimal, but the risks involved seem more significant with long lasting consequences.

"Asking teachers to receive cuts and to agree to long term salary freezes is shameful," he said, referring to an earlier request by the district for the teacher's union to agree to a salary freeze to stave off cuts. Union leaders did not. "Teachers' salaries have not increased nearly to the same extent as everyone else's."

During the afternoon session, discussions included guidance counseling, reduction of the athletics program, volunteering to reduce unnecessary costs, cutting foreign language instruction at elementary level, transportation, operations and maintenance, employee benefits and debt service.

The reduction of guidance counselors could have an impact on students who would need recommendations for college. As proposed there would be seven counselors in high school (currently eight) and three for middle school (currently four) for next year. There would be 40 high school juniors affected by the reduction, who would be distributed among the remaining seven counselors.

Athletic Director Chris McCarthy said assistant coaching positions are critical at varsity levels, but not at other levels. There would be a reduction of 24 coaching positions. JV A and JV B teams would be reduced to keep the program intact, but no teams would be eliminated.

Other members suggested that by not having substitute teachers, where especially in the high schools having a sub teacher means "fun day" for students, they could save a teacher. Currently hiring substitute teachers costs $350,000- $400,000.  It costs around $150,000, including salary and benefits, for every teacher the school puts back.

There were suggestions that parents could volunteer as substitute teachers or take attendance at school. Currently $53,000 is spent on an attendance person.

Discussion on transportation and cost savings included sending fewer buses, having fewer drivers, and implementing triple tripping.

Currently the district has 80 buses intended for home to school transportation and 15 spare buses reserved for field trips and when the other buses come off the road for service. Members of the board took into consideration that buses do not fill to their capacity, but they need to have a seat for every child in case of emergencies.

Some major cost increases in the budget are legal fees ($143,607), health insurance ($1,964,748), employee and teachers retirement system ($1,575,242), and Metropolitan Transportation Authority Tax ($36,000). 

The overall increase in spending in the budget is 2.58%

Reduction of mailing and printing expenses was another topic the board said wanted further follow up from the administration.

High School Junior Charlie Seidell suggested that teachers could accept email attachments and electronic paper submissions to reduce cost.

Superintendent Robert Roelle thanked the Board of Education for doing an excellent job of representing the constituencies and examining the entire school budget for next year line by line.

"I can't imagine that we could have done any more efficiently than we did today without being as thorough as you were, so my hats to each and every one of you," he said.

Gordon, the board president, adjourned the meeting by thanking the board, administrators, and the community for coming out and asking questions.

"I think that this is a community issue and we've heard from the community," he said.