Penfield school district might cut jobs, programs

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PENFIELD — Feeling the pinch from a looming reduction in state aid, the Penfield Central School District is considering districtwide staffing cuts and an elimination of the freshman football program.

The proposals were among a handful of cost-cutting suggestions made at a meeting of the town's school board on Tuesday night. The district is facing a 12 percent, or $2.3 million, reduction in state aid for the 2010-11 school year.
At Tuesday night's meeting, the district proposed cutting 27.5 full-time equivalent instructors.

In addition to seven projected retirements, the budget proposal would reduce the district's teaching staff by 34.5 FTEs.
The majority of teacher cuts are related to a decline in enrollment in the district, said Mark Sansouci, assistant superintendent for business. However, a slide presented at Tuesday night's meeting showed a projection of only about 100 fewer students district-wide next year, so the teacher cuts would almost certainly lead to increased class sizes.
"It would be really hitting us hard to take away classroom staff," said Joelle Maurer, president of the parent-teacher association at Bay Trail Middle School.
"Hopefully we can find some more creative ways to make this work for everybody. But they've got to start somewhere."

The elimination of the freshman football program is part of $30,000 in athletic cuts that also includes fewer program assistants and fewer supervisors at sporting events.
Other cuts proposed on Tuesday include elimination of the late bus program and Penfield High School's family and consumer science class.

The district plans to discuss employee benefits and Board of Cooperative Educational Services programs at its next meeting on March 16, and its hopes to adopt a budget at its meeting on March 30.
Town residents will vote on the budget on May 18.

SDOBBIN@DemocratandChronicle.com