West Seneca Central School District teachers assembled outside their respective buildings before school Wednesday for a 15-minute show of support for members concerned about layoffs.
At a rally outside West Seneca West Senior High School, Christopher Galley, first vice president of the West Seneca Teachers Association, said union members don’t know how many teachers may lose their jobs, but they have been told the cuts are “not five, but they’re not 50.”
“Our goal here this morning is we’re letting our young teachers know all across the school district that they’re not in this alone, that we have their back,” Galley told a crowd of several dozen outside West Seneca West. “They have our full support and we’re exhausting every option to make sure that any cutbacks that need to be made in the district are absolutely necessary.”
Teachers and staff gathered before classes started, as buses pulled into the traffic circle to drop off students, and went back in the building by 7:15 a.m.
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Principal John Brinker, who stood outside, said he was there to support teachers.
West Seneca interim Superintendent Jeffrey R. Rabey declined an interview but issued a detailed written statement emphasizing the district is still in the “speculative stage” of the budget season. “Stated numbers or number ranges should be disregarded at present,” he said referring to cuts, but acknowledged a rocky path forward to address a $9 million budget deficit for next school year.
“We are anticipating and prepared that we may have to make some difficult decisions in order to maintain the quality of education our students deserve,” Rabey wrote. “While these decisions are never easy, we are committed to ensuring that our students continue to receive a well-rounded education despite the financial constraints we face.”
Galley said the last time the district had significant layoffs, bargaining units and the administration sat together to examine the budget to make sure the cuts were as minimal as possible.
“This time that’s not been the case,” he said. “We’ve not been afforded an opportunity to be at that table to help the district try to find ways to avoid these type of cuts.”
Rabey addressed the teachers’ statement. “In terms of sitting down with teacher leadership, ideas are always welcome,” he wrote, adding that the district would engage with any “open and constructive dialogue.”
West Seneca West High School art teacher Chris Galley, who is the first vice president of the West Seneca Teachers Association talks about possible layoffs in the district.
The School Board’s next budget meeting is scheduled for April 9. In that meeting, district administration will present to the board the second draft of the 2024-25 budget before its adoption a week later. That’s when West Seneca will have a clearer picture about how many jobs may be cut.
The demonstration and administration response in West Seneca came about two weeks after Hamburg Central Schools Superintendent Michael Cornell confirmed the layoffs of 13 teachers among a total of 20 district staff members losing their jobs.
Buffalo Public Schools, the largest district in Western New York, has so far avoided layoffs, but a dozen or more mental health counselors, social workers and psychologists have expressed fear over losing their jobs at recent School Board meetings.
Across the country, school districts are grappling with the expiration of federal Covid-related financial relief seen as a lifeline by districts trying to meet student needs following learning disruption caused by the pandemic.
West Seneca’s payroll for this school year is $75.82 million, and the pandemic aid-funded payroll totals $3.3 million, Rabey said during a winter board meeting.
He laid out more challenges during a recent School Board meeting: Inflation is eroding district buying power, state aid remains uncertain and the tax cap limits the amount of taxes that can be raised with a simple majority vote.
The current budget draft already uses $4 million…
Read More: West Seneca Schools leader addresses potential layoffs
2024-03-30 13:55:00