You weren't there? -The Board meeting. The Facts...

Dear Fellow Plainview residents.

My name is John Girschick. Last Monday I attended the Board of education meeting at the high school. The purpose of this email is simply to inform parents of the recent events of our school district and not to cause a panic. The main topic of the meeting was about the teachers’ contract that has not been settled yet. The school’s attorney presented the board with a power point presentation of the schools finances with regard to the current labor costs that the school currently maintains. Mr Guercio stated that the school received a letter from the New York State department of Education regarding the teachers retirement system and the significant increases that our district will be required to pay in the coming years due to the losses on the pension plan in the stock market. As Mr. Guercio stated “ In addition to the pension increases we will be losing $1.6 million in stimulus money next year”. He continued to say” that with our current employee payroll, the increased cost of the pension plan , and the loss of the stimulus money next year that we could be looking at a $5 million deficit in our budget in 2 years”. This figure is without any consideration for any raises for the teachers. Mr. Guercio continued with the estimate that if we were to agree with the teachers union on what they would like in the next contract then that deficit would rise to $8 million dollars. Like the teachers I am also a member of union and agree that people deserve a fair days pay for fair days work. At the meeting the teachers union president Morty Rosenfeld spoke and told the school board that they should be embarrassed for not coming to contract with the teachers. Board members have nothing to be embarrassed about! I have always been fully supportive of our teachers. Unfortunately our school taxes continue to rise considerably year after year. As I have stated before, my only intent with this letter is to inform residents of the current situation that we are in with regard to our school district and not to cause any panic. I am hoping that this letter will encourage residents to become more informed with regard to the current status of our school district. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

John Girschick