Budget proposes cutting 43 teachers, 55 staff in total

‘This is not a country club school district’

BY SAM DESMOND

On Wednesday, March 11, South Country superintendent of schools Antonio Santana presented the district’s proposal to cut 55 positions, including 43 teachers and five administrators.

Before the presentation, Santana addressed the crowd and said, “Understandably there are very strong emotions in the room and our community. I not only appreciate those emotions; I truly empathize with them.”

An independent audit conducted by Cullen & Danowski accountants, based in Port Jefferson Station, focused on how the district mishandled their $143 million budget for the 2024-25 school year.

The report stated, “For the 2024–25 fiscal year, the District overspent the voter approved budget. Actual expenditures and encumbrances exceeded the final voter-approved budget by approximately $3.5 million. The most significant areas of over-expenditure occurred in central services, instruction for regular school programs and in programs for students with disabilities, employee benefits, and occupational education.”

With the staff reductions, classroom sizes are estimated to be 22 to 23 students per class in the middle school and 22 to 24 students per class in the high school.

“While smaller classes may be helpful, they’re not the sole drivers to success,” said Santana.

A motion made and granted to extend the public portion of the meeting received enthusiastic applause.

Carrie Carson, the president of the South Country Administrators Association, was the first speaker. “We express our deep concern and disappointment and increasing loss of confidence… our educators and administrators made a conscious decision to work in this district, some left tenured positions… to see them being excessed has been deeply unsettling.”

Matt Grady, president of the Bellport Teachers Association, said, “While we understand the district has developed a three-year plan to stabilize financials, what is the plan to rebuild? Teachers, admin, support staff rely on each other… under current level of uncertainty is increasingly difficult to plan, lead, and deliver level of education our community expects and our students deserve.”

At the conclusion of Carson and Grady’s statements, the crowd gave a standing ovation.

Matthew Kinnison, a South Country teacher of the past 30 years, said, “You, Mr. Santana, have failed us. Your central office has failed us. I am not about blame, but there has been no accountability… I do not understand how we got here. I’ve heard incompetency, not fraud, not theft… you sat here and made decisions that affect people in real life… I sat here for a presentation where every slide, every picture, every accolade was because of a teacher… This is a very unique district with very unique challenges. This is not a country club school district. I grew up in a country club district. I went to Syosset. I didn’t succeed because of my teachers; I succeeded because of my parents… Kids succeed here because of their teachers.”

Sal DeComa, a language teacher of 30 years, said, “I love my work. I love this community… I’m speaking as a tax-paying community member. My wife grew up here, she was a cheerleader here… she loved it so much she had to buy a house here… recently we’ve had to engage in a very difficult discussion about whether or not our child will attend this district, whether or not the school district can give him the educational outcomes we expect as parents… I believe this school district could be the place I’d want my child to go, but right now I say ‘no’.”

Joe Malones said, “I’m a proud community member; I’m even lucky to be proud of the football family here… If you want us to look forward, we need to look back. The charts tonight did not show the line items were grossly underestimated… I believe we need to look back. If this was fraud, is it possible to call back payments and save some jobs?”