The Herricks School District recently concluded a series of contract negotiations with the administrators and teachers of the district. Though talks were reportedly difficult, both sides were able to come to an agreement.
However, at the Nov. 20 meeting of the Herricks Board of Education, Board President James Gounaris revealed that another bout of negotiations taking place with teaching assistants, which have taken an unfortunate turn for the worse.
“As we’ve said before, we have nothing but respect and appreciation for our staff, but nevertheless, the fiscal climate, the tax levy cap, and a number of other factors complicate negotiations and have made it difficult or impossible to accommodate certain proposals,” he said. “It was our hope that, having tackled the tough issues with the other units, we would be able to do the same with the teaching assistants, but unfortunately that has not been the case, and so far we have reached an impasse.”
However, Gounaris remained hopeful that future agreements may still be alive.
“We have tried to restart and have had conversations, but we have remained at this juncture,” Gounaris continued. “We are mindful of the fact that additional bargaining units will be up for negotiation in the coming months.”
New Admin Steps In
Newly-appointed Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Christine Finn was present to meet the public. Finn will be replacing the retiring Dr. Deirdre Hayes, whose last day as an employee of the district is slated to be Dec. 31, 2014.
Currently employed in the same capacity in the Carle Place School District, Finn expressed excitement over her move to Herricks, and thanked the Administration for making her feel welcome.
“I am beyond honored and so grateful that the board and the administration had confidence in me, and I can’t wait to get started,” she said. “Dr. Bierwirth and Dr. Hayes have been working with my superintendent in Carle Place to ensure a smooth transition for me.”
Bierwirth’s Replacement Search Ongoing
Gounaris also gave his regular update on the search to replace Superintendent of Schools Dr. John Bierwirth, who is retiring at the end of the current 2014-15 school year.
“The superintendent search continues…we’ve gone through a lot of processes, met a lot of people, and read a lot of information,” Gounaris said. “We continue to go through this process and keep with our tempo and we’re trying to get to a place by the middle of January to try and make an announcement by then. The application process is now closed and it’s now down to just a small group of individuals.”
Overcrowded Classrooms?
Bierwirth addressed the concerns of a parent of a child attending Searingtown Elementary School who stated that her daughter was currently in an overcrowded class consisting of 29 students and one teacher. The parent expressed worry that her child’s education would suffer with such an unbalanced teacher-to-student ratio.
Bierwirth responded that the district, due to financial constraints out of their control, had laid off staff at all levels, resulting in the temporary abandonment of their class size guidelines. However, he assured the parent that, as the district’s finances improved, more teachers would be hired and the class size issues would be remedied. Bierwirth expressed confidence that a difference would be seen as early as the next school year.
Teacher Talks TV
And lastly, high school teacher Chris Brogan presented an overview of the Herricks High School TV Studio, which offers classes designed to introduce students to multimedia television production and produces programs that can be watched 24 hours a day on Cablevision channel 75 and Verision FiOs channel 47.
The next meeting of the Herricks Board of Education is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 11.
