Sharon Springs Central School is waiting to see whether its teachers will agree to a one-year wage freeze.
Administrators—all two of them--have already agreed to a freeze as have the non-teachers union and “confidential managerial”—secretaries and the like, said Business Administrator Tony DiPace.
An answer from the teachers union had been expected Friday, Mr. DiPace said, but the group asked for another week to consider the request.
John Walker, president of the teacher’s union, said Monday the wage freeze is still under consideration.
“It hasn’t been an easy process,” he said, pointing out teachers have been working with the school on cutting budgets for things like supplies and conferences.
The school came to the union with a request about a month ago, Mr. Walker said, and “It’s been a long, hard road. It’s still under consideration.”
SSCS is working to keep its tax increase to zero percent.
If the teachers union can’t agree to the freeze, Mr. DiPace and Superintendent Pat Green said that will likely mean cutting the equivalent of three fulltime teaching positions and moving four teaching assistants from full- to part-time.
SSCS now has 40 fulltime teachers and nine aides..
“I’m working on these scenarios right now,” Mr. Green said. “Friday, I’ll need to start meeting with the teachers who could be impacted. It’s only fair.”
Though Mr. Green said the possibility of wage freezes was discussed in 2001, this is the first time they’ve made the request formally.
“The teachers have been very open to listening,” said Mr. DiPace.
“We’re asking them for this because we think we’ve got a good thing going here…We’re doing this out of a love for our school…”

SSCS has slowly been cutting away at the 2009-10 budget, originally proposed at $8,500,927, a $296,498 increase over last year’s, with most of that going to salaries and insurance.
Monday, school board members agreed to cut about $6,700 more from athletics by putting off the purchase of new uniforms and eliminating a first-year golf program that attracted too few players.
“Extracurricular activities are the lifeblood of our school,” stressed Mr. Green.
“If it ever gets to the point where we couldn’t include them, we’d be a step closer to a merger. We’re not there yet.”
SSCS has already made mid-year cuts in modified and cheerleading and the state is reducing the number of athletic games all schools will be playing, beginning in the fall.
And while it won’t be sending a third student to Tech Valley, where tuition is dropping from $18,000 to $12,000 a year, SSCS has agreed to keep sending the two already attending it.
In other cuts—and not—the district is likely to be forced to eliminate its After School Program unless it’s successful in writing a grant for it.
This is the first year the now-$20,000 program has been funded in-house, but in light of other cutbacks, Mr. Green said it may have to go.
Odyssey of the Mind drew a handful of its supporters to the meeting; Mr. Green called it “a great return for the investment” and said the school would like to keep it.
Finally, school board members discussed charging a small fee for spectators to ride a bus to Potsdam Friday and Saturday to watch the Class D champion boys basketball team play in the state regionals—but decided against it.
“What are we going to get? $100? $200?,” said Mr. MacFadden. “I say, if we got this far, send a bus.”