Orangetown Announces School Resource Officers for Tappan Zee & Pearl River High School for 2018-2019 school year

Published

6 years ago

August 21, 2018

Rockland Report Editor

“This is an incredibly important moment for parents and kids in Orangetown”, said Supervisor Day.

In early August, an agreement was reached with the Town of Orangetown and each of the School Districts (Pearl River School District (PRSD) and South Orangetown School District (SOSD) for the addition of a School Resource Officer for each area high school starting at the beginning of the 2018/2019 school year. The Town of Orangetown will be funding the cost of half of each of the two officers and each school district paying for their other half of that amount. Previously, there had only been a single officer shared between the two districts in an SRO role, with that role not being the officer’s sole responsibility.

School safety is personal for Supervisor Day. “With a child in our public schools and three more children I intend to send to them, I understand how key such an investment in our kids’ safety would be to other parents, which is why I initiated these negotiations. I am extremely proud that both districts and the Town have been able to deliver this result to our residents in a fair and fiscally responsible way. Our kids and town at large are now safer with this program and these officers in place.” said Supervisor Chris Day.

The Student Resource Officer (SRO) will have experience with students and be specially trained to take incident reports and respond to different situations that arise during a school day. Additional duties include mentoring youth and serving as a leader and role model. Two officers have been selected and approved to attend specialized training before the start of the school year. “These relationships will help to build a strong foundation with our youth, educators and police officers that will benefit our entire community”, said Captain Don Butterworth (Orangetown Police Department).

The agreements set the terms of the level of police, school and community involvement, outline the safety and educational objectives of the program, set the process and protocol for notification of parents/guardians in certain situations, delegate decision making authority and identify the indemnification of all parties. “The safety of our students continues to be our top priority. The South Orangetown Central School District is grateful to the Town of Orangetown and our partners at the Pearl River Union Free School District for taking a proactive stance on this shared responsibility”, said Superintendent Pritchard (SOSD).

Häagen-Dazs “Free Cone Day” from 4 – 8 pm

Published

6 years ago

May 14, 2019

Rockland Report Editor

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Rockland Store

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1000 Palisades Center Drive
West Nyack, NY 10994

“We Want a Contract!” By County Executive Ed Day

Published

6 years ago

March 2, 2019

Rockland Report Editor

“We Want a Contract!” By County Executive Ed Day

It’s time to settle. I am actively working with my administrative teams to review the 2019 financials and look for any financial opportunities that may result in potential modest increases on the base and/or lump sum payments to avoid contracts remaining unsettled.

I wanted to communicate and ensure transparency regarding union negotiations and where they stand to date. Most of our union contracts were expired as of 2017 and some as early as 2010. Understanding the magnitude of having outstanding contracts and the impact on the employees, I put aside $4 million in the 2018 budget to try and settle some of these union contracts.

In 2018 our Department of Personnel, on average, met monthly with union negotiators and offered operational proposals with monetary increases and lump sum payments. Not only did the Personnel Department meet with them repeatedly but so did I; it was that important to me. Some of the union contracts settled based on these offers. Other unions, despite being offered increases on their base pay and lump sum payments, left these offers on the table and some
did not even present these offers to the membership.

Since those offers were given, some unions have declared impasse and the New York Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) mediator made detailed mediator recommendations with lump sum payments to membership. Those recommended offers were all declined leaving unsettled contracts for another year. In all cases, these lump sum payments were significant and would also have counted towards pensionable earnings. To state or imply that either my
administration or I have not negotiated in good faith is pure fiction.

I have once again included money in this year’s budget (an additional $1.5 million) to go towards contract settlements but need to ensure fiscal responsibility is achieved at the same time; it is a balance. We finally have a positive fund balance but the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) recommends
that the General Fund maintain an unrestricted fund balance of no less than 2 months of operating expenditures to be truly financially healthy. That’s between $50 and $90 million in the bank, nowhere near the $6.3 million we currently have. While these are positive signs, we still have a long way to go until we reach full
financial strength.

That said, I want to ensure that our hard-working and dedicated employees receive a fair contract. They have been critical to the modernization of County government and serving the public. But we will not spend money we do not have and will remain fiscally responsible. That has been the credo of this administration and as much as I want to see our employees get the raises they deserve I will not jeopardize our financial progress.

I want to do right by our employees, but there must be a balance between their needs and the need to safeguard taxpayer dollars. I sincerely hope that we can soon reach agreements with all of Rockland’s unions, and I look forward with working with them on fair settlements.