More school staff being warned of layoffs

School officials in five more Long Island districts have told staffers they could lose their jobs when the school year ends.

The moves came as districts across Long Island and in every economic strata struggle with budget gaps and proposed state aid cuts.

Central Islip officials told 80 teachers Friday they could lose their jobs, Herricks delivered the same news to 65 staffers, and 53 Amityville teachers were told of possible layoffs.

Jericho told 17 teachers they could be cut, while East Moriches could lose 20 positions.

Robert-Wayne Harris, superintendent of Roosevelt schools, said it's too early to know how many teachers will be forced out of his district.

"We are cognizant of the fact that we will have to excess or lay off many staff members and have already begun to have these discussions with our board of education and district administration," he said.

The Cuomo administration said that four out of five school districts are sitting on tens of millions of dollars in reserve funds - more than enough to offset the spending cuts the governor has proposed.

Vincent Lyons, Suffolk County regional staff director for the state teachers union, said cuts could be dire.

"I personally do believe there will be layoffs, especially in those districts like Amityville and Sachem, which we consider moderate to low wealth," Lyons said.

Officials at Amityville, which has 3,100 students and employs 285 teachers in five schools, said workers beyond the teaching staff may also be cut.

"We don't know how many ultimately will be excessed and we felt we had a moral obligation to let them know early if they wanted to seek other employment," said superintendent John Williams.

Williams said it's unlikely the district will avoid layoffs, though he hopes experienced teachers opt for a retirement incentive offer.

"For each person who retires at the top of the scale, that's worth almost two employees at the bottom," he said.

Central Islip Superintendent Craig Carr called the potential layoffs devastating.

His district, with about 600 faculty members, is slated to lose $5.7 million and has $1.5 million in reserves. Carr said Central Islip laid off 156 people last year because of budget cuts.

"Two years in a row of layoffs forced upon us by the state is unconscionable," he said. "The governor talks about the 75 percent of districts that can fund his cuts through reserves. What about the 25 who can't? We couldn't last year and we can't this year."

With Stacey Altherr