Roslyn schools, administrators strike deal

The Roslyn school district has approved a contract with its 21 unionized administrators that includes a three-year salary freeze -- with a twist.

Under the four-year contract, members of the Roslyn Administrators and Supervisors Association will forgo raises. But when a member retires and is replaced at a lower salary, the money left over will be split among unionized members, officials with the district and the union said.

In the fourth year, salaries will be compared with median salaries in nearby districts. If Roslyn salaries are lower, they can be increased, said Art Mandel, director of guidance and past president of the union.

"Knowing the economic conditions in this district and the districts where we live, we knew we had to come up with a way to keep the payroll at a zero percent increase," Mandel said. "We knew we had an obligation to the community."

With $206 million in state aid cuts, districts across Long Island have negotiated salary freezes or reductions. Under district budgets approved in May, more than 2,000 jobs will be cut, according to an annual Newsday survey of staffing and spending plans.

It was unclear if any other local districts have an agreement similar to the one in Roslyn.

"People are looking for all kinds of ways to save money, and that's what negotiations are all across the table," said John Cassese, Long Island coordinator for the School Administrators Association of New York State.

Members of the Roslyn administrators and supervisors union, which includes school principals, department chairs and directors, do not receive so-called "step" increases, the annual increments built into teacher salaries. Their pay ranges between $125,000 and $195,000.

Salaries make up nearly 82 percent of Roslyn's $97.6-million budget, district records show. The budget for the 2011-12 school year is a 1.9 percent spending increase over last year's budget and will raise the property tax levy 1.93 percent.

With the economy still unstable and a 2 percent property tax cap on the horizon, district officials knew they had to come up with ways to keep costs under control, Superintendent Dan Brenner said. "I think this is a creative solution as we protect taxpayers' interests and are still in some way able to honor the administrators," he said.