Riverhead schools plan cuts to staff, class offerings

NEW YORK - The Riverhead School District will see significant cuts to class offerings, programs, teaching assistants, and support staff as a result of cutbacks proposed in the administration’s budget for the coming school year.

The district is planning to lay off 18 teacher assistants and reduce the size of its dual language program, in addition to eliminating nearly 38 faculty positions as announced last week, district officials said.

An assistant principal position also would be cut, bringing the total to more than 56 positions.

School officials said the district must make the cuts because it added nearly 180 staff positions since 2018 and faces a "fiscal cliff" of nearly $20 million — the amount of COVID-19 recovery grant funding the district received over a three-year period that is set to run out this fall.

The district’s four elementary schools and Pulaski Street Intermediate School face the deepest cuts: 18 teachers as well as 13 faculty positions, including 10 teachers, a psychologist, a guidance counselor, and a one-year position for math and restructuring of the k-4 dual language program.

Right now, the upcoming changes don’t impact programs including school clubs, athletic teams, art, music, and phys Ed, but if the more than $200 million budget doesn’t pass in May - officials say there will be at least another $3 million in cuts.