Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda Superintendent Mark Mondanaro announced tonight he is returning

his $7,000, or 4 percent, pay raise, hoping to improve teacher contract talks he said are now

headed for impasse even as the money-troubled district proposes cuts in teachers,

administrators and some classes.

"I'm not grandstanding," Mondanaro said shortly after teachers packed the audience during a

board meeting as a show of support for union negotiators. "It's time to move forward,

together."

Mondanaro's annual salary is $178,600.

The move came as the board proposed a wide range of budget cuts to erase an anticipated

$5.1 million cut in state aid.

Among the nearly $2.5 million in cuts were eliminating through attrition six teaching jobs,

1.5 administrative positions, some classes with low enrollment, returning to Ken-Ton some

special education students currently BOCES or elsewhere and cutting Metro bus passes.

Mondanaro had just returned from a lobbying expedition to Albany and said the state budget

deficit was worse than ever. As a result, he said the tradition of state lawmakers rushing in

at the last minute with extra money for schools was not likely.

So far, Ken-Ton's proposed budget of $149 million for the coming school year increases

spending over the current budget by 1.9 percent and the tax levy by 1.5 percent.

He said the tax increase for a house assessed at $100,000 is $2 a month.

"I don't take it lightly," Mondanaro said. "But it's $2."

Meanwhile, teacher contract talks are not going well.

"I believe an impasse is imminent," Mondanaro said.