Bellmore districts' officials reflect on election results

Voters in the Bellmore and North Bellmore school districts passed their respective budgets and elected trustees to their boards of education on May 20. 

Administrators in the Bellmore School District, which includes the Charles A. Reinhard Center for Early Childhood Education and Winthrop Avenue and Shore Road elementary schools, drafted a $33.2 million spending plan that was revealed in public workshops throughout March. The approved plan includes a 1.5 percent increase in the district’s tax levy –– the total amount that the district needs to raise in property taxes to meet expenses. 

Assistant Superintendent for Business and Technology Services Deirdre Gambino explained that the budget maintains all instructional programs, as there is a 2.48 percent increase in the instructional component of the plan. Dr. Joseph Famularo, the district superintendent, noted that the overall budget-to-budget increase stands at 1.1 percent –– the lowest in nearly 30 years. 

The North Bellmore School District, which includes four schools in North Bellmore and one in North Merrick, has a $52.3 million spending plan for the 2014-15 academic year. After district officials developed a first draft of the budget, they had to meet a $2.18 million revenue shortfall before the Board of Education adopted the budget in April.

Mark Schissler, the district’s assistant superintendent for business, explained that the budget includes reductions in spending in the facilities ($50,000), instructional supplies, technology supplies and equipment ($50,000) and capital projects ($100,000) areas. Officials also used a combination of savings to meet the budget gap, in addition to incorporating a 1.75 percent tax levy increase into the budget. 

With passage of the budget, Bellmore homeowners will see their elementary tax bills rise by an average of $45 next year. North Bellmore residents will see a $61 increase in their property-tax bills. 

Jay Breakstone, of Bellmore, and John Ferrara, of North Bellmore, ran unopposed for their respective boards of education and were re-elected.