Paul Lynch, the superintendent for finance at Lynbrook Public Schools, presented the Board of Education with a proposed budget of over $82.4 million on Feb. 15. This budget would be an increase of more than $1.6 from the previous school year.
According to Lynch, the increase is “primarily due to contractual obligations and new positions.” Increases in salaries account for more than $780 thousand of the difference, and benefits account for more than $286,000 due to a 12 percent increase in health care costs.
High school students in ninth and tenth grades would also be able to participate in the school district’s One-to-World Initiative, in which students are given a tablet in September that has to be returned to the district in June.
“Because in the high school … you’ll see a lot of classes that have freshman and sophomores in the class, instead of having part of the class with a device and part without, it makes sense to introduce the tablets at that point to both grades,” said Gerard Beleckas, the assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and assessment. “I do think our ninth graders who have been just above our program are excited that they’re going to bring home those devices as well.”
The program started in 2014 with the sixth grade at Lynbrook middle schools. The students used Microsoft Surface Pro tablets to individualize their learning experience, collaborate with peers and communicate with their teacher, according to Beleckas.
This story was updated on Feb. 24 at 9:30 a.m.