Hewlett-Woodmere Board of Education pushes district spending increase below 3 percent

Adjustments are being made to the proposed Hewlett-Woodmere School District budget for the 2020-2021 school year after Board of Education President Mitchell Greebel said at the Jan. 30 hearing the tentative 3.68 spending increase was too steep.

Louis Frontario, the school district’s assistant superintendent for business, presented the latest proposal at the March 11 board meeting. The preliminary fiscal plan is $126, 882,632 a 2.89 percent increase from the current budget of $123.3 million. The 2.89 percent increase is in line with the state’s tax levy increase. The anticipated tax levy -- the amount of money the district collecte from propoerty taxes -- is $106,273,125.  The district is also expecting to receive $12,645,293 in state aid, a $314,366 increase from the current budget. 

“I think it was crucial for us to get the number under 3 percent,” Greebel said. “The board is content with where the proposal is. The board is content with where the proposal is.” 

Frontario said $976,730 was cut from the previous proposal to get the increase under 3 percent. “Early on in the budget process, I work with what I call a rollover budget,” he said. “I make the proposal based off numbers from the current budget. Then I go through it and trim some numbers as we go along in the process.”

He added that he is not expecting any changes to the budget by the time it has to be adopted on April 1. “From the board’s perspective, this proposal is ready to go,” he said. “Barring any major surprises, there will be no major tweaks. We believe this proposal is worthy of our community’s support.”

Also discussed at the March meeting was the district’s PLUS Program, a tuition-based program offered at Franklin Elementary Early Childhood Center for children in pre-kindergarten. The current cost for running the program is $390,107, which includes staff salary and money from tuition. The proposal has the cost increasing to $406,566. The projected tuition per student is $5,872, a $226 increase from the current cost.

Greebel thinks a continuing boost in tuition could contribute to a decline in the program’s enrollment. “If we keep increasing the tuition cost, we run the risk of a decrease in enrollment,” he said. “This is something we need to discuss more in the future.”

Trustee Cheryl May seconded Greebel’s sentiment.  “The more you increase the tuition, the less kids you will have,” she said. “It’s as simple as that.”

In addition to voting on the budget on May 19, May and Trustee Paul Critti are up for re-election. Also, on the ballot a proposition to use no more than $2 million in capital reserve funds for district-wide capital improvements, the proposed 2020-21 budget for the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library and library trustee Leslie Eisenberg is running unopposed for a five-year term.

The March 19 budget meeting will be live streamed on the district’s website. The latest budget proposal can be viewed at: https://bit.ly/39NfO1V. 

Story reflects a correction on the proposed budget figure.