Lawrence proposes $99.1 million budget

Officials didn’t check the history, they said, but the preliminary Lawrence School District budget of $99.1 million unveiled at Monday’s Board of Education meeting at the middle school could be considered a record-low with an increase of .59 percent or $580,000 above the current $98.5 spending plan.

Superintendent Gary Schall echoed previous statements he has made about budgets in the last few years that the district has tightened its fiscal belt and has made decisions that other school districts throughout Long Island are only now coming to grips with. In addition, the state’s mandated tax-levy cap enacted in 2011 began at 2 percent and based on inflation is now at a nearly zero increase of 0.12 percent.

Central to Schall’s presentation was that Lawrence has applied that fiscal responsibility to increase programs and complete capital improvements. For the current school year classes such as 3-D printing and coding and AP boot camp were added at the high school; the Media Club and robotics at the middle school and the STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math), drama and Scrabble clubs were established at Lawrence Elementary School.

“Decisions have been made to put us on a trajectory for success,” Schall said. “We have consolidated resources to enhance programs and make improvements.”

Those consolidations of resources have included selling the Number One and Number Six schools, leasing the Number Five School to the Shulamith School for Girls and consistently reducing staff based on declining enrollment numbers.

The district has also applied that money to capital improvements that included renovations at the high school such as a new central office, Life Skills room, an adaptive gym, an up to date science projects room, science labs and cafeteria with air conditioning. At the middle school that also now houses Lawrence Elementary School grades three through five, new music, art, technology suites, six renovated classrooms, new transportation office and installation of gas conversion system. Construction of a playground is in progress.

Lawrence is also counting an increase of $1.7 million in state aide for a total of about $11.4 million. Due to retirements and staff reductions about $1.6 million is expected to be saved.

“We have a totally transparent system, we have meetings and an open door for every stakeholder in the district,” Board of Education President Murray Forman said, about how Lawrence plans its budget.

Lori Skonberg, president of the Lawrence Teachers Association, addressed a few issues, including that classes such as reading intervention and bilingual, where students would fare better with more intense instruction, have the maximum amount of students due to the district’s budgeting. Skonberg also questioned the wisdom of the proposed plan to lease space in the Number Two School to schools or institutions with students who are older, physically larger and have behavioral problems in an environment with children in first and second grade.

“When did making money become more important than education? Skonberg said to a reporter shortly after she addressed the board.

That question could be debated at two upcoming meetings. A regular Board of Education meeting on April 11 and the annual budget hearing on May 3. Both are at 8 p.m. in the middle school.

In-house registration for voting in the school district election will also take place on May 3 at the middle school from 4 to 8 p.m. Voting for the budget and trustee positions is on May 17 at four polling locations from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.