No new taxes for Lawrence

Though the Lawrence School District anticipates losing $2.2 million in combined state and federal aid next year, it still plans to expand its educational offerings by realizing an equal amount in savings through cuts to the Civil Service support staff, administration and two programs.

A decrease in spending of more than $1.1 million and the absence of a tax increase are also part of the 2011-12 draft budget unveiled by the Lawrence district at its Feb. 15 Board of Education meeting.

Lawrence’s current budget is $94.1 million. The proposed budget for next school year is $92.98

million.

Despite the anticipated loss of aid — $1.5 million from the state and $700,000 in federal funding — district officials said that the proposed budget would keep the school portion of residents’ property taxes in check.

Lawrence is also anticipating the implementation of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed tax cap, which would prohibit school districts from raising property taxes by more than 2 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower.

“We were charged with constructing a budget that would not increase the tax levy,” said Superintendent Dr. John Fitzsimons.

Though the budget calls for reducing spending, officials said that due to cuts already made to staff as well as the cancellation of summer school and the Branching Out in New Directions, or BOND, remedial program, the district will be able to replace them with more cost-effective methods of providing the same services and expand its educational programs.

Besides saving money by laying off nearly 66 full-time and hourly employees over the past several months, including 11 special education teachers, Deputy Superintendent Gary Schall said that the district employed a method called “strategic abandonment,” whereby programs that were not considered 100 percent effective were dropped.

One of those programs is summer school. Instead of having students attend classes, the district will introduce an online credit-recovery program that can also be used by students who cannot attend school due to illness.