School budget passes; Gallagher, Ryan re-elected

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By a count of 1,674 votes to 742, residents approved the Long Beach School District’s $118.6 million 2011-12 budget on Tuesday. In addition, school board incumbents Dr. Dennis Ryan and Patrick Gallagher were re-elected to three-year terms, beating out newcomer Ari Pine.

The school spending plan is $2.2 million, or 1.86 percent, larger than the current budget. The tax levy — the total amount the district needs to raise through property taxes — will remain unchanged, at $88.9 million.

Ryan, the board’s president, garnered 1,833 votes. Gallagher, its vice president and a trustee for nine years, collected 1,726 votes. Pine had 1,016, having focused on re-evaluating the district’s curriculum after he criticized school officials for their controversial heterogeneous-sixth-grade model, which many parents have said is not rigorous enough and does not challenge all students.

Gallagher said that it was an honor to be re-elected, describing the win as “pretty powerful.” He said that his priority would continue to be bringing financial discipline to the district. “People want to be fiscally responsible,” he said. “I think that’s why I was re-elected.”

Resident Glenna King said she voted for the budget because it maintained important programs — such as special education — while remaining fiscally responsible. “There aren’t going to be many job cuts for teachers,” she said. “Compared to the rest of Long Island and what I’m hearing, I think that Long Beach is doing pretty well.”

King said she supported Gallagher after she spoke to him while he was campaigning in town last Sunday. King, whose 6-year-old son, Maxwell, has autism, said she was impressed with Gallagher. “He’s a firm supporter of special education,” she said.

James Hodge, who also lives in Long Beach, said he favored the budget as well as Ryan and Gallagher, and described them as educational leaders. “Those two had a whole lot more in terms of educational background,” said Hodge, adding that Gallagher has been “a leader in pushing to get more college prep courses at the high school.”

Other residents, however, opposed the spending plan. “I voted against the budget,” said resident Richard Boodman, adding that the district has a number of “greedy” educators. “They’re living large, at our expense,” Boodman said, “and they’re going to retire larger.”

He said that Pine was his choice for the school board, along with Gallagher, though Boodman said he was “sorry we didn’t have two new faces” for the election. “I voted for Pine and I voted for Gallagher, because he’s the lesser of two evils,” he said. “[Pine’s] for lower school taxes. Ryan is for higher school taxes, and Gallagher is right behind him.”

Citizens Budget Advisory Committee member Francis McQuade also cast a “no” vote on the budget, saying that school officials could have made more cuts and could have been more accommodating to taxpayers. “… [T]he cuts were not sufficient,” McQuade said. “We’re grateful we have a zero [tax levy increase], [but] we asked for a decrease [in spending]. We didn’t get it.”

McQuade went on to say that he was “underwhelmed with the candidates with regard to fiscal prudency,” but he did not say whom he voted for. “I don’t think anyone reflected the needs of the taxpayers,” he said, adding that he believes East School should be closed to save money, and that the candidates did not seem committed “to negotiate firm teacher contracts” to control teachers’ salary increases.

Pine said that although he lost, he would continue to be involved in school affairs. He described his campaign as a “great democratic experience.”

“This was an extremely positive thing for me personally,” he said. “[But] this really wasn’t about me. This is about results for the kids.”

Pine said he thought the number of votes he received “sent a message” to the community that people want change in the district. “I [ran] for the students, the parents, the taxpayers,” he said. “I think that getting a thousand votes was encouraging.”

The district’s chief operating officer, Michael DeVito, described the budget’s approval as “terrific,” and said he was pleased “to have the confidence of the community.”

“We were able to create a responsible budget,” DeVito said, “that achieves the balance of supporting academic programs and limiting the financial impact on taxpayers.”

Residents also approved the Long Beach Public Library’s $3.3 million 2011-12 budget 1,715 to 681. The budget is 2.4 percent larger than the library’s current spending plan.

Carol Arnone, who ran for library trustee, attracted 1,678 votes, winning a five-year term. Trustee Ira Grushack captured a three-year seat with 1,386 votes.

Comments about this story? CEngelhardt@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 207.