Approve East Rockaway school budget

With a small school district such as East Rockaway, cuts in services and programs can be detrimental to a good education. Having seen how difficult it is to reinstate programs after they have been cut from the budget, we urge voters to approve the district’s prudent 2012-13 spending plan on Tuesday.

The proposed budget is 3.74 percent larger than the current spending plan. For an average home in East Rockaway, which has a market value of approximately $350,000, the increase will mean about $74 more in property taxes.

To stay within the state-mandated allowable tax cap levy (2.26 percent for East Rockaway), the proposal has some drastic cuts, and includes salary freezes for teachers, administrators and custodians. q Although a late reinstatement of middle school sports, the high school newspaper and other clubs and services pleased many parents, the district has still been forced to eliminate summer school for grades six through eight, the Arts in Education program, an elementary school librarian, storage containers and a tractor for facilities and athletics, the popular sixth-grade Greenkill environmental weekend trip and the private-school late bus (which is still under discussion). The district is also using an additional $587,000 from its retirement reserve and $108,000 from its unemployment reserve.

Two additional propositions will appear on the ballot this year. Proposition Two would allow the district to use $136,380 from capital reserves for “smart” cameras and upgrades to the schools’ computer networking ability, among other things. Proposition Three would authorize the use of $200,000 in reserves for building improvements and repairs districtwide, including heating and ventilation system updates and repairs at the high school, and door replacements, fire escape repair and exterior lighting and security cameras at the Centre and Rhame Avenue elementary schools.

We believe that district officials have worked hard to prepare a budget with both students and taxpayers in mind, and we urge voters to support it.

UPDATE:

Earlier this week, according to Superintendent Roseanne Melucci, an elementary teacher resigned for the purpose of retirement.  "We will reallocate the savings from the replacement teacher’s salary toward the parochial school late bus," she said, adding that the parents have been notified.
 
Not everything has been reinstated and the remaining cuts include:
After School Security Guard; Arts in Education; Clubs; Custodial position; three elementary teachers; elementary librarian; 6th grade outdoor educational program (Greenkill) Assistant Principal; monitors; occupational education placement; professional development; and the Grade two Sprouts program.

School board candidates