Island Park reveals draft of district budget

The Island Park School District plans to cut $550,560 from its 2012-13 budget in order to remain within the state cap on its tax levy, Island Park Superintendent Dr. Rosmarie Bovino announced at a Board of Education meeting on March 26.

While the total budget would increase by more than $1 million, to $34.6 million, Bovino said, the district needs to make the cuts, which include the elimination of two teaching positions at the Francis X. Hegarty Elementary School, in order to keep up with the increasing costs of the Employee Retirement System, Social Security and the sewer tax.

Bovino said that the district also needed to fund more than $528,000 in new mandated costs, an increase of more than $856,000 in salaries and benefits and tuition costs that will grow by more than $159,000. Additionally, she said, it will cost the district $110,000 to replace two buses that have been in service since 2000 and 2001.

“So we look at what the necessary expenses are and what we can afford within the tax levy cap,” Bovino said. “So it did mean that we had to cut where necessary, but our goal was to preserve the integrity of all of our core instructional programs and to maintain our extracurricular activities as well.”

According to a formula provided by the state, the cap on the district’s tax levy increase is 2.01 percent — the same amount by which the district planned to increase it. If the spending plan is adopted by the Board of Education, the tax levy will total just over $30 million, a year-over-year increase of more than $1 million.

In order to pass, the budget, which is scheduled to be adopted by the Board of Education on April 30, would need the approval of a simple majority of Island Park voters, who will go to the polls on May 15.

Other proposed cuts include the elimination of the curriculum director’s position as well as one clerical and one custodial job, the elimination of some bus routes and cuts in overtime pay.

Bovino’s announcement provoked some comments of concern from parents during the question-and-answer portion of the meeting. “I’m a little disappointed with the choices that have been made in regard to where you’re making cuts,” said Richard Schurin. “The priorities of the board, I think, have been misplaced. We appear to be cutting curriculum areas unnecessarily, in my opinion … which is primarily what we should be concerned about.”

In his presentation, Bovino showed that programming receives a majority of the money in the preliminary budget — 83.01 percent of the total funding. He also noted a number of program changes designed to save the district money, including a required minimum of five students per bus in order for a route to continue and a minimum of 10 students participating in a club for it to be sustained.

The district will hold a second budget meeting to discuss revenues and more details of the spending plan — and a possible reduction of the tax levy increase — on April 17, at 7:30 p.m., at the district’s conference center.