First Wantagh School budget draft shows 2.96 percent tax levy hike

State aid cuts, rising insurance and pension costs pose challenges

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The Wantagh Board of Education shared the first draft of its proposed 2018-19 school budget with community taxpayers on March 12, estimating an overall budget increase of 1.5 percent.

Superintendent John McNamara said a $188,000 reduction in state aid the district expects this year, along with increased costs for health insurance and pensions for teachers, accounts for a proposed 2.96 percent tax levy increase in the board’s first budget draft.

“I know you see the headlines of, ‘State Aid being increased across the state,’” McNamara said, “but that is not true for Wantagh.”

The state’s final budget is due on April 1, and McNamara, as well as board members, hopes the legislature does not reduce the district’s state aid. However, the board will continue to look for budget reductions ahead of the state’s planned budget adoption date, he said.

In the board’s first draft, employee benefits are projected to increase about 6.69 percent, or more than a million dollars. Other planned spikes in spending are for textbook purchases, computer software and hardware and Nassau BOCES-related expenditures.

In Wantagh’s elementary schools, the district is looking to save costs by having some program directors and supervisors teach at least one class while also serving their usual duties. The district also plans to hire two new directors — one for its Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics program, and another for Elementary Humanities — and increase the use of Chromebooks for all elementary classrooms.

The Wantagh Middle School would eventually have a new sixth-grade computer-coding course and an eighth-grade applied engineering elective course, under the proposed budget.

For Wantagh High School, McNamara said new courses were planned, such as Advanced Placement Psychology, a new music-recording studio and an expansion of the school’s Advanced Placement Capstone program.

The Wantagh School Board will have three more public workshops to discuss its proposed budget, two of which are planned for after the legislature adopts the state’s 2018-19 budget. Along with the budget, the board is asking taxpayers to consider a $7.5 million capital reserve fund, which would be used for a variety of maintenance concerns around the district.