Lynbrook, E.R districts prepare for 2017-18 budget vote

The Lynbrook and East Rockaway school districts are set for their budget votes and Board of Education elections on May 16. East Rockaway’s polls are scheduled to be open from 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Junior-Senior High School, while Lynbrook’s are open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. at North Middle School, South Middle School and Lynbrook High School.

The Lynbrook School District adopted an $82,486,886 budget at its monthly meeting in March and held a budget hearing at the high school on May 3. The budget is an increase of more than $1.6 million from the previous school year. There is a tax levy of 1.53 percent for the district.

“We encourage all Lynbrook School District residents to exercise their right to vote,” said Melissa Burak, superintendent of Lynbrook Schools.

Paul Lynch, the district’s assistant superintendent for finance, operations, and information systems, said in February that the budget increase is due to contractual obligations and new positions. Increases in salaries account for more than $780,000 of the difference, and benefits account for more than $286,000 due to a 12 percent increase in health care costs.

The East Rockaway School District’s Board of Education adopted its $38,274,432 budget during its April 20 meeting at the high school. Jacqueline Scrio, the district’s assistant superintendent for finance and operations, noted that it was a $161,849,000 decrease from the 2016-17 budget.

Scrio said many enhancements are planned under the 2017-18 budget, including new clubs, funding for science, music, art and technology programs and the replacement of the outdoor wireless sound system.

She noted that there is a .88 percent increase to the tax levy because the district is relying less on its reserves to bridge the gap between the revenue it receives from state aid and taxes and its expenditures.

Superintendent Lisa Ruiz explained that the budget will help guide the school’s strategic plan, which focuses on four key components: Achievement, opportunity, innovation and connection.

“When building the budget this year, our administrators and Board of Education worked closely to develop a spending plan that continues to provide essential programming for students, support the professional needs of our staff and maintain our district’s infrastructure,” Ruiz said. “The development of our budget is also guided by the district’s strategic plan. This plan identifies four key district goals to guide decision-making and resource allocation.”