N. Bellmore tax-cap committee presents report

A special North Bellmore School District committee formed to address a state-mandated property tax cap met for the first time last week. The committee is chaired by Superintendent Arnold Goldstein, and includes administrators, teachers, parents and residents.

The North Bellmore School District takes in Park Avenue Elementary School, which is in North Merrick.

The committee’s first meeting took place in the all-purpose room at Saw Mill Road Elementary School before a packed audience. Just under 250 people filled the room for the two-hour session. The committee heard a presentation by Assistant Superintendent for Business Toni Cincotta, who discussed a projected drop in state and federal aid for the 2012-13 school year. Aid is likely to decrease by $400,000. With the property-tax cap, the district would collect about $35 million in tax revenue, which, with aid factored in, would bring the budget to $48.3 million— $2.2 million short to maintain current programming, according to Cincotta.

Dr. Charles Fowler, president of School Leadership, spoke next. North Bellmore commissioned School Leadership to study the district’s budget and programs. With $2.2 million in anticipated cuts, the study examined possible options to save the district money. Fowler also discussed what the district was doing to maximize efficiency. North Bellmore already has a uniform, rotating schedule for special teachers, which minimizes teacher travel time and maximizes student classroom time. And the district uses cooperative agreements with other districts in the area to minimize costs.

North Bellmore’s per-pupil cost is significantly less than comparable districts in the area, Fowler pointed out. The per-pupil cost is under $19,000 in North Bellmore, whereas it is about $21,500 in other districts. Because the per-pupil cost is already low, the study looked at teacher costs, in particular teachers’ salaries –– the budget’s largest line item. The study suggested that the district switch to the Princeton plan, in which students would be assigned to schools by grade, rather than their homes’ proximity to particular buildings. The Bellmore School District now uses the plan.