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Mostly Cloudy High school budget meets tax cap
Board adopts $103.2 million spending plan
The Valley Stream Central High School District Board of Education voted 8-1 to adopt a $103.24 million 2012-13 budget at its March 13 business meeting.
When Superintendent Dr. Bill Heidenreich and his staff outlined the budget plans to the board in February, he said that in order for the district to maintain all of its programs, the tax levy increase would need to be 3.4 percent, greater than the maximum allowable tax levy increase of 2.55 percent under the new state tax cap law. To make up the difference, the district had to cut $1.1 million.
Initially, district officials thought the tax levy increase would be capped at 2 percent. However, a variety of exemptions in the tax cap legislation allow the district to increase the levy to 2.55 percent.
Heidenreich estimated that using exemptions gave the district an extra $300,000 to work with. He said that the district would hire a part-time social worker to be shared by Central High School and Memorial Junior High School, and a part-time psychologist for South High School. Also, additional part-time teachers would be hired to balance class sizes in the district.
“They saw the benefit in going for the 2.55 percent because it enables us to better service kids through the addition of pupil personnel service workers, like a social worker or psychologist, and maintaining smaller classes,” Heidenreich said of the board.
While some part-time positions would be added in 2012-13, there would also be nine full-time jobs and one part-time position lost as part of the $1.1 million cut. The staff cuts would include four teaching assistants, a phys. ed. and health teacher, a copy machine operator, a copy machine operating aide, a technology aide, a typist clerk from the Instructional Services Center and a part-time typist clerk in the Adult Education Department.
The restructuring of the district’s maintenance workers sparked discussion among board members throughout the budget planning process. Maintenance staffers currently work from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., and under the adopted budget they would work from 3 to 11 p.m.
