By Matt Hampton
In Elmont, only a small percentage the hamlet�s more than 30,000 residents came out to vote on the $71 million school budget, which passed easily, 950-678. And school board President Frank Ragona, running unopposed, received more than 1,000 votes, securing another three-year term. Ragona said he was �excited about the opportunity� to help guide the education of Elmont children for another three years.
Joining him will be Patrick Emeagwali, a 10-year Elmont resident, who is replacing outgoing Trustee Pam Byer.
In neighboring Franklin Square, the school budget, totaling roughly $33 million, passed by an even wider margin, 1,071-509, and school board Vice President Helen Hoffman and trustees Pam Margaroli and Jerome Monaco were re-elected. Hoffman and Margaroli will serve three-year terms, while Monaco � who was appointed last year as a replacement for John Rendazo � will finish his predecessor�s term, which has one year remaining. Monaco will be eligible to run for a full three-year term next spring.
The $150 million Sewanhaka Central High School District budget � likely the most difficult for residents to consider because of a series of program cuts and reductions � also had a healthy margin of approval, with 3,648 �yes� votes and 2,461 �no�s.� It is just 1.8 percent larger than the current budget, its smallest increase in 15 years. Local parents evidently saw the spending plan as prudent given the difficult financial climate. Sewanhaka this year spent just $16,000 per student, the lowest of any local high school district and among the lowest of any district in Nassau County, according to a Nassau BOCES annual study on school costs.
�Challenging times call for an even greater spirit of innovation and collaboration,� the Sewanhaka school board wrote in a recent newsletter to parents, who responded by passing the budget by nearly 1,200 votes.
�We know the economy is not in a good position, and state aid isn�t what we expected,� said Sewanhaka Board of Education Trustee Joe Armocida, who is also the president of Franklin Square�s school board. �We tried to put together the fairest budget that we could.�
All things considered, school board representatives said, they were thrilled. �We�re ecstatic � we�re very happy that we passed all of our budgets district-wide, both the elementary and high school districts,� Ragona said. �We�re very happy, and we were very confident, even in this terribly rough financial time, that we�d be able to pass the budget, because the people of Elmont always want the best of education for their children.�
Despite the passage of the budgets, however, school officials looking ahead to next year say they fear that the MTA�s new payroll tax may represent a huge unaccounted-for expense. The payroll tax is a revenue generating measure included in the recently passed statewide transit bailout.
�One thing we�re very afraid of is the MTA tax,� said Armocida. �Even though we�ve been assured it will be reimbursed, that fact should be put into the law. If the state economy doesn�t pick up, there�s always the possibility that they won�t be able to pay us back, and then we�re looking at another unfunded state mandate.�
With hundreds of employees, school districts are likely to be hit as hard as any businesses by the payroll tax. Armocida said that districts would be forced to make hard choices if state reimbursements didn�t materialize quickly. �For this year, we would have to take a look at whether we�d be able to trim anyplace else,� he said, �Or, failing that, dip into our reserves.�
Armocida said that local school officials are in constant contact with state legislators, making sure they understand the importance of the reimbursement. He added that he hoped Gov. David Paterson would see things their way.
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