By Anthony Rifilato
, addressing issues such as state aid, class sizes and school safety.
School board Vice-President James Scannell, board member Mary Clark, challenger Stanley Gittleman and library board candidate Ethell Smith fielded written questions from the audience at a forum on May 2, which was moderated by the League of Women Voters. School board candidate Ralph Rose did not attend due to a prior commitment.
Gittleman, a retired New York City teacher, was asked how, if elected, he would secure more state education aid for Baldwin. Gittleman explained the need for fairer alternatives to the property tax and that more needs to be done to generate more revenue for the state to allow for more education funding. He said residents are leaving Baldwin as a result of high taxes, and proposed a "community action" plan to lobby lawmakers.
Scannell, who has served on the board since 1998, said that each year, the board lobbies the state and that this year, Baldwin representatives secured $23.6 million in state aid. Scannell said that the school district is a member Reform Educational Financing Inequities Today (REFIT) that lobbies on behalf of districts like Baldwin, where homeowners have a high-tax burden due to a low commercial base. He also said that because of the additional state funding, the board has reduced the proposed 5.97 percent tax levy to 4.98 for the 2007-2008 budget. Scannell also said that the budget-to-budget increases have dropped steadily over the past five years, saying that it was a conscious effort made by the board.
Clark, for her part, explained that as a board member she has lobbied for more state aid for Baldwin. She has also called for more federal funding, especially on behalf of the Committee for Special Education to address the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act - a federal, mandated law ensuring services to children with disabilities - which she said is severely under-funded.
While Gittleman maintained that the board needed a fresh perspective when it came to addressing rising taxes, Scannell said that the board takes "a conservative approach to spending in Baldwin." Scannell and Clark cited the district's per-pupil spending - $16,750 - and said that Baldwin ranks 35th out of 41 districts in Nassau County when it comes to per-pupil spending. At the same time, students have access to a wide range of programs and services, they said, everything from AP courses and Academic Intervention Services to sports teams and musical productions.
When it came to school safety, Gittleman said that the board has failed to explain numerous incidents in the district, telling the audience that since the 2003-04 school year, violent and disruptive incidents in the district have more than tripled. Last year, he said, there were 540 such incidents at the middle school. He called for a social-emotional learning program - an initiative which he said would teach students to calm themselves before acting out - saying that such a program could have prevented a melee at the high school in March, in which two staff members were injured trying to break up a fight.
"The student has to recognize when he's angry, stop what he's doing and think," Gittleman said.
Clark said that like many school districts, "we face problems." She noted a rash of bomb threats in the district last year, and mentioned the recent imbroglio at the high school, saying that the board took steps to address such issues, which has yielded results and prevented or reduced similar incidents from recurring. She also said that a social-emotional learning program would have to be included in a budget, and added that there are numerous programs already in place in the district that are having a positive impact on students.
Scannell shared that sentiment, and said that while he was familiar with social-emotional learning, he believed that electives such as the district's mentoring and school-to-career programs are resonating with students. "I'm in favor of supporting the wide arsenal of programs that we have that addresses these issues," Scannell said. "It's more developmentally appropriate."
Some residents also asked about class sizes, saying that certain schools are "bursting at the seams."
Clark said that the board does have a class size policy at the elementary school level. For instance, in kindergarten and first grade, the policy is 22 students per class. At the middle school the average class size in 2005 was 25 students, while at the high school it was 21, Scannell said. Clark said that ideally, a class size should be under 19 to be effective. And while the community cannot afford to go lower, students are doing well under the current levels.
Gittleman suggested an increase in class sizes, saying that as a New York City teacher, he would regularly have 34 students in a class, who he said performed very well.
"My feeling is that there's no set, ideal class size," Gittleman said. "In lieu of the fact that we have all of these budget problems, we need to look into the possibility that perhaps a larger class size could be used and maintain the effective, high level of instruction that we have today."
Scannell, an educator in the East Williston School District, disagreed and said he would not support an increase in class sizes, unless forced upon the district by a contingency budget if the proposed $105.8 million budget fails.
"I know when I have 20 students in my class, I can be more effective in terms of making that connection, I can be more creative," Scannell said. "It makes a difference in terms of how I can relate to the students."
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