By Scott Brinton
That is, Central District students perform well on standardized tests when compared with other Nassau districts, but Bellmore-Merrick¹s per-pupil spending is among the lowest in the county. Goldstein noted that Bellmore-Merrick ranked 11th in the county in the number of Regents diplomas that it handed out in 2004, the last year for which statistical data is available. But, the assistant superintendent said, the district¹s per-pupil spending ranked 39th out of 44 districts.
Cynthia Regal, the assistant superintendent for business, compared Bellmore-Merrick¹s per-pupil spending of $9,075 with that of Manhasset¹s $15,971.
All of this was to say that Central officials are prudent with taxpayer dollars, and the property tax hikes that residents have seen in recent years are beyond their control. In large part, Central officials blamed the tax increases on a continual drop in state education aid.
Education aid is money that the state provides to help defray the cost of funding the schools. Schools depend on two primary funding sources ‹ property taxes and state aid. When state aid is reduced, property taxes go up, unless student programming is cut.
In 1999, Regal said, state aid accounted for 20 percent of the Central High School District budget. Today, that figure is 13.8 percent.
As it has a number of times in recent years, the Central High School District is facing a cut in state aid in 2006-07 ‹ $490,000 in all. Central officials say they have lobbied state lawmakers for more aid, but have not yet received a response.
In its 2006-07 budget, the Central District is proposing an increase in expenditures of a little less than $6 million, up from $101.4 million to $107.2 million ‹ an increase of roughly 5.75 percent.
The budget includes new programming. Dr. Henry Kiernan, the Central superintendent, spoke of the district¹s plan to start an alternative school for students who are failing and cannot fit into mainstream classes. The program would be housed at the Brookside School in North Merrick.
Contingency plans
Central High School District officials expect that the average tax bill for a Bellmore-Merrick home will be $3,277 in 2006-07. That figure does not include local elementary district taxes.
Cynthia Regal, the Central District¹s assistant superintendent for business, said that homeowners would save $58 on their property tax bills if the Central budget were voted down in May. But student programming would be reduced. Potential cuts would include:
n Athletics
n Clubs
n Community use of fields
n Summer school
n Equipment
n Staff
Also, Regal said, class size might increase.
