By Dana Williams
On May 20, residents of the Malverne School District will vote on a $43.5 million budget for the 2008-09 school year, an increase of 4.73 percent, or $1.9 million, over the current budget. The increase, school officials said, is the smallest that District 12 has proposed in nine years. After adopting the spending plan on April 8, members of Malverne's school board announced that it included a tax levy increase of $1.2 million, or 3.97 percent, and that the average homeowner's tax bill would increase about $195.
Karen Aker, who is running for re-election for a four-year seat on the Malverne Board of Education, said that board members have worked collectively to devise new programs and find other ways to improve the school district while keeping taxes as low as possible. Aker, a Lynbrook resident, was first elected to the school board in 1996 and re-elected in 2000 and 2004.
After getting $608,707 more than expected in state aid which brought District 12's total state funding to $8.6 million board members used the additional money to reduce the projected tax levy increase from 5.35 to 3.97 percent. Aker, 60, said that if she is re-elected, she will continue to focus on efforts to lower taxes such as sharing expenses with other schools.
When making decisions, the school board always keeps the taxpayers in mind,'94 Aker said. With the rest of the school board, lowering taxes is something that I will continue to work on while making sure that our students don't go without the tools and programs they need to succeed.'94
Aker's challenger, Julian Jones Jr., 53, a Lakeview resident and a first-time candidate for a trustee seat, said that District 12 school board members could do more to lower the tax burden on residents. If elected, Jones said, he will push for meetings and forums that will improve communication between the school board and the community. As things stand now, he said, district expenditures are not clearly defined to the public.
Taxpayers need to know where every dollar is being spent,'94 Jones said. All residents hear is taxes are going up, but we need people on the school board who will explain to taxpayers exactly where their money is going.'94
West Hempstead
Residents of the West Hempstead School District will vote on a proposed budget of $52.6 million, a $1.8 million or 3.63 percent increase in spending. Despite the increase, school officials project that the tax levy will increase by no more than 0.77 percent, to $35.4 million. West Hempstead's three-year average tax levy increase, school officials said, has been less than 1 percent.
Board of Education incumbent Trustee Pamela Lotito, who is running unopposed for a three-year term, said she would help the board continue reducing school taxes, and this is one reason why district residents should re-elect her. Lotito noted that the board had managed to keep tax levy increases to a minimum while making curriculum upgrades such as proposing a district-wide kindergarten-through-second-grade foreign language program in this year's budget.
Lotito, 57, was first elected to the school board in 1999, and re-elected in 2002 and 2005. I want to continue to be a part of the board's efforts to be fiscally responsible,'94 she said. Working to keep up this trend of keeping our school taxes low is all intertwined with the reasons why I want to continue to serve on this school board.'94
Board President Vincent Trocchia is also running for re-election to another three-year term. It would be the seventh consecutive term for Trocchia, 56, who is being challenged by resident Walter Ejnes, who ran an unsuccessful campaign for a seat on the board in 2003.
Trocchia said he wants to continue to improve district students' education. The proposed budget includes funding for additional computers and SMART boards. I want to increase our technology program because that's really what the future is all about technology,'94 Trocchia said. I really feel that my experience and different ideas will continue to be one of the positives about this school board.'94
If he is re-elected, Trocchia added, he will work to attract more students to West Hempstead schools. In March, Island Park residents approved a proposition that allows the village's students to attend either Long Beach or West Hempstead High School. In the past, Island Park students who reached high school age have all enrolled at West Hempstead High, but Island Park voters approved a five-year contract with both schools, and many West Hempstead residents expressed concerns about the possibility of losing too many students at a community forum on March 27.
We have new programs like the elementary foreign language program that we're looking to establish for our students,'94 Trocchia said. Our schools are great, and my direction is to continue to come up with ways to attract more students to our school district.'94
Ejnes said that the newly approved contract puts WHHS in competition with LBHS for students, and he wants to serve on the board to support initiatives that embrace this idea. Parents in Island Park will now be looking at West Hempstead and Long Beach high schools in greater detail to compare them,'94 he said. I want to help find ways to help our district really shine, because we're in a unique position with this contract, and we have to turn it into a positive by showing parents what's great about West Hempstead High School and all of our schools.'94
Ejnes, 43, also said that one reason he chose to run for the seat is because the school board needs members who will embrace new concepts with open minds, especially when choosing different ways to use technology throughout the district. Our district needs to improve on how it integrates technology to benefit students' learning in the classroom,'94 Ejnes said. I'm active in many committees where issues like this are discussed, and I think more needs to be done on our school board to address how technology can help children's ability to grow as students.'94
Comments about this story? DWilliams@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 205.
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