By:Nick Buglione
Presided over by board members David Kaplan, Roseann Nolan and Debbie Coates, the hearing gave residents the chance to talk about how the 2004-05 school budget should be shaped.
"Class sizes are a real concern, because years ago they were smaller," said Nadine Salzman, an East Meadow parent with a daughter in Woodland Middle School and one in Parkway Elementary.
Salzman, herself a teacher for 14 years in Queens, said she knows first-hand the difficulty of getting through to every student in a large class. Her sixth-grade class currently has 32 students, the same as one of her daughter's classes at Woodland. "How can one person get to 32 children?" Salzman said. "As hard as I work and try, you just can't reach every child. To me, it makes a very large difference."
East Meadow class sizes have increased in recent years, especially after the 2002-03 school budget narrowly passed, mandating teacher layoffs and program cutbacks. The school district insists, however, that class sizes still fall within its guidelines.
"You want to be able to turn back the clocks when things were easier and class sizes were low," said Judy Shiechel, East Meadow PTA Council president, who was at the hearing but did not speak. "You do the best you can."
Maintaining instructional programs and staff positions were also priorities among those in attendance.
Bowling Green Elementary PTA President Merri Quinonez, who spoke on a number of issues, brought up the idea of implementing a full-day kindergarten in the district. "We're the only district left that doesn't have it," Quinonez said, adding that many parents opt to enroll their kindergartners in private day care and preschool programs instead of local schools.
Mention was also made of the upcoming teacher contract negotiations, which will probably begin after the break in April.
Turnout at the budget input hearing was low, probably between 35 and 40 people, according to those who were there. And many in attendance were district officials.
The school board initiated the hearings last year in response to the flak it caught after the controversial 2002-03 budget passed. Residents claimed the board didn't notify them early enough about the impending cutbacks.
The school board called two input hearings last year, when the 2003-04 budget was drafted, in order to open the lines of communication. Those meetings, too, were sparsely attended, so the board decided to hold only one this year.
Leon Campo, East Meadow assistant superintendent of finance and administration, said the 2004-05 school budget is still being developed, and that no concrete numbers are available. He did note, however, that the district doesn't envision any staff or program cutbacks. "There's nothing in the air that would cause people to be particularly alarmed," Campo said. "Our budget really embraces our current program. What's unknown is the revenue source -- how much comes from state aid and how much comes from tax revenue."
Under Gov. George Pataki's proposed state budget, which is still subject to the approval of the Legislature, the East Meadow School District will receive $28.9 million in state funding -- a .3 percent increase over last year.
Campo hopes that since this is an election year, state elected officials will direct some more money toward education. He is also hoping that officials will have the state budget finished on time, something they haven't accomplished in years.
Pataki's budget last year proposed to cut $4 million of East Meadow school aid, $3 million of which was later restored by the Legislature. In the end, the school district still had to raise taxes about 7 percent.
It's unknown how much taxes will jump during the 2004-05 school year, but an increase is likely. In recent years, expenses associated with labor contracts, insurance and equipment have continued to increase, while state aid has leveled off, placing the burden on taxpayers, Campo said.
Pataki continually points to the fact that since 1995 he has increased school aid by $4.7 billion, or 48 percent. School district officials across the county counter that while the governor has increased aid, the dollars haven-t nearly made up for skyrocketing expenses and unfunded state mandates.
The school budget vote is set for Tuesday, May 18.
