By Andrew Coen
The $20.7 million Nuts and Bolts bond issue to repair the schools also failed by a substantial margin, much like it did on June 3. The Peninsula Public library budget, however, passed easily after going down to a surprising defeat in the first vote.
The proposed school budget failed by 850 votes, with 3,039, or 58 percent, voting against it and 2,189, or 42 percent, voting in favor of it. The budget had to be put up for a second time, with some modifications, because District 15 voters defeated it in the June 3 vote. The original budget, which called for the third-lowest tax increase in Nassau County, at 4 percent, and the fifth-lowest budget-to-budget increase, at 4.9 percent, was defeated by 1,298 votes, 3,068 to 1,770.
It indicates that the community is not in total support of the educational system. That's not good for any community to have, said Sam Donato, Lawrence's assistant superintendent for business.
Of course we're disappointed, but it was no surprise that it went down, said school board president Frank Parise. From the feel of the community, I felt it wasn't going to pass, and we had contingency plans all along. We'll do the best we can with it.
The proposed budget was $72,284 less than the initial $85.3 million budget that was voted down on June 3. The revised budget included a 3.9 percent tax increase and a 4.8 percent budget hike, part of a total budget of $85,263,576.
A contingency budget means Lawrence will be forced to operate with a 1.92 percent budget increase, as the district is forced to cut $1,844,192 from the proposed budget, reducing the total to $83,419,384.
The cuts, which are mostly state-mandated, will impact student supplies, community use of buildings and grounds, equipment, certain salary increases, reserves for worker's compensation, reserves for capital, reserves for approved absences and non-essential maintenance.
The school board will have to cut an additional $757,893. Those cuts include $27,500 for a consultant to make the transition smoother for the new superintendent, $20,000 in contractual items, $60,000 in Board Of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), $150,393 in community programs and $500,000 in cuts for the Personnel in Private and Parochial Schools (PIPPS) program, which provides special education services to non-public school children.
I think this is probably the saddest day in the Lawrence school district's history, said school board member Anthony Licatesi, in a statement during the school board meeting after the votes were tallied. I hope that the community sees this as another challenge and [stays] behind us so we can go forward.
Unfortunately, the children are the casualties of this divisiveness that occurs because, clearly, the voting was done along certain lines, and the children are the ones who are going to suffer as a result, Licatesi said.
The school budget got the most no votes at the Number One School in Lawrence, where 1,075 voted against it and only 296 voted for it. The most support for the budget was in Inwood and Atlantic Beach, as the Number Two School precinct tallied 374 votes in favor to 99 opposed, and Atlantic Beach Village Hall had a 427-122 margin in favor of the budget.
This school district does not deserve to get money with the terrible job they are doing, said Diane Klein, who voted against the budget at the Number One School.
With what we spend, they should be at the top [in statewide test results], not the bottom, said Paula Chason, who also voted no at the Number One School. However, Chason was one of many voters who voted no on the budget and bond but yes on the library budget. [The library budget] should have been passed the first time and have been even higher, said Chason.
Mike Rock was one of the relative few who voted for the school budget at the Number One School. If you had kids, you'd understand, said Rock of his reason for supporting the propositions.
Gloria Johnson was one of the 374 who voted yes at the Number Two School. I went to a school that was in austerity before, and I don't want to see it happen again, said Johnson.
Bond issue voted down
The $20.7 million Nuts and Bolts bond was voted down, 3,036 (or 60 percent) to 1,994. The bond would have helped pay for improvements in the schools' buildings Ñ their roofs, boilers, fire escapes, masonry and plumbing. It would have had no impact on the tax rate for 2003-04, since the cost would have been spread out over 10 or more years and would have been partially reimbursed with New York State aid.
There is no question in my mind that there will be some residual effects that will not be beneficial, said Donato of the bond's failure.
On June 3 the bond proposition was defeated by 1,332 votes, 2,897 to 1,565.
Library budget approved
The Peninsula Public Library budget passed easily, by 2,000 votes, 3,547 (or 70 percent) to 1,547. The same budget was defeated by 136 votes on June 3, 2,383 to 2,247.
The budget calls for an $80,430 increase and $2,800,090 in tax appropriations. If the budget had been voted down Monday, the library would have been forced onto an austerity budget, with cuts that would have forced it to close on Saturdays during the summer. Library officials also would have had to freeze purchases and reduce children's and adult programming.
We are very happy. My thanks go out to everyone in the community who came to vote and pulled that lever down under Ôyes,' said Peninsula Library Board President Michael Fried.
