By Brian McLaughlin
Voters approved the budget in Lynbrook by a vote of 1,085 to 597; in Malverne by a 864 to 697 vote count; and in East Rockaway 586 to 377.
East Rockaway
Although East Rockaway had the smallest proposed budget of the three districts at $21,149, 330, voters were faced with the largest proportional tax increase, an estimated 10.73-percent hike in taxes per household.
This works out to an average total school tax bill of about $4,243, which is still the lowest among the three districts. Also, the increase was no surprise to East Rockaway residents, whose district has dealt with state funding that has remained at a fixed amount for more than a decade.
Faced with a struggle against stagnant funding, district director of finance and operations Angela Eisert assured voters that the new budget still carried one of the lowest per-student spending rates in the county.
The primary thrust of East Rockaway's budget is to maintain the pre-existing programs, with most new costs going towards facility renovation and a few educational aid programs. Superintendent Dr. Arnold Dodge said, on top of maintaining what is already in place, our main goals will be emphasizing math and literacy programs and integrating new technology.
If the budget did not pass, East Rockaway schools would have had to cut such basic programs as advanced math and science courses and school nurses.
Malverne
Malverne managed to keep its budgetary inflation the smallest with a 4.99 percent total increase over last year's budget, bringing the budget to $31,494,671, which is expected to work out to a 6.8 percent increase for village taxpayers.
Malverne superintendent B. Allen Manella attributed most of the cost increases to maintaining the BOCES program and hiring six new teachers. BOCES is a specialized education service offering classes in such areas as culinary arts, dance, drama, and even speech.
We are very pleased that the budget will enable to us to keep all the programs in place for our students, said Dr. Sharon Simmons, district supervisor of curriculum and instruction.
The six new teaching positions include a K-2nd grade math teacher, an additional high school math teacher, a high school social studies teacher, an elementary school psychologist, an inclusion teacher to work with special education students placed into mainstream classes, and a supervisor of a time-out room for disruptive students.
Lynbrook
At $48,135,470, Lynbrook's proposed budget for the 2002-2003 school year was the largest by far of the three districts, carrying a 6.621 percent overall increase over the current budget and an expected increase of 9.17 percent for the average taxpayer. But school board member Alicemarie Bresnihan maintains that the board worked hard to come up with a budget that was fair to both sides
