By Jonann Brady and Jacky Gerzema
The total proposed school district budget for the 2002-03 school year is $77,831,065, an 8.86 percent increase from last year's budget of $71,499,550. Based on these numbers, the property tax rate would jump 11.2 percent.
Gov. George Pataki and the New York State Legislature have indicated another $500 million will be allocated to schools in this year's budget and school districts across the state are anxiously awaiting final budget numbers to see how their districts will fare. If the Baldwin school district receives more state aid, it will be used to reduce the tax levy.
Though parents aren't celebrating the tax hikes, most say that the increases are mainly for programs and staff to keep the district competitive. Anne Hannon, president of the Parent Teacher Association Council, said that the members of that group unanimously support the budget.
"We need to continue the good work the school is doing, like the reduced class sizes, which has really paid off," said Hannon.
But one resident who attended the meeting expressed hesitation about endorsing the budget. "As a citizen, I'm concerned about how the budget will affect taxes," said Deborah Maniaci in a phone interview after the meeting. "It's important for people to be aware."
Maniaci, who does not yet have children in the district, said that she hasn't reached a decision on how she will vote at this point.
In response to taxpayer concerns, the Board says that the numbers reflect requests from both parents and teachers.
"From the Board's perspective or for anyone who has been to meetings over the past year, there was never a suggestion by a participant on what services to cut. Rather, there's been a call for more services," said Board member B.A. Schoen.
Despite the budget increases, Schoen said that Baldwin is still toward the bottom of the list in per capita spending in Nassau County.
At the meeting, Deborah and her husband Steven Maniaci inquired about the decrease in funding for computer hardware and software.
Money for computer hardware decreased from $124,035 last year to $50,255 this year. The computer software budget decreased from $142,110 to $93,790. Dr. Lee Chapman, deputy superintendent of administration, explained that because of state aid cuts, the district had to decrease its computer budget.
More money has been allocated for a wide-area network (WAN), he added, which will help schools connect with each other through computers and provide additional technological resources.
Another meeting attendee, Jerry Wood, said that administrators should be more aware of students living outside the school district who use a false address to attend Baldwin schools.
"We're paying money for kids who don't even live in the district," he said. "People at Dawson's Taxi said that they drive out to Roosevelt and Freeport to pick up kids and take them to our schools."
Superintendent Kathy Weiss said people who suspect that students from outside of the district are attending Baldwin's schools should contact the school district and let them know. She added that numerous complaints were investigated last year, and the more information given, the better they can control out-of-district students.
Wood also complained that the money allocated toward special education and private and parochial schools was too high. Chapman explained that by law, the Baldwin School District has to pay for students who attend private, parochial or special education schools. While the average amount spent per student in Baldwin is around $12,000, private schools and other special education schools can cost up to $49,000 per student.
For more details on the budget, residents can stop by the Herald Newspaper offices at 379 Central Ave. in Lawrence to view the budget statement, or contact the school district. The budget vote will be held on May 21, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. at the Baldwin Senior High School.
