By Cindy J. Roth
Pataki's proposed budget calls for the biggest decrease in school aid in more than a decade, by an average of 8.5 percent per district across the state. Long Island school districts would see an average decrease of 10 percent, and Nassau County stands to lose $70.5 million in aid. The budget also eliminates all state subsidies for smaller classes, universal preschool, full-day kindergarten and after-school programs.
Superintendents said they are being cautious in their budget planning but are also optimistic about aid numbers, as the political game surrounding the approval of the state budget, which has a history of not passing by the April 1 deadline, gets under way.
"Usually a lot of wrangling and a lot of politics goes on before it's all over," said East Rockaway School District Superintendent Arnie Dodge. "We're hoping for the best and planning for the worst."
The East Rockaway district's state aid is projected to decrease 13.66 percent, or $528,935. The Lynbrook School District expects a reduction of $560,204, or 11.12 percent, and the Malverne School District faces a decrease of $762,418, or 12.15 percent.
"Because of reassessment, increasing [school] taxes will become a problem," said Malverne School District Superintendent Anthony Pecorale. "Malverne residents have seen a 10 percent increase in taxes, and that's without education even factored in. That's a real problem."
Pecorale said the district would look to cut staff if forced to make up the money the state doesn't provide, which would mean increased class sizes. The district was also expecting $225,000 from the state to start a full-day kindergarten program, which would get axed if the aid doesn't come through.
"It's going to have to be reductions in staff," said Pecorale. "You don't make up that kind of money in paper and paper clips. We're also going to look at programs to cut that are not mandated by state law."
A teacher costs an average of $70,000 a year to have on staff, with salary and benefits figured in. For the Malverne district, a reduction in aid of $762,418 could mean the firing of 10 to 12 teachers. Class size maximums could increase to 29, from the current cap of 24, although Pecorale said many classes are below the current limit.
Dodge would not discuss specifics on how the East Rockaway district would make for the aid reduction, but said, "Nothing is off the table. We're looking at everything. The goal is to keep our programs as intact as possible, to keep everything afloat, but also make sure the budget is financially responsible to the taxpayer."
With legislators usually unable to agree on a state budget until after schools are required to have their budgets approved in May, school districts often guess at the amount of aid they'll receive, which affects the amount of taxpayer money needed to balance the budget.
"You can be as conservative as you want, but we just don't have enough information," said Pecorale.
Lynbrook district Superintendent William Metkiff said he is angered by the whole process of determining state aid to schools. "They're playing the usual political game, and we're hoping the Assembly and Senate will restore aid," he said.
The district has had four budget workshops already, and has been trying to reduce its projected 11 percent budget increase for the 2003-04 school year. After working on the expense side, Metkiff said, supplies, equipment and additional staffing for next year have been cut, and the overall budget increase is down to 8.5 percent.
Metkiff is also worried about the role the county's property-tax reassessments will play in this year's budget decision-making process, and he is mindful of the detrimental effects of a budget that doesn't pass. State law mandates that a school budget can only be put up for a vote twice. If it fail to pass after a second try, the current year's budget is re-implemented with only a 1.9-percent increase.
"It has disastrous affects," said Metkiff, who also said that regardless of cutbacks in state aid, the district's "full-day kindergarten will stay intact."
Last year, the East Rockaway district's overall budget increased 10.73 percent, with a homeowner tax increase of 11.04 percent; Lynbrook had a budget increase of 6.62 percent and a tax increase of 9.17 percent, and Malverne's budget called for a 4.99 percent increase and a tax increase of 6.8 percent.
