By:Jerry Burke
The largest cuts in the budget come from the elimination of four plans from the capital projects budget, including a $220,000 public announcement system for H. Frank Carey High School, and a $64,000 stair tread refurbishing and a $100,000 facade restoration for Sewanhaka High School.
Because voters in the Sewanhaka Central High School District rejected the original $119,145,556 budget proposal on May 18 by a vote of 2,892 to 2,495, the board decided to make the cuts and try again.
The new budget proposal is an 8.15 percent increase over last year's $109,478,175 budget. For residents of Elmont, the tax rate jumps from $68.67 per $100 of assessed value to $76.88. In Franklin Square, the rate jumps from $70.51 to $82.17.
The failed high school budget proposal counted only Elmont as a supporter, with voters there approving the measure by an 853-to-775 margin. The other three components of Sewanhaka, Franklin Square, Floral Park-Bellrose and New Hyde Park-Garden City Park, all gave it a thumbs down.
Franklin Square voters, which passed a $25.7 million elementary-school budget by a razor-thin seven-vote margin, 786 to 779, said no to the high school budget by a vote of 715 to 623. The New Hyde Park-Garden City Park voters, who also voted down their elementary-school budget, voted 761 to 669 against the Sewanhaka proposal.
The vote in Floral Park-Bellrose was even more overwhelming against it, with 350 in favor and 561 opposed. Those voters, too, rejected their elementary budget.
A district spokesperson for Sewanhaka said that "everyone was disappointed" by the outcome of the vote, but school officials remain encouraged that they can avoid an austerity budget. Should voters reject the budget again, the state will impose a cap of 2.76 percent on increases in spending. The next regular meeting of the board will take place on Tuesday, June 22, at 8 p.m. at Sewanhaka High School.
