By Nick Buglione
³We¹re extremely happy and very grateful to the community for their support,² said Leon Campo, deputy superintendent of the East Meadow School District.
Passing 2,375 votes to 1,916, East Meadow¹s $141-million spending plan for the 2005-06 school year represents a 5-percent expense increase from the year before, and will raise taxes 5.3 percent and maintain all programs.
In the last three years, the East Meadow School District has been able to propose modest tax increases in comparison to other districts, thanks largely to the hotly contested cutbacks it made in the 2002-03 school year, Campo said. ³We are very sensitive to the plight of the taxpayers,² he said. ³We don¹t take the community for granted.²
That¹s not to say taxpayers haven¹t taken up a significant burden. Even those seemingly small tax-levy increases have amounted to hundreds of dollars more on homeowners¹ tax bills.
With residents growning increasingly weary of the hikes, Super Tuesday has become a nervous evening for school officials. ³There is some tension that didn¹t exist in previous periods,² Campo said.
Uncertainties over the teachers¹ contract negotiations raised additional concerns in East Meadow this budget season. After a year of talks, the teachers union and school officials still haven¹t agreed on a new deal, and progress has been slow.
The East Meadow School District has budgeted about $60 million dollars in its 2005-06 spending plan for instructional salaries, but some residents were worried that a new contract negotiated down the road could raise pay even higher, necessitating a bigger tax increase.
A day before the budget vote, the union called a meeting with parents in an attempt to garner support. ³I don¹t think they accomplished that,² Campo said. ³We¹ve heard from many, many taxpayers urging us to do the right thing. That is, do a fair settlement, but keep in mind the plight of the taxpayer.²
Both sides have been meeting with a state-appointed mediator since September 2004. They last met Monday, May 23.
Meanwhile, there were three uncontested races for the East Meadow Board of Education on the ballot. Incumbent Debbie Coates won a second term, receiving 2,634 votes. Civic leader Joseph Parisi was elected to the seat left vacant by David Kaplan, who resigned in June 2004, with 2,634 votes. Parisi will serve the remainding two years of Kaplan¹s term.
Judy Shiechel received 2,479 votes and will fill Roseann Nolan¹s seat, vacant since she resigned in February. Shiechel will serve the few weeks left on Nolan¹s term, plus an additional three-year term.
Margaret McCartney, who has been a fixture on the East Meadow Public Library board of trustees for 40 years, won re-election with 2,788 votes. She too was unopposed.
In other district news ...
East Meadow standardized test scores continue to rise. According to state Department of Education figures, East Meadow fourth- and eighth-graders are performing better on the English Language Arts test.
Eighty-eight percent of fourth-graders passed the exam this year, compared to 83 percent in 2004, while 70 percent of eighth-graders passed, as opposed to 69 percent last year.
The ELA test is administered every January or February, and challenges students¹ skills in reading, listening attentively, and responding in writing to literary and informational passages.
Scoring is based on a four-point scale. Three and four are passing grades. One and two scores indicate that a student needs extra help.
Comments about this story? NBuglione@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
