By Brian Zanzonico
With an audience of 300 at Gotham Avenue School, the board elected to put the $61.4 million budget, a 5.9 percent increase over the current spending plan, before voters on May 16.
The tax levy, which is the amount of the budget funded by property taxes, is increasing by 2.9 percent. The tax levy accounts for 70 percent of the budget.
„This is a happy occasion,¾ said Superintendent Al Harper, who helped shape his first budget since taking over for Dr. Maria Palandra last summer. „This is the lowest tax levy increase in many, many years.¾
While that may be good news for taxpayers, mandated expenditures continue to soar. The district will have to dole out an additional $490,000 in employee pension benefits (an 18 percent spike over the current budget) and nearly $282,000 more in medical insurance, a 5 percent increase. In total, mandated expenditures account for about one-third of the entire budget increase. The budget also provides for one additional „inclusion teacher,¾ two additional special-education teachers, four new special-education aides and a new English as a Second Language teacher.
The budget also calls for the purchase of four new large school buses (a total of more than $125,000), window replacement in several buildings, roof replacement on several buildings, new public address systems, networked computers in kindergarten through third grade classrooms (grades four through six are currently networked), and „smart board¾ technology, an oversized computer screen that can be drawn on and used by teachers to e-mail homework to absent students, among its many other functions, Harper said.
A budget hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, May 9. The budget vote is May 16.
Ailing Madera passes on re-election
Tom Madera, the husband of Elmont and Sewanhaka Central High School District board member Joy Madera, announced that his wife had decided against seeking re-election due to an undisclosed illness.
„It would be a disservice to give less than my all,¾ Joy Madera wrote in a statement read by her husband. „I wholeheartedly encourage [someone] to run for election.¾
Elmont school board President Aubrey Phillips, speaking on behalf of the board, wished Madera a speedy recovery and thanked her „for her many years of service to the community.¾
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