The Merrick and North Merrick elementary districts, as well as the Central High School District, have presented budgets with reasonable spending increases. At the same time, the Merrick and Central districts managed to incorporate new programming into their budgets. Here's a quick look at the spending plans:
Merrick
The Merrick Board of Education and school administration worked incredibly hard to gather community input on next year's spending plan. The district held extra budget sessions, and added time to each of those sessions. Officials publicly reviewed the budget line by line, taking residents' input to heart.
In the end, Merrick put together an excellent budget. The district is proposing a 5.35 percent increase in spending for 2006-07. That's half the increase the district proposed at this time last year.
Next year's budget plan includes a sixth-grade foreign language pilot program, which district PTAs have clamored for in recent years. It would also add three teachers to assist students in math.
Given the district's outstanding success rate on state tests and the myriad activities that it offers to help students become better citizens and just plain better people, the Herald endorses Merrick's budget plan without reservation.
North Merrick
The North Merrick Board of Education and administration are proud to say that they pared next year's budget increase down to below 5 percent -- 4.96 percent, to be precise.
The budget maintains all programs, including North Merrick's after-school Spanish and nationally ranked music programs.
As it has in recent years, North Merrick made an extra effort to involve the community in the budget process through its Lay Budget Committee, whose input is given serious consideration and helps shape the district's spending plan.
North Merrick's state test scores and educational programs are just as impressive as those in Merrick. The district's budget deserves community support. The Herald enthusiastically endorses North Merrick¹s spending plan.
Central District
As it has in recent years, the Central District Board of Education and administration focused on improving and expanding student programming. The Central High School District is proposing a 5.74 percent increase in spending. New in this budget is an alternative learning school, to be housed at the Brookside School. The program is intended for the roughly 40 district students who cannot fit into the mainstream program and often fail to graduate.
The budget also includes a Senior Experience internship program at Kennedy High School. The program is still in development, but it would offer Kennedy seniors the opportunity to gain real-life work experience, as Calhoun and Mepham seniors currently can.
Indeed, the Central District has accomplished a great deal in recent years. We must consider its outstanding Regents diploma rate and its phenomenal performance in prestigious science contests and the National Merit Scholarship competition. We must also remember its vibrant sports and music programs. Given all this, the Herald endorses the Central District budget.
Voting will take place on Tuesday. For more information, check out the districts' Web sites.
