By Jason Scheer
The West Hempstead Board of Education adopted its $45.5 million budget last week, a 6.09 percent increase over the current one.
The change, as is common throughout Long Island, stems from rising payments to the New York State pension system for teachers. Last year the board budgeted $301,000 for these payments, compared with $497,000 earmarked in the 2005-06 budget.
At the March 29 meeting, the school board discussed the non-instructional portion of the budget, which includes supplies, maintenance and legal fees. While general attorneys' fees have received a modest increase, from $97,500 to $118,000, the school district is budgeting $267,000 - $111,400 more than last year - for costs stemming from litigation with special-education parents. Parents of children with special needs are suing the school district for tuition to private schools, arguing that they are not receiving a "free and appropriate" education.
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Carol Eisenberg said that with each lawsuit, the district must pay thousands in attorney's fees. Even if the district wins the initial case, parents have appealed many decisions, creating more costs to the districts. One resident questioned whether it was cost-effective to fight these battles and whether or not it would be cheaper just to pay the tuition. Members of the board said that tuition costs for special education students can be around $40,000 per year and would be far more expensive than the legal fees. Eisenberg said this was a phenomenon unique to West Hempstead and that it's becoming an increasingly expensive and unwarranted trend.
"If a child deserves Special Ed. services, they certainly should have it and the entire board feels that way," she said. "However, if you're talking about abusing the system, then that's our problem."
Another big jump in the budget comes in the area of a building survey. The district is budgeting $19,000 this year, compared to $3,000 last year. This increase, according to Assistant Superintendent Dr. Christine Grucci, is the result of unfunded state mandates. Grucci said that school districts are required by the New York State Education Department to do a survey of district buildings every five years. She said if these surveys aren't conducted, the state will not approve capital projects.
"They're holding the district ransom," she said.
Contingency plan
Residents will vote on the adopted budget on May 17. If the budget fails, it can be put up a second time at the board's discretion. If it fails again and the district must go to a contingency budget. The contingency budget, as mandated by the state, will eliminate use of facilities by outside organizations and cut the allotment of textbooks to private and parochial schools in half.
In addition, Eisenberg said the district will be forced to consider other measures, such as reducing the school day from nine periods to eight and eliminating athletic programs and clubs. This would lead to layoffs within the district.
School board member Martin Kaye applauded the administration's efforts in keeping the budget increases at a reasonable level.
"It took a lot of work and number crunching to reach this point," he said
Eisenberg said the budget, as currently constituted, will allow the district to meet certain goals for the 2005-2006 school year. Those goals include the ability to provide a safe environment, to improve student performance, to implement the No Child Left Behind Mandates, provide for extracurricular activities, maintain long-term financial stability and enhance and maintain district facilities.
"This is the kind of budget that allows us to move forward in our quest for excellence," Eisenberg said.
Last year marked the first time since 1991 that voters rejected the West Hempstead School District's budget. The $42.86 million budget for 2004-2005 failed by six votes. When the school board resubmitted the budget with no cuts weeks later, it passed by more than 350 votes.
Comments about this story? JScheer@liherald.com or 569-4000 ext. 282.
