Say ‘yes’ to East Meadow’s spending plan

The East Meadow School District is in transition. From parents to teachers to administrators and Board of Education trustees, everyone has expressed relief at the sweeping changes introduced when Superintendent Leon Campo took the reins from Louis DeAngelo, who retired in June, on an interim basis.

Students who refuse to take the state assessments do not “sit and stare” in a classroom alongside test-takers, as they have in years past. The school board published a position paper denouncing high-stakes testing in July, calling for New York’s leaders to reconsider education policies. A full-day kindergarten program was created. And there has been an air of relative calm at board meetings rather than disharmony.

But what has been described as a healing period isn’t over. Parents have and will continue to voice their concerns about how the district is managed and its future — especially when the search for a permanent superintendent begins this summer.

That’s why it’s crucial that East Meadow and Salisbury residents vote on Tuesday. The board faced a daunting task this spring of crafting a 2016-17 spending plan that meets the needs of students, teachers and taxpayers despite unfunded state mandates, inadequate state aid and the state tax cap. Even though East Meadow’s maximum allowable increase in the tax levy is just .04 percent, trustees made a promise to the community that they would stay below the cap instead of piercing it like they did last year in order to finance the new kindergarten program.

The board and the administration should be commended for finding ways to cut costs without affecting instruction. Although the budget calls for a .03 percent spending decrease next year, it maintains all current academic and co-curricular programs, provides professional staff development, continues implementation of technology initiatives and provides for an enhanced sports field maintenance program.

We urge residents to support this budget, which will help East Meadow’s schools continue to provide the high-quality learning with which they have become synonymous.