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Mostly Cloudy East Meadow school board adopts budget
Proposed spending plan maintains jobs, programs
The East Meadow Board of Education has unanimously adopted a $181.2 million school budget for 2011-12 that maintains jobs, programs and class sizes. A $3.5 million reduction in state aid is being offset by money from the district’s “rainy day” fund. Expenses are to rise 1.7 percent, keeping the rate of increase under 2 percent for the second consecutive year.
Those were some of the facts presented by Superintendent Louis DeAngelo, who was accompanied by members of his administrative cabinet on Monday night at the first two of a series of budget-focused meetings with community groups and organizations. Visits with the PTAs from East Meadow High School and Parkway Elementary School generated a number of questions from the audiences, as the district prepares for the annual budget vote and school board elections on May 17.
DeAngelo told his audiences that East Meadow’s fiscal responsibility made possible a budget without cuts, while many local districts are eliminating programs, laying off employees, battling cash-flow problems and putting off facility improvements.
But DeAngelo offered a sobering outlook, and reminded his listeners that the district could face difficult decisions if the economy continues to struggle.
“We are very fortunate in East Meadow that we have had good planning and we are where we are,” he said. “This doesn’t mean, however, we can stay this way and be this way forever.”
Though East Meadow entered the budget-planning process with about $15 million in unrestricted reserves, commonly referred to as a “rainy day” fund, the reduction in state aid will mean the use of $3.5 million of it. The district relies on state aid for about 20 percent of its budget, and district officials warn that if the state continues to cut school aid, the reserve fund could run dry within three years.
Jeffrey Rosenking, a school board trustee, noted that while there were challenges ahead, East Meadow is in a favorable position. “If we want to be on one side of it,” he said, “I’d rather be on this side.”
