1.6% hike proposed

There was a sparse showing in the meeting room of the Long Beach Public Library for the Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, when Long Beach School District Superintendent Dr. Robert Greenberg and Chief Operating Officer Michael DeVito presented their proposed budget for the 2010-11 school year.

The plan would increase spending by $1.8 million, or 1.6 percent, over the current budget, and increase the tax levy $1.6 million, or 1.9 percent.

"We were very concerned about the state of the economy, the state of the state [and] state aid," Greenberg said of his budget calculations with DeVito.

Greenberg went on to say that last year they were aware of the downturn in the economy and the uncertainty of state aid, but they were more concerned with the three years ahead. "When we do the budget, we want to avoid any spikes so the taxpayers can plan and budget appropriately," he explained. Since 2005, the increases in the school spending plan have steadily declined from 6 percent to 1.8 percent in the current budget.

"The unknown to us is state aid," said Greenberg. "I think we're in good shape for that."

As he did last year, in January Gov. David Paterson proposed a reduction in aid to school districts that would mean $3 million less for Long Beach schools. But the school district expects to receive about the same amount from Albany in building aid.

With the ratification of a teachers contract in October, salary increases will account for $2 million more in spending, but DeVito said that by reallocating funds based on current budget line spending, the district was able to keep the total increase low. He explained that the district would like to use reserve funds to pay for future increases in employee benefits.

"What we hope to do at the end of this year is put more money into that reserve fund," DeVito said. "So in the following year and the year after that ... we will be able to draw down from the reserve funds to pay for this expense."

While some school districts on Long Island will cut programs and eliminate teachers, Greenberg said, "What we want to do is maintain and perhaps grow our existing

programs."

The school district was recently awarded International Baccalaureate status, and the new educational program will be implemented in the high school in September. The district is also expanding its Foreign Language Elementary School program to the fourth grade.

Greenberg said that the district wants to continue to expand its fleet of compressed-natural-gas school buses, replace deteriorating diesel buses and restore and rehabilitate the middle school parking lots.

If the budget is approved by the board, on May 18 voters may also see plans for the repair of the high school pool's water filtration system, a project that would cost $600,000, and the expansion and renovation of the district's wrestling facilities.

The Board of Education seat held by President Lynn Gergen will be up for election.

Documents pertaining to the budget can be found on the Board of Education's Web site, lbeach.org.

Comments about this story? JKellard@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.