Cuomo announces state aid figures

As part of the tentative state budget announced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and adopted by the Legislature earlier this month, approximately $20.9 million in education aid has been earmarked for the Long Beach School District for the 2015-16 school year, an 8.38 percent increase over this year’s roughly $19 million.

It is the eighth-highest school aid total in Nassau County.

“Funding increases aren’t just good news for our schools,” State Assemblyman Todd Kaminsky, a Democrat from Long Beach said in a statement. “Increased state school funding is a significant step in reducing our property taxes, and in doing so lifting a major burden off of homeowners all across our district.”

Kaminsky said that South Shore school districts in the 20th Assembly District would see a total of nearly $7 million in additional state aid, an 8.8 percent increase over this year.

Michael DeVito, the Long Beach district’s chief operating officer, said the additional funding would help the district rely less on reserves, but he added that officials were expecting a slightly higher figure. And receiving that aid, Superintendent David Weiss added, is contingent on the district’s adoption of the governor’s proposed education reforms.

Kaminsky arranged for DeVito and Weiss to meet with the staff of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee in Albany in February to discuss some of the unique issues facing Long Beach, such as the wide range of incomes among residents, which Weiss said helped in determining the expenditure-driven component of the aid. Kaminsky said he set up the meeting to ensure that Long Beach “got the treatment it deserved” and to help legislators better understand the needs of the community.

The announcement of the state budget came as Long Beach’s Board of Education prepares to adopt its own spending plan for the 2015-16 school year at its April 14 meeting. DeVito said he would present an updated draft budget reflecting the new state aid figure to the board for its consideration.