Island Park spending plan deserves support

In Island Park, voters will decide on a $32.5 million budget, a $1.29 million increase over the current plan that will mean a 2.83 percent tax-levy increase. School officials have taken steps to trim costs while maintaining programs and services in light of rising state-mandated costs and a proposed $250,000 cut to state education aid.

Eighty-five percent of the budget is devoted to programs, including a new English Language Arts reading series and continued support for summer programs.

And although the district has had to make tough choices this year -— it is considering the elimination of the dean's position in order to trim administrative costs — it has taken some innovative steps as well to ease the burden on taxpayers.

The district's bond rating was recently upgraded to AA+, allowing it district to refund its bonds at a much lower interest rate, a move that school officials say will save taxpayers over half a million dollars in the next 10 years. The district also cut supplies and materials by 16 percent, part of an initiative to go green and use less paper, and allocated a $600,000 surplus to help reduce the impact of the budget on taxpayers.

While we agree with some residents' concerns in both Oceanside and Island Park that the districts can do even more to cut expenses — and their property taxes — in these difficult economic times, we believe school officials have done the best they could in the face of state mandates, cuts to education aid and a nagging recession.

All told, the budgets are fair and reasonable, guaranteeing students the educational resources they need, and we urge voters to support them.