Support the Rockville Centre school budget

On Tuesday, Rockville Centre school district residents will vote on the proposed 2010-11 school budget of $93.4 million, a 3.7 percent budget-to-budget increase. The Herald urges voters to approve the plan.

Residents have always shown strong support for local schools, and that support will be put to the test in this challenging economic climate. We know that the last thing district homeowners want is an increase in taxes. And we think school officials have kept this in mind as they have worked to balance the educational needs of our children with tough fiscal reality.

The budget increase for the current school year was the lowest in 17 years, and programs and staff were cut. Administrators are continuing existing programs and services in next year's spending plan, characterizing it as a "preservation budget." It calls for small program and staffing increases in only three areas: the promised expansion of the elementary foreign language program into fourth grade, and the accommodation of increased enrollment in strings and band and the needs of special education and English as a Second Language students.

The budget reduces requested capital projects by $800,000 and utilizes some of the reserve and contingency funds the district maintains — measures that seem necessary now, but could ultimately prove risky.

Many in the community have called for concessions from the district's unions. We hope that in the near future we can report that the teachers and the district, which are negotiating a contract that expires June 30, have reached an agreement that calls for increased employee contributions to health insurance and no raises next year, following the example of the secretarial and custodian unions and other teachers unions on Long Island.

The stakes will be high when voters head to the polls on Tuesday. If the budget is defeated, the district runs the risk of operating on austerity, which would mean cutting $3.5 million from the proposal. This could increase class sizes in all grades and could mean reductions in language, music, sports, performing arts and support programs and closing facilities to community groups. We urge a "yes" vote on the budget.