O’side school board candidates forum

Oceanside school board candidates Kim Grim-Garrity and challenger Austin Graff squared off at a forum held on May 5 at Oceanside High School.

The first question was, “How has GEA impacted Oceanside?”

“I don’t know what GEA is,” said Graff.

For the record, GEA is the Gap Elimination Adjustment. Since the 2010-2011 fiscal year, the state has taken money from school districts to close a budget deficit. Oceanside lost $2.4 million to the state in the 14-15 school year. School districts are set to regain some of the money in 15-16, although Oceanside will still lose $611,007. State Sen. Dean Skelos has said that the 2016-2017 budget would restore the rest of the gap.

“The gap elimination has negatively affected all of Long Island,” said Grim-Garrity. “It has cost us over $2 million in Oceanside alone. We cannot make that up. That has affected all of our taxes. If anyone had come to our budget meetings they would know that. Our lawyers know that.”

Grim-Garrity is a lifetime Oceanside resident and has been on the school board for 18 years. Graff has two children currently in elementary school and works as a lawyer for the Hempstead school district.

Graff was also did not know about the foundation formula — which determines the bulk of state aid to schools. Grim-Garrity said that Long Island sends more money to New York State than it gets back. “They think we’re land-rich,” she said. “But we’re not. We’ve been the golden goose forever… The bubble is about to burst.”

Another term Graff did not know was the E-rate program, which is a federal program to help schools obtain broadband service.

The candidates differed on their opinions of the state tax levy cap. Grim-Garrity said it was bad for Oceanside, while Graff was for the tax cap. “It’s a tool to make sure that there’s no runaway budgets for schools,” he said. “In the past districts have had unlimited amount of tax revenue that they could bring in if you get it past the voters.” Graff also questioned the district’s $3.25 million fund balance. Grim-Garrity said the fund balance was necessary and required by the state.