District 13 strives to maintain programs

Spending would rise 1.6 percent next year in District 13 under the tentative budget plan presented to the Board of Education and the public last week.

At the James A. Dever School on Feb. 15, administrators unveiled the draft $43.2 million spending plan with about two dozen community and staff members present. The increase is roughly $670,000 over the current year’s budget.

It carries a 2.91 percent increase in the tax levy — the total amount of money to be collected by taxes. That falls just short of the maximum increase allowed under the new tax cap legislation. The average homeowner in the district would see their elementary tax bill rise by about $95 next year. Meredith Brosnan, assistant superintendent for business, says that amounts to 26 cents per day.

Though many perceive the tax cap as a limited to a 2 percent hike, that is just a misconception, school officials noted. There is actually an 11-step formula that school districts use to calculate their maximum allowable increase, which factors in rising pension costs, debt from capital projects and growth in the tax base.

Construction of the Dutchgate senior housing complex in North Valley Stream has contributed to the growth of District 13’s tax base, allowing it to have a tax levy hike greater than 2 percent. “We had an increase in the amount of taxable property,” Brosnan said, “which on Long Island is pretty unusual because it’s pretty well built up.”

The draft budget maintains all programs in the district and keeps class sizes about the same. The number of regular kindergarten through sixth-grade classes in the district next year will decrease from 94 to 93, and that reduction is based on enrollment. With five teachers retiring, no one will lose their job to make up that difference. There are no other major staff reductions.

Superintendent Dr. Adrienne Robb-Fund said the draft budget addresses some of the new mandates the district is facing, so it can be in compliance with the Common Core Learning Standards and federal Race to the Top legislation. There is money in the budget for required administrator training and student assessments.