76.0°,
Mostly Cloudy Super Tuesday for Valley Stream schools
Voters will have say on $204 million in spending
Voters will head to the polls on Tuesday to decide the fate of Valley Stream’s school budgets for next year. The four districts have proposed a combined $204 million in spending for 2011-12.
Districts faced cuts in state aid along with rising retirement and health insurance costs. Factoring in both elementary and high school taxes, the average homeowner will see an increase of about $50 a year in District 24 but more than $200 a year in District 30, if all budgets are approved.
Elementary budgets
At 6.11 percent, District 30 has one of the highest proposed tax levy increases in Nassau County. But Superintendent Dr. Elaine Kanas says that the proposed $32.4 million spending plan reflects the wishes of the community. She noted that at a community forum in January, residents said they wanted to maintain programs, but wanted them to cost less.
“Before we did any work on the budget,” Kanas said, “we asked the community for guidance and input. I think it was very helpful.”
The district did make some modifications to reduce the cost of programs without eliminating them, Kanas said. The Washington Avenue Kindergarten Center will be closed next year, saving money on a nurse, a security guard and a custodian as well as some utility costs, and those classes will be moved to Shaw Avenue School. But the full-day kindergarten program remains intact.
The driving force behind the budget and tax levy increase in District 30 is mandated retirement and health insurance hikes, coupled with a cut in state aid. Kanas said that if it weren’t for the modifications made to some programs, residents would have been looking at a tax increase of at least 10 percent.
At the other end of the spectrum, District 24 has one of the lowest proposed tax levy increases in the county, at 0.7 percent. Elementary school taxes will increase between $10 and $15 for the average homeowner next year, according to district officials.
“The numbers speak for itself,” said Assistant Superintendent Dan Onorato. “We’ve kept it as low as possible.”
