Schools brace for ax again

Programs and services survived. Jobs were preserved. Spending was increased by a historically low rate. Those were some of the highlights of what was often touted as a “creative” $175 million school budget passed by East Meadow voters in May, as the recession deepened.

Despite the district’s crafty ways of addressing an economic crisis, it faces a new challenge only two months into the school year, posed by Gov. David Paterson in mid-October. For the second year in a row, Paterson has proposed midyear school aid cuts as part of a plan to address the state’s looming deficit.

If the cuts are approved by the state Legislature, the East Meadow School District could be hit hard: It stands to lose about 5.6 percent of its aid, or about $2.2 million.

“It is problematic enough to anticipate a decrease in aid in an upcoming year,” said district Superintendent Louis DeAngelo, who took over in July. “It is absolutely devastating to be threatened with a decrease in aid, midyear, upon which a budget has been predicated.”

Overall, Paterson is proposing cutting $686 million in state education aid for the current school year.

“During a time of uncommon difficulty, we need to work together for the common good and enact a consensus plan that helps us avoid the severe consequences faced by other states that failed to swiftly address their budget problems,” Paterson said in a statement last week. “This will mean hard and painful choices, but that is exactly the type of leadership New Yorkers deserve from their public officials.”

Hard choices are also in store for DeAngelo and his administrative staff if the state aid cuts are made. The district, he said, would address the deficit by freezing budget expenditures, mostly in the area of capital projects. But, DeAngelo said, that move alone would not save $2.2 million.