Parents, teachers and taxpayers finally were introduced to the proposed 2011-2012 school budget for the Valley Stream Union Free School District 13 (Valley Stream U.F.S.D. 13) last week.
Superintendent Elizabeth Lison and the Board of Education unveiled the figures at their Feb. 9 meeting at James A. Dever Elementary School.
“The school budget remains a challenging project,” stated Superintendent Lison at the start of the meeting.
With the current economic situation within the state, aid to schools has decreased. According to the district the state aid that is anticipated for the 2011-2012 school year is around $8.84 million, which is a decrease of 6.1 percent.
Valley Stream U.F.S.D 13 still needs to receive enough money to meet their goals of giving the students rich, diverse and comprehensive educational programs.
The proposed budget for this year is $42,538,261, which is a 2.89 percent increase from the 2010-2011 budget. This increase comes down to around $3,310.50 on the average home, or an additional $120 per average household from the 2010-2011 budget.
The Superintendent also informed the attendees of the meeting that unlike the other school districts in Valley Stream, the homeowners of Valley Stream U.F.S.D. 13 - which includes residents of Malverne - pay the most, because there is less commercial property than in District 24 and District 30.
Like many other districts on Long Island, positions are being cut within the schools. A total of seven instructional positions are to be cut, which includes teachers in the areas of special education, speech, ESL, psychology, gifted-and-talented, and classroom teachers. There is also a plan to cut four non-instructional positions, which would impact the noon-hour aides.
In the budget, there are a few proposed capital projects throughout the district. At James A. Dever, there is a plan to install new bathroom partitions, including seven privacy panels, sinks, counters and cabinets. The total estimated cost for this project is $14,723.
Carol Hawkins, the Valley Stream Teachers Union liaison, addressed the board and superintendent at the meeting. She explained that she "understands the difficult economic times," but feels that changes can be made in the budget that would not directly impact the children, unlike cutting teaching positions.
“The district is preparing for the worst case scenario. There is a possibility that the State Legislature will give more money to the district,” said a hopeful Dick Herman, from the Valley Stream Teachers Union.
Stay with Patch for more budget news in the Valley Stream U.F.S.D 13 and the Valley Stream Central High School District, as well as Malverne and West Hempstead.
Of course there was another way of saying it: How can we retain our cushy, over paid, part time jobs on the administrative end, and keep things going in the same old way? But of course, no one actually SAID that. They want to appear to be "concerned and hard working". So, here we go. As the "proposed budgets" are released across the county one by one, every single one of them will have an increase, there's no doubt of that. Yes, the voting public will be upset, but then they will unvaile the old "the children will suffer" routine. God forbid the administrations suffer! When are we as a people going to understand that the economy has changed, and will never return to the way it was? We have to change along with it. We simply can not afford 60 independent school districts across Nassau County any longer. Consolidating the administrations is the only way, and this must be done in Albany.