by Kate Mayberry

A revised budget, reduced by almost $1.4 million, will be presented June 21 to the voters of the Farmingdale School District.

A packed auditorium of potentially affected staff, students, and community members argued June 2 before the Board of Education both for and against the cuts that must ultimately be made. In the end, the originally proposed spending plan of $115,998,426 which was defeated in May by almost 60 percent of the voters, was reduced in many areas by a total of about 1.3 percent.

The new budget proposal for 2004-05 is $114,625,481. It reflects a 7.25 percent increase in expenditures over last year’s budget and will carry a lower than initially proposed tax levy of $92,812,235, an 8.8 percent increase over last year. The budget defeated by the public in May had sought to increase spending by 8.5 percent and the tax levy by 9.5 percent.

According to Assistant Superintendent for Business John Lorentz, the new budget still anticipates state aid to be $18.2 million, based on the Governor’s proposal. He added that any additional state aid would be applied directly to offset the tax levy, or the amount of funds to be raised through taxes on the community. Lorentz said recent reports have suggested that an additional $914,000 might be expected.

Discussions between the Board and community on June 2 centered around the soundness of cutting programs versus the necessity of reducing costs.

Board President Anthony Vitale said the overwhelming voice of more than 2,500 voters should prompt the Board to make more cuts and lower the original 8.5 percent increase to under 7 percent.

However, Vitale was countered by Trustee Robert Guarino who insisted that the savings created by cuts versus the loss in programs was not worth such efforts. "We are in the business of kids... more than 6,500 kids," Guarino argued. "I support the budget as it was originally proposed, because anything we cut tonight will hurt those kids." He added that he was "upset and disappointed by the community’s decision."

But many community members insisted that they cannot shoulder such large increases year after year.

"The cost of milk is up, gas is up, taxes are up, and this budget is too high," said George Starkey, local businessperson. "I’m tapped."

Still others argued in favor of the defeated budget. One man, who said he had never attended a Board meeting prior to that night said, "The savings are not that great when you consider what we must cut." He said, "I urge you to return to your first budget but maintain your vigilance over the rising costs in the future."

Speaking on behalf of Farmingdale’s Teachers, Ken Ulric reiterated several times that "cuts hurt kids," and refused to "pit the benefits of one program against another."

Ulric reproached the public for not taking part in the process of budget preparation. He said, "Unlike many members in this community, I attended every budget meeting and I believe the Board did their job well, perhaps too well. The Board produced a budget so tight and so lean that making further cuts will affect our kids."

Lorentz said cuts will be evident in several areas. There will be staffing reductions—in addition to the 12 that were reduced in the first budget— which will include two elementary guidance counselors, one instructional associate from the Howitt Middle School and another from the Woodward Parkway school. Two elementary science consultants, mostly useful in fourth grade preparation for assessment tests, will also be eliminated.

Athletic offerings for grades seven and eight will be reduced and no night games will be held next year, Lorentz said. Academic competitions at the elementary and middle school levels will be reduced as well.

The alternative learning program at the middle school, Bridge, will be eliminated, while its similar program at the high school, Page, will remain in place. Many affected Page students beseeched the Board publicly for the salvation of Page, saying it was "their only light at the end of the tunnel" and "the only reason they wake up in the morning."

Further eliminations include elementary co-curricular clubs, the third grade orchestra program Strings, and transportation for all field trips. All elementary summer school except for fourth and fifth grades, will be eliminated.

The self-sustaining driver education program, which was to be reinstated under the original budget as a tuition-funded program but had to be reflected in the budget as a cost to the district, will also be eliminated. Graphic calculators will no longer be provided at the high school.

The continuing education program will be reduced by 50 percent, and money for senior support services is limited to whatever is left over in the adult education program, said Lorentz. Professional development is reduced and community use of the district facilities will be decreased after the month of August. Only $476,000 is allotted to the purchase of equipment for the 2004-05 fiscal year, limiting it to emergency use only, said Lorentz.