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More state aid, careful budgeting helps ASD reduce tax impact of new programs, initiatives The Amityville School Board has put together its new budget for the coming year, increasing spending by approximately 4.6 percent and working to improve the district's programs and infrastructure. The new budget is $69,632,739, up from $66,517,863. It represents a 3.89 percent increase in the tax levy, that portion of the budget that is funded through real property taxes. That increase is among the lowest of neighboring districts, pointed out school officials. "What we did was move toward providing more supervision and support for teachers at the secondary level in the four core areas- English, science, social studies and math," said Superintendent of Schools Brian De Sorbe. "The new budget provides funds to hire a director in each of those areas for grades 6- 12. That will support teachers and give them someone who can work closely with them in their area of expertise to improve the quality of instruction." The district is also hoping to continue on a four-year plan to make major purchases and refurbish some of the school buildings, without borrowing funds to cover those costs. It plans to upgrade its technology to supplement curriculum offerings. Fibre optic wiring, email for staff and adding a new electronic purchasing system is planned, as well as purchasing 300 new computers and two medium volume printers. The dis- trict is also migrating to a new student data base. It will be online as the district becomes equipped with fibre optics, parents will have the capability of receiving reports and grades for their children over the internet. The keyboarding lab in the high school will be expanded and the district plans to purchase more student furniture, refurbish the library and install new computers there to help students research online. By applying some of the additional state aid to non-recurring expenditures such as furniture purchases and renovations, the district is helping to ensure that in leaner years, it can react and reduce or eliminate those line items, as necessary, thereby protecting educational programs. "Our plan is to continue to purchase new furniture and equipment but certainly, in the event we have to cut back on those plans, we can do that," said the district's assistant superintendent for business, Enrique Catalan. In addition, Catalan pointed out that the district has a policy of waiting until later in the school year to make nonessential purchases. "We want to make sure that most of the revenue comes in and then we start our purchasing," he said. "What we tried to do was to make these changes without taking out a bond," said the superintendent. "We are phasing things in and buying high quality items with a minimum of a ten-year guarantee so that the products we buy will withstand time." The 3.89 percent tax levy increase is expected to bring the Babylon Town tax rate from $145.85 to $151.50 and the Oyster Bay rate from $518.05 to $538, however Catalan cautions that the final assessments have not been received and those figures could change by the fall, when the tax levy is set. The district is expected to receive approximately $1.7 million more in state aid than last year's $16.1 million figure. Seventy nine percent of the total budget is for programs, above the state average of 65-70 percent. "What this means is that more money is going to the children," said Catalan. "A lot of hard work went into this budget," said SchoolBoard T rustee Dennis James. "This is a financial package that will continue programs overall and even add some things." The budget also includes money for purchasing some new trucks and for providing musical instruments for every child. "There is a strong commitment to music in this district and all of the students in theMiddle School are in a per - forming arts group. We want to make sure that they have the instruments they need and that the program at the elementary level is a strong feeder to the secondary level programs," said De Sorbe. Staff development will be increased at all grade levels and the high school library will be refurbished. Ten additional computers will be purchased for the library to enable students to use them for research. Part of the strategy the board used in planning the purchases is to go through BOCES whenever possible. "When we do this, we get the money back the next year," said De Sorbe. "Depending on the aid ratio we may get up to 50 percent back so that if we spend $100,00 this year, we have a $50,000 revenue source for next year." DeSorbe said that the budget provides growth for the district and in subject areas, growth for every child. "We have tried to analyze what the children need, what the community can afford and what we can do to bring those two things together," said De Sorbe. The vote is Tuesday, May 15. Voting will take place at the Northeast Elementary School and the High School. The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. In other school news: +school board trustees Michelle Sikhrangkur and Juliet Jordan-Thompson, are seeking reelection to three year terms and are running without opposition;
+the district will hold its annual art exhibition at the Westfield Mall in Massapequa beginning May 1.
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