The proposed 2012-13 East Meadow School District proposed budget includes no cuts in programs or staff at any of the area’s schools.
Class sizes will also remain within district guidelines, and Superintendent Louis DeAngelo told attendees at Thursday's presentation at the that it was not easy to prepare the budget with the newly required tax cap rules in effect.
“We are under a new budget reality this year,” DeAngelo said. “The chunk of money we requested is truly and honestly two percent more than it was last year.”
The proposed budget includes a $3,579,051 increase in expenditures (or 1.97 percent), with increases in programming accounting for more than 77 percent of the money.
It hasn’t been easy for the district to curb requests, especially with the costs or employee retirement benefits, health insurance and other expenses continuing to rise, DeAngelo said, but the district has made use of its reserve that they have dipped into each of the past couple of years.
“I think if you take a look at the paper, and you certainly will in the next couple of weeks, you will see what other districts are experiencing,” DeAngelo said. “We’re very fortunate here in East Meadow.”
In order to reduce costs, the district has made a number of concessions, including offering an employee health insurance opt-out, which saves the district approximately $1.5 million per year. LED lighting fixtures have also cut down electricity costs and in the coming months, DeAngelo said all of the schools would be online.
The vote will be held on May 15 between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. at the local elementary schools. DeAngelo said it’s imperative that community members come out to the polls and vote.
“Our budget as proposed maintains all of our existing programs and class sizes as they are,” DeAngelo said. “It avoids any excess of staff. I really do believe that this is a sound budget, and in my heart of hearts I think the community will feel that way too.”
Year Budget Increase (%) Tax Increase (%) 2008-09 4.30 4.46 2009-10 2.20 3.50 2010-11 1.71 1.36 2011-12 1.73 1.62 2012-13 1.97 2.00What are your thoughts on the proposed budget? Let us know in the comments.
