Huntington Schools Dig In for Cuts

In case anyone attending the Huntington school board meeting earlier this week wasn't paying attention, Superintendent John J. Finello had one blunt message:

"There's going to be a lot of pain and suffering" in this budget, he said. It was a message delivered at the meeting in several ways, by different people.

Finello and others from the Huntington district had attended a weekend meeting of the Suffolk County School Superintendents Association where political leaders disabused attendees of any hope that a promised property tax cap wouldn't happen.

"The one loud cry was 'there will be a tax cap'," Finello said of the meeting. The question, he said, was when and what.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other state politicians had campaigned on a pledge to impose a 2 percent cap on property tax increases.

There's also an expected reduction in state aid, given the poor condition of New York State's budget, with numbers coming down of Albany on Tuesday.

And the third bit of bad news for schools is the continuing decline in revenue from property assessments.

The expected reductions in school budgets has led to numerous worries about cuts in staff and programs. The board had previously warned of the dire effects of various scenarios on the school budget, and the superintendents' organization has produced a document on the impact of possible caps.

Questions and lobbying for different programs under a greatly restricted budget are expected to intensify. One board member reported fielding questions about rumored cuts in the music program. "Everything is on the table," said trustee Elizabeth Black.  A school official mentioned expected cuts in Regents testing dates. A parent worried about the kindergarten program insisted the board not cut it back.

Finello said the question of how much of what Long Islanders paid in taxes was returned to the area were also part of the superintendents' discussion.

Another topic was a competitive grant based on student performance, as was the possibility of attaching mandate relief to any tax-cap decision. 

In December, the administration began budget planning based on the expected 2 percent cap.  During the discussion of other possible budget scenarios, David H. Grackin, assistant superintendent for finance and management, said such a cap could lead to the elimination of 68 of the approximately 435 teachers currently employed.

A 7.5 percent tax increase would be required to keep the current spending continued intact, Grackin said.