South Huntington Budget Brings Out Big Crowd

UPDATED: South Huntington residents crowded into the school district's office Wednesday night to hear about next year's school budget.

Dr. Thomas Shea led a four-hour discussion short on details of the coming budget but long on information about longterm trends, overall costs, taxes, legislated mandates, political wrangling, salaries and educational programs. Shea, not one to mince words, made clear his view of what the expected tax cap next year would mean for schools.

"What I see coming under the tax cap is the biggest crisis in New York State education. Ever."

The audience included PTA representatives, homeowners concerned about taxes, parents, teenagers worried about cuts in favorite classes and extracurricular activities and teachers and administrators. 

But of particular focus was the disparity between what Long Islanders pay in taxes and get back from the state, the cost to the district of state aid cuts and next year's property tax cap.

"Long Island does not get its fair share of state aid," Shea said.

He repeatedly turned to the issue of the state transferring responsibility for costs to local districts. He also emphasized the political nature of some of the debate surrounding education, noting that the state tax cap would have a major effect on schools. "How can someone vote against a tax cap?  But they all know it's going to fall on the backs of children," he said.

And school board president Jim Kaden said many programs not mandated by the state,  such as kindergarten, could face elimination.

Board member Edward J. Nitkewicz said it was important for the community to stick together and that cuts created a division. "Those who can afford to pay for private school will do so. Those who can't, won't. It makes me want to vomit," he said, referring to the idea of eliminating kindergarten.

Of particular interest to many Whitman students in the crowd was the possible loss of class choices caused by the reduction of class periods from nine to eight. Several argued vociferously that college selection would be damaged by having fewer tough courses available to students.

"The last thing I want to do is cut the ninth period," Shea said. "What we're going to need to do is spread the cuts around." Nonetheless, as the evening wore on, the possibility of shortening the Whitman schedule hung in the air. "Education is sacred," Shea said. "We're going to have to decide what is most important and what is expendable."

When members of the audience talked about ways to cut the budget, Kaden replied, "There is an almost perfect correlation between how much a district spends and how students perform. There is no doubt if we cut things, performance will suffer. There are consequences to actions."

Among other topics:

Enrollment. Shea said enrollment had remained steady over the last several years.

Contracts. Two groups, department chairpersons and administrators, have contracts coming up in June.

Voting. Of the 31,000 eligible district voters, approximately 4,000 voted on last year's school budget.