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VOLUME FOURTEEN, ISSUE 46
N E W S P A P E R
LONG ISLANDER NEWSPAPERS TELECOMMUNICATIONS/MEDIA BUSINESS OF THE YEAR 24 PAGES
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2012
HALF HOLLOW HILLS
Budget Calls For Layoffs, Salary Freezes School officials stay within 2-percent tax cap but not without cutting teachers sdeluca@longislandernews.com
Over 100 residents listened last week as the Half Hollow Hills Board of Education revealed that cuts in the 2012-2013 proposed budget will include layoffs of 35 teachers, a salary freeze for administrators and reductions in spending. Superintendent Kelly Fallon said at a Jan. 24 community budget forum that the $221.9-million budget is a 2.75-percent increase from its current budget. It’s also the lowest budget-to-budget increase the district has presented to the community in 15 years. “It allows us to bring to you a tax levy increase of 2.37 percent, complying with the new law property tax levy cap, which requires a simple majority to pass and allows us to keep all pieces of academic program, athletic program and arts program of Half Hollow Hills,” Fallon said. The superintendent noted she recommended to the board of education not to present a budget that went above the legislation’s tax levy cap, even though the district does have the capability of exceeding the cap. To comply with New York State’s mandated 2-percent tax cap, the proposed budget cuts 35 teaching positions as well as presently assigned part-time
teachers. Anne Marie Marrone Caliendo, assistant superintendent of finance and facilities, said the cuts are due to many elementary enrollment reductions. The proposed budget also calls for reducing 26 district-wide positions such as custodian, clerical and transportation employees, and paraprofessionals. Fallon said teachers with the least amount of service in a certification area will be the first to be laid off, which is mandated by New York State’s “Last In, First Out” law. The LIFO law bases layoffs of teachers solely on seniority. The board of education also unanimously voted on Jan. 23 to freeze salary increases of district administrators for two full years. Administrators would have received a 3-percent increase each year. The district expects to draw on $624,570 in state aid and about $10 million in reserved funds to balance the budget. Many Half Hollow Hills taxpayers said they were appreciative of the presentation brought to them by the school district, but others felt that reducing teachers was unjust. “For someone that has been running a business on Long Island for 28 years, I understand as revenues go down you have to make cuts, but you have to make cuts across the board,” said resident Georgia Bouklas. “You’re going to cut 44
Photo/Half Hollow Hills school district budget slideshow
By Stephanie DeLuca
Half Hollow Hills has put forth its lowest budget-to-budget increase in 15 years, but it is not without serious cuts to accommodate the 2-percent property tax levy cap. teachers? I’d like to see the same percentage of administrators being fired.” One resident, who requested that her name be withheld, said she felt the administration and board of education
tried hard to take every single aspect of budget-cutting into consideration before presenting their proposal to the public. (Continued on page A14)
TOWN OF HUNTINGTON
Analysts Blast Assembly Lines For Huntington Says changes would disenfranchise residents, violate redistricting laws By Danny Schrafel dschrafel@longislandernews.com
Huntington-area analysts derided newly proposed district lines for the New York State Assembly, calling it an act of blatant gerrymandering that would not survive a court challenge. Currently, the Town of Huntington is represented by two assemblymen – Republicans Andrew Raia and Jim Conte. Under the new proposed lines, Huntington would be covered by three districts – Conte in the 10th, Raia in the 9th and Assemblyman Joe Saladino in the 12th. Raia’s district would run from the Long Island Sound to the Atlantic Ocean in a skinny sliver instead of covering a large
area of the North Shore, as the lines currently dictate. While Saladino’s district isn’t quite coast-to-coast, his would be drawn in a similar fashion. Using federal Census data compiled every 10 years, a New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reappointment, comprised of a bipartisan group of state senators and assembly members, draws the lines for each of New York State’s 150 assembly districts and 62 senate wards. According to federal law, each district must be as compact, contiguous and equal in population as possible. Hamlets and groups of interest should be kept as intact as possible. Assemblyman John McEneny (D-Al-
bany), co-chair of the task force, said the districts are fair and adhere to good government principles. “The proposed assembly districts – with one exception, which was drawn to avoid crossing a county line – have a population deviation of less than four percent. This is a plan which moves us more toward a key reform,” he added. However, if you ask former Democratic Huntington councilman and legislator Jim Gaughran, the design is something that would have made gerrymandering namesake Elbridge Gerry–whose serpentine, incumbent-shielding legislative district in Massachusetts sparked outrage in the early 1800s – blush. Gaughran argued that the proposed lines for Hunt-
ington would disenfranchise school districts – particularly Northport-East Northport and Half Hollow Hills, which would be split amongst assemblymen in the new map. “What they have done to Huntington it is actually worse than what Elbridge Gerry did. At least they kept communities together when they did it,” Gaughran said. “This one puts communities that have no common interest together. Why is Northport connected to the Massapequas? It just makes absolutely no sense… what they are doing is just so abhorrent – it violates every good government rule. There is no legislative purpose for the Huntington lines.” (Continued on page A17)
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