The TIMES of Middle Country
Serving CentereaCh
Volume 10, No. 51
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Selden
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northern lake grove
April 9, 2015
$1.00
Middle Country pitches $232 million budget
Premiere Issue
LifestyLe Magazine
SPring Fever 2015
inSiDe
Photos by Barbara Donlon
Middle Country school board President karen lessler presents the district’s proposed 2015-16 school year budget. Below, buttons in support of public education.
Library budget vote set for April 14 Proposed budget stays below tax levy increase cap
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Plan supports STeM and Pre-K programs By BarBara donlon
A day after the state released next year’s education aid estimates, Middle Country school district made its first presentation on the 2015-16 budget, which maintains programs and stays within the tax levy increase cap. The more than $232 million budget, a 1.63 percent increase over this year, will continue to promote the district’s science, technology, engineering and mathematics — known as STEM — program, adds teachers to comply with a new state mandate and allocates for an extra section of prekindergarten. Under the plan, average homeowners with an assessed value of $2,200 will pay an extra $93.19 in taxes next year, according to school board
President Karen Lessler’s April 1 presentation. Like many other districts across the state, Middle Country is adding staff in order to comply with a state-mandated English as a second language initiative, which aims to help students whose first language is not English. “The superintendent is working with implementing the regulations into the Middle Country school district and we’re currently looking at two to three teachers being staffed to meet this unfunded mandate,” Lessler said. Lessler was pleased to share the good news that 60 percent of the Gap Elimination Adjustment will be returned to the district. The deduction began in the 2009-10 fiscal year as an effort to close the state’s deficit.
The district will lose roughly $3.3 million in aid next year, which is less than the $9 million it lost this year. “I want to be clear that this is not extra money that we’re getting,” Lessler said. “This is money that we’re entitled to have. It has been earmarked in our budget and there has been a reduction in this funding, and finally,
this year we’re seeing some restoration of these funds.” The board president also commented on why the district didn’t have budget meetings until April 1. She blamed Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) and his lack of cooperation with releasing the state aid runs, which weren’t made public until BUDgeT continued on page a11