An overview of the budget for the Farmingdale School District for the 2001-2002 school year was presented for the first time at a special budget meeting of the board of education on Wednesday, March 14. This was the first of several upcoming meetings and hearings regarding the proposed budget.

Superintendent of Schools Gerard Dempsey started the meeting with an introduction, explaining budgets of the last several school years, and went into projections for the future. Assistant Superintendent Dr. William Fanning presented a budget overview, explaining why certain program expenses will be included and what new supplies and materials are necessary for the school year. Dempsey concluded the meeting discussing staff increases, explaining what they would be at each of the schools.

"One of the things that we normally think about when we do a budget is the past and the future," Dempsey said. He added that while administrators usually look at the budgets of the last year and compare it to what the projection is for the future, this was a special exception. Since 1997, the district has been looking into new kindergarten programs, providing additional space for classrooms, and moving the sixth-grade class to Howitt Middle School.

In the 1998-1999 school year, the district proposed a bond after they looked at the full day kindergarten program, studied it carefully and determined that it is in fact a program that the students of Farmingdale needed. They then evaluated the costs and came up with estimates that were very close to the actual figures.

"That's the issue that I want to focus on; the fact that we really have reviewed the research, looked at our children's needs and in terms of the equity of the students across our entire student population that those that are here now and those that are coming in years ahead; full day kindergarten is something the children of Farmingdale need and deserve," Dempsey said.

Upon determining this, Dempsey added, the district put forth the proposal for a bond to be voted on for the 2000-2001 school year. Dempsey explained that the reason he was bringing those issues up at this time, two years later, is because this is the first time the district will begin to pay back those bond expenses for the construction of the four elementary schools. This will also be the first year the budget will be paying the salaries of new teachers who will be hired for the full day kindergarten program, as well as new equipment, textbooks, supplies and other necessities of the program.

"The two major elements of this budget that are important to look at are the full day kindergarten program and paying back the bond," Dempsey said. In addition, enrollment figures have increased significantly in the last couple of years. For example, next year there will be 104 more students at Howitt than there are this year.

He added that this is a multi-year plan; that next year construction will begin at Howitt Middle School to accommodate the sixth-grade class which will be moving up in 2002, and that will involve more expenditures on the bond and some additional staffing for the middle school program. The subsequent year, 2003-2004, Dempsey added, the school plans to implement the program of reduced class sizes in the primary grades. He said that this, in addition to the full day kindergarten program, is being done to "provide the best beginnings in a child's education."

Due to all of these expenditures, the proposed budget for the 2001-2002 school year exceeds the current budget by 10.49 percent.

In addition to those expenditures, the district will be hiring a total of 34 new teachers, most of whom will be for the kindergarten program. Dempsey explained staffing increases the district will be experiencing next year, saying that except for the additions for the full day kindergarten program, there is no change in the total number of elementary classroom positions at each of the four schools. However, he added, there may be a switch from the number of sections from grade to grade within a building.

In terms of the full day kindergarten program, the budget includes 12 new full-time kindergarten positions, as well as positions for enrichment and special periods, which account for an additional 4.24 full-time equivalent positions.

Dempsey broke down the budget projections by explaining what new programs and/or additions would be implemented at each of the schools. At Albany Avenue, three full-time kindergarten teachers would be hired, .48 would be needed for enrichment periods, .28 for music, and .12 for physical education. These numbers were calculated based on how many periods a week the students would actually meet with the teacher.

At Northside, two full day kindergarten teachers will be hired, .32 for enrichment, .08 for music and .08 for physical education.

New positions at Saltzman East Memorial include three full day kindergarten teachers, .48 for enrichment, .32 for music, .56 for physical education and one full time teacher for special education, not part of the kindergarten program.

Woodward Parkway will include the hiring of four full day kindergarten teachers, .64 for enrichment and .88 for music.

At Howitt, a total of 9.72 positions have been added to accommodate the increased enrollment. They include: .40 for art, .60 for business education, one for English, one for foreign language, .20 for health, .60 for home and careers, .60 for industrial arts/tech, one for math, .52 for music, .40 for physical education, .40 for reading, one for science, one for social studies and one for special education.

There are no new positions in the budget for the high school.

While the proposed budget exceeds the current year's by almost 10 and 1/2 percent, Dempsey explained that this figure was brought down from more than 12 percent after district administrators met with several program members and were able to cut it down by approximately two percent.

"This is the first of many sessions," Dempsey explained, "there are several meetings and hearings to come." He added that while this is an overview of what the budget is going to look like, it could very well change after the district holds meetings with various organizations and principals to see if any more costs could be cut down. Meetings are scheduled to take place each Wednesday night for the next several weeks, and a public input meeting will follow in mid-April.