After a series of heated budget discussions which took place in recent weeks, the Farmingdale Board of Education officially adopted its budget for the 2003-2004 school year on Tuesday evening. In addition to having their own budget discussions over the past several weeks, the board heard comments and concerns from district residents last week and fought to cut corners and, in some instances, were forced to cut programs to come up with a budget figure they felt would be acceptable to the community.

As noted by Trustee Robert Guarino at the April 9 public hearing, the board members' responsibilities go beyond making sure that the students in the Farmingdale district receive a good education; they also have to make sure they present a budget the community can handle and, more importantly, one which they feel will be passed on May 20, the day of the budget vote.

To this end, Board President Anthony Vitale said at the April 9 meeting that he feels the budget, then representing a 6.76 increase over the 2002-2003 adopted budget, should be lowered to a maximum of a 6 percent increase, in hopes of bringing down the tax levy increase. He said that this would be more acceptable to the community. The majority of the school board agreed, although they didn't feel that it was realistic. Some felt that to get to a 6 percent increase, important programs would have to be postponed or, worse yet, eliminated.

The programs that were considered for reduction were on what the board refers to as the "ugly list," a list of programs that affect as little of the student population as possible and meet some other criteria. Talk of cutting some of these programs caused controversy, such as the elimination of science specialists, since many trustees felt it was part of the core program and did affect too many students. However, because of policy to look at cuts due to attrition, the item was included.

At the meeting held April 2, board members discussed potential reductions in several areas, including the reduction of summer school, the Fast Forward summer program, the elimination of two elementary science consultants and the replacement of furniture and equipment district-wide. On April 2, the board chose not to eliminate any of those items, but on April 9 they revisited many of those areas to try to make additional cuts in the budget. Also at the April 9 meeting, the board discussed another $400,000 worth of potential reductions, including evening high school, field trips and the driver's education program. In the area of field trips, the board decided to instate a 50 percent cut in field trip activities, hoping that this will result in educators selecting trips that are more curriculum-focused. As was suggested by Board Vice President Marie Colalucci, administrators and staff will make the appropriate field trip decisions and students also have the opportunity to raise money to go on other trips that would not be funded by the budget.

The driver's education program was also debated and, after fully evaluating their options, the board opted to cut this program. Since it is not part of the core curriculum and students can take driver's education classes elsewhere, the board felt it was the right decision to cut the program.

"We can offer this program somewhere else," said Trustee Tina Diamond. "Driver's Ed is almost unheard of in many other districts. [This decision] is killing me, but I do not want to see major cuts in Farmingdale's main program. We have a fiscal responsibility."

In addition to these programs, the board also gave administrators the direction to re-evaluate the areas of academic competitions, extracurricular activities, interscholastic sports and adult education to see where additional cuts could be made.

On the evening of April 15, the board held a special meeting to officially adopt the budget. Fulfilling the board's request, administration members worked to cut the budget down to under 6 percent and presented them with the reductions that would be necessary to get to that number, which at the start of the meeting was 5.75 percent.

However, to get to that 5.75 percent increase in the budget, several programs had to be eliminated, many of which board members had opposition in cutting. These included, among others, all seventh-grade athletics, the middle school musical and two elementary science consultants.

At this special meeting, the board accepted comments regarding the budget and heard from some individuals who told them that cutting any athletic programs would be a mistake. Among those individuals was District Athletic Director Tom Howard.

"Farmingdale is a unique place. In my 11 years here I've seen the relationship the athletic program has had with community groups like Youth Council, CYO, PAL, [etc.]. I've been in education for 32 years and have been involved in athletics for over 40 years," Howard said. "I believe with all my heart [that] this is the wrong time to be taking extracurricular activities away from the people in this community. The people who work in extracurricular activities reach kids differently than the classroom teacher. Throughout my educational career I've seen it happen time and time again - we reach kids who need help."

Howard further noted that students who participate in athletics or other extracurricular activities have been known to have higher attendance records, lower dropout rates and higher grade point averages. He added that such activities teach students teamwork, sportsmanship and self-discipline.

Many echoed Howard's comments, adding that they felt the athletic program in Farmingdale is second to none on Long Island. It was brought up that the lacrosse team is currently ranked best in the whole country and brought up the successes of many other sporting programs.

In addition to telling the board that they don't want to see programs cut, they also noted that they would not want to be sitting in board members' seats. They noted that they understand how difficult it is to come up with a fiscally-sound budget with minimal cuts.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Roberta Gerold, after hearing from some residents, explained to all in attendance how the board and administration has been trying to decide what programs to cut to bring the budget down. She noted that the value of a school district is the value that the community gives it and explained the different levels certain programs are put on compared to others. For example, Dr. Gerold noted that core programs, those that must be offered by the school district, are the most important programs which affect all students in the district's schools. Other programs, such as field trips, athletics and extracurricular activities, vary as far as their value, depending on an individual's values. She noted that one person may say that athletics are the second most important thing in a school's program, while another may say that music is more important.

"One individual would put a different program by the core over another person," Dr. Gerold said. "The important thing to remember is that not one value is wrong. It's very difficult to establish a budget, especially in these economic times, that supports what Farmingdale is all about. It's very difficult to come to an agreement about any one item but it's also very easy to say that we value every single one of these items."

The superintendent further noted that the board and administrators hate to cut any item on the list, which they have been referring to throughout the budget process as "the ugly list," but that they have an economical responsibility to the community.

"This is a horrible, horrible list. We have a large community to which we need to be responsible," Dr. Gerold said.

At the April 15 special meeting, Assistant Superintendent for Business John Lorentz explained how administrators got the budget increase for the upcoming school year down from 6.76 percent to 5.75 percent.

Lorentz went over the programs that would have to be cut in order to get to that number, which included driver's education, the GED program, all non-league athletic contests at the high school level, all seventh grade athletics, marching band camp and the middle school musical. Additionally, there would be several reductions, such as elementary science consultants by two, field trips by 50 percent, evening high school, board of education workshops, the occupational/vocational education (out-of-district) and summer school.

Board members agreed that they have a fiscal responsibility to the community and said they would support the budget if some of the items cut to get down to a 5.75 percent increase were replenished, finally bringing the budget for the upcoming school year to $106, 877, 608, which represents an increase of 5.97 percent over the current school budget. This would increase the tax levy by 10.9 percent.

By raising the 5.75 percent to 5.97, board members were able to leave in certain programs, including marching band camp, summer school transportation (and the summer school program, although it will be reworked to focus more on graduating students) seventh grade athletics, non-league athletic contests at the high school level, the middle school musical, the continuing education program, academic competitions and the elementary science consultants program.

"I think the public is aware of the tear going through board members," Board President Anthony Vitale said. "We have come up with something that is fiscally sound, that the community can handle. I wish there was a way we could turn around and put this burden [of cutting programs] back on Albany, but we have to adopt a budget even if they don't."

Board Trustee Jane Rubinstein did not vote to adopt the budget. She said that she felt some of the cuts that were being made were hurting students too much.

"From where I'm sitting, I see hurts for kids," she said. "I'm not comfortable with this. That having been said, whatever budget you adopt tonight, I will support 1,000 plus percent because the most important thing is a passed budget."

All board members agreed that many of the cuts that were made left a pit in their stomachs and asked residents to support the many educators that are heading up to Albany on May 3 to share their feelings with legislators, asking them to support public education. Although they adopted the budget with heavy hearts, board members said that while they hate to cut any programs, they would even more so hate to see what would have to be done in the event that the budget does not pass. To reiterate this, they urged residents to come out and vote on May 20.

Board of Education Nominating Petitions due Special Board of Education meeting, vote on BOCES administrative budget Budget available to public in schools and in public library Regular Board of Education Meeting Voter registration, Howitt East Lobby, noon to 9 p.m. Public Hearing regarding 2002-2004 budget Last day to register to vote, Howitt Middle School Budget vote and election, Howitt East Gymnasium, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.