The Garden City Board of Education work session in the high school cafeteria on April 18 began with a presentation showcasing the work of the Garden City High School Writing Center. The Writing Center was an initiative implemented under the 2000-2001 Garden City School District Budget. The chairperson of the Garden City High School English Department, Edward Schmieder reviewed the history, goals and activities of the writing center. Schmieder then introduced Catherine Oriani and Carol McCavitt, the teacher coordinators who invested many hours of time and a great deal of effort in the start-up of the writing center. Rather than just telling the audience about this innovative program, these teachers also asked student users of the writing center to explain how this program has assisted them in their academic efforts. The commentary of the students and their assessment of this program indicated how valuable they found the individualized assistance provided by the writing center and its role in fostering higher achievement. The district believes that an expansion of the writing center program to other schools in the district would be a step in building on success.

Next on the evening's agenda was a final review of the adjustments made to the proposed 2001-2002 Garden City School Budget. At the April 2 meeting of the board of education, the board members had directed the administration to scrutinize the proposed budget carefully and make every effort to reduce costs. Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Stephen Leitman and other members of the administration heeded the directive of the board of education, focused on the needs of the students, made hard decisions and fiscally prudent choices.

The original proposed budget of $62,068,484 would have produced a tax hike of 13.06 percent. The "pruning" of the proposed budget by the administration resulted in the removal of $1,033,808. The new proposed budget of $61,034,676 decreases the proposed tax hike to 11.18 percent and puts the average tax rate for the Garden City School District at $45.13, an increase of $4.18 per 100 of assessed valuation. If the 3.44 percent portion of the proposed budget allocated for debt service is subtracted from the total, the actual budget increase would be 7.74 percent. Dr. Leitman pointed out that hikes in fixed costs such as heat and electricity, contractual obligations, health insurance, and enrollment growth all contribute to the increase in the proposed budget.

The arduous task of paring down the proposed budget was a challenge for Leitman and the administration and it required disciplined strategies. By setting priorities the administrators were able to make cuts in several categories in the original proposed budget. Positions eliminated included a middle school guidance counselor, an assistant director of transportation, a curriculum technology associate, a special education teacher and two special education aides. Transportation costs were reduced by $97,000. Cuts in the operations and maintenance yielded savings of $66,000. Benefits were reduced by almost $79,000. In addition, there was an across the board, district-wide five percent reduction in materials, supplies and equipment. Dr. Leitman expects that certain items eliminated from this budget will be included in the time horizon of future years. These items include the construction of a band shell and an additional biology/chemistry laboratory at the high school.

After presenting information about the budget refinements, Dr. Leitman answered questions from members of the board of education and the audience. Many citizens raised questions about the removal of the Curriculum/Technology Assistant from the budget. Other concerns expressed included substitute salaries, textbook cuts, advertising costs, and the assignment of reading teachers at the high school and middle school.

After many weeks of discussion and review, the board of education is close to finalizing the proposed budget, which, at the time Garden City Life was going to press, was expected to be adopted by the board at the April 24 public meeting. Garden City residents will have the opportunity to vote on the proposed budget on Tuesday, May 15, from 7 a.m.- 10 p.m. in the Garden City High School Gymnasium. Dr. Leitman and the members of the board of education encourage all residents to exercise their voting privileges.