When Levittown School District residents go to vote on the budget May 16, they will also have the opportunity to vote upon a separate referendum in which the district is proposing approximately $2 million for capital projects. This referendum would be in addition to the budget, which this year may have an increase of approximately 9 percent.

Although Dr. Alan Groveman, assistant superintendent for business in the district, has stressed that no budget figure will be final until the adoption of the 2000-2001 budget on Monday, April 17, currently it appears as though the increase may be as much as $9 million, although the board of education is currently working on paring that figure down. The tax rate can not be finalized until the state has approved a budget but for the budget numbers the board was looking at as of press time, the increase may be between $6 and $7 per 100 assessed valuation. Groveman noted that this is already reduced from what the board was looking at previously which would have been an increase of $10-11 per 100 AV. Groveman stated, "$1 million in state aid in either direction affects the tax rate $1.12 so you could be talking about a $5 vs. an $8 budget, depending on what the state aid is."

Included in this year's operating budget are an extended summer program for extra support for students based on the new state requirements, changes in textbooks, new instructional materials, and additional expenses related to Internet connections for the district so students can be on the Internet from their classrooms and do direct research. According to Groveman, the majority of the budget is to maintain the level of programs and support that the district currently has, while accounting for the tremendous student enrollment increase.

There are many additional costs in the budget that the district has no control of. Groveman noted that the cost of textbooks has gone up tremendously, with each book costing between $60-75 and an additional cost for the materials that go along with the textbook. The rise in the cost of health insurance is also having an impact on this year's budget. The state health insurance plan went up 17 percent. In addition, the state has also announced that the districts will now be responsible for the special education preschool bills and will be reimbursing them at a later date as opposed to paying the money up front as had previously been done. The state is also considering other proposals which may impact the district further but until the state budget is finalized the district will not know whether they actually have gained or lost state aid from last year.

Although the possibility of a nine period day in the high school had been raised by some parents the district, while still looking into the possibility for the future, has decided not to implement this for next September.

One of the largest factors in the budget increase is the population increase in the schools. Between the current school year and the coming school year, the district will be looking at a 350 student increase in just those two years. "We've been growing faster than almost anyone else," said Groveman.

The growing number of students in the district over the last several years also accounts for a large portion of the capital projects that the district is considering under the separate referendum. Included in the referendum is the addition of four classrooms onto Salk Middle School, redoing the four science labs at Division and adding a science lab at MacArthur. "The Division science labs are 50 years old. We're having trouble keeping up with the curriculum with the state of the science labs," said Groveman. He noted that the MacArthur science labs are a lot newer but they need an extra lab because of the enrollment growth. Groveman explained that the separate referendum will be for approximately $2 million.

With regard to the budget increase, Groveman pointed out that many of the expenses are not under the district's control. "We have to buy text books at whatever cost they are, we have to pay health insurance costs that the state has not held back or down. They hold us down to a cost of living increase but they don't hold the health insurance down. They don't hold the unions down in terms of negotiated contracts, they don't hold the cost down of the special education program. BOCES costs go up between 5 and 7 percent every year, those are not within our control," said Groveman. He went on to note that although he is pleased that the district has become a popular place for people to move to because of the improvements of the educational program, the additional students cost extra money.

"Not only is it a responsible budget, I think it is a very tight budget that is driven by factors that are not within the control of the district or the board of education," concluded Groveman.

The district will hold a budget hearing on Monday, April 17 at 8 p.m., which will be followed by budget work session 5 and the final adoption of the budget. Residents are encouraged to attend this hearing.