Last Wednesday, two weeks before the scheduled budget revote, the Levittown Board of Education held a final budget hearing, allowing the public to voice their feelings about the proposed budget, which failed in the first vote on May 15.

Roseanne Gullans was the first speaker to address the board and administration. She noted that throughout the year, residents speak at various meetings and school board meetings, requesting items ranging from having to do with sports, music and academics, to boxes of tissues for elementary school classrooms. "For all the right reasons most of these issues are dealt with in a manner that best serves our children," said Gullans. She further noted that, "people don't want their taxes raised." She said that she believes that there are many families in the school district who live as she and her husband do, paycheck to paycheck. "We don't go to Disney World and we don't go on cruises. This may sound corny, but I tell my children that their jobs are to go to school, to learn, to go to college, and get a good education and get a good job so they can become productive members of society," said Gullans. "My job as a parent, is to make sure this happens. Will I take my family out to dinner or to the movies one less time a month to save $20? Yes. Am I happy with the budget? No. Do I think changes could have been made? Yes, but my children come first and I will support this budget but I will also continue to do what I have to do to support all the children in this district."

The next speaker was Patricia Stillwaggon, who stated that she was speaking for herself and her family. She noted that for the past several years the budget has gone up almost 10 percent every year, while the average pay raise for residents is only 4 percent. "Can somebody please explain to me how we are going to pay the increases in the taxes?" asked Stillwaggon. She said that by researching online, on websites such as Newsday.com, she has figured out that from the 1992-1993 budget to the current proposed budget, the budget has gone up 76.5 percent. She added that while her husband's salary has only gone up 25.3 percent, according to her figures, the Levittown Superintendent of Schools' salary has gone up 75.7 percent in the same amount of time.

"Nobody is saying that people don't deserve raises, but when the bulk of the budget in Levittown is salaries of the superintendent, the teachers, or whatever, and we are getting minimal salary increases, we cannot continue to give the staff and the teachers the same kind of raises they have gotten in the past," said Stillwaggon. "I am not anti-teacher, I am not anti-administration, I am for my family. I asked for certain things to be put into the budget, so I am not anti-budget. When I see the dollars going directly into our classrooms, new programs, more books for our kids, anything like that, I'll pay whatever it takes. When salary increases double what the cost of living is, I cannot agree with it." She said that she did not want to see the children have to do without sports, field trips, etc. but added that "scare tactics are not how to pass the budget." Stillwaggon concluded, "I honestly hope that negotiations with the teachers and any other negotiations with the staff, we make an honest effort to keep things in line with the rest of Levittown."

Linda Crozier then spoke about the State Report Cards which were recently released and the fact that while the children seem to do well at the elementary level and better towards the end of high school, the test scores seemed to drop at the middle school level. She requested that money be allotted in the budget to solve that discrepancy.

Muriel Daros was the final speaker. She said that as a resident of Levittown since 1954, she has always supported the schools, but said she was concerned because more and more houses are going up for sale, indicating to her that seniors are having to move out of the district because the taxes are so high. She also questioned the fact that Levittown has a budget of approximately $119 million, when other districts have budgets ranging between $30-50 million. "I see no listing of what you are doing for that money," said Daros. "I don't think you are being fair to the people who live here." She then questioned how many of the students were American citizens and noted that she was told by the police that there were many children in the schools who are not citizens. "I want to know if my taxes are paying for them," she said.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Herman Sirois then took some time to address questions and comments from the speakers. He first addressed Stillwaggon's comments, stating that he did not believe anyone could answer the question of how residents are to pay their taxes for someone else. He then said that for five years he took no salary increase and prior to that he took a pay cut. "So you have to subtract at least 18 percent from your figures," he said.

With regard to Daros' questions, Sirois explained that because Levittown is either the first or second largest district in the county, the budget is higher than most districts. He also pointed out that because Levittown has nearly 8,000 students, the district supports more school buildings and has two middle schools and two high schools while most districts in the county only have one. "I challenge anybody to divide the cost of education in this community by the amount of student achievement," said Sirois, noting that Levittown spends less per student than most neighboring districts. He added that the resale price of houses in the district has also gone up approximately 30 percent over the last 10 years. Sirois also stated that the Levittown School District's budget increase was only 2 percent higher than the average increase around the county and 1.5 percent of that increase was to provide a nine period day, which most surrounding districts already have. "Our children deserve those resources. This budget doesn't have things in it that our kids don't need. We should get behind it, we should get back to those polls and pass the budget on June 6." He then addressed the citizenship question, noting that the district is not allowed to ask for proof of citizenship from students. They must only prove that they live in the Levittown School District.

The budget revote will take place on Wednesday, June 6, between the hours of noon and 9 p.m.