In an effort to lessen the sting likely to be felt by the 2003-04 school budget, the Levittown Board of Education unanimously voted to put a $12 million bond issuance before taxpayers.

If approved, the money will be used as follows: $1.6 million for asbestos abatement in all facilities of the school district; $1 million for the reconstruction of the heating system at Abbey, MacArthur and Summit school buildings; $5.5 million for the reconstruction of science, art and home economics classrooms at Division, MacArthur, Salk, and Wisdom school buildings; and $1.1 million for site reconstruction of auditoriums at Division, MacArthur, Memorial and Salk schools. The total figure of all renovations is not to exceed $12 million, the school district said.

Board members said the move is important because the expenses can now be removed from the school budget, thereby reducing residents' tax bills. "It's the only way to make sure the tax rate isn't extremely oppressive," said School Superintendent Dr. Herman Sirois.

Board President Paul Granger said the governor's proposed budget was placing a large strain on the board to come up with the most reasonable tax rate for residents.

"It's not pretty right now in regard to budget cuts," he said. "We're expecting the worst, but hoping for the best."

Further exacerbating the problem is that the state can now reimburse schools over a period of years instead of providing aid immediately, board members said.

The board is now proposing an 11.9 percent increase in the district budget instead of an 18.1 percent increase that taxpayers could face if there were no bond issuance. Votes on the budget and bonds will come in May. Even with a potentially less "oppressive" tax increase, Dr. Sirois admitted that an 11 percent budget increase wasn't "great" either. And a person in attendance at the March 12 meeting was not pleased with a proposed budget hike.

Resident John Cannon expressed concerns about prices skyrocketing in all facets of life, making a higher tax bill tougher to accept.

"Why don't we try to tighten our belts," he said to the board. "Maybe cut some programs. Let's stop the spending increases. Or discuss it at least."

Dr. Sirois responded that he understood Cannon's concerns and that the board was "doing everything it can" to keep taxes as low as possible. He added that per pupil expenditures were in the bottom one-third of the county. And he repeated a statement from a prior meeting that the governor should eliminate tax breaks for the wealthy.

According to Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance Jeffrey Carlson, the board is also considering if it should remove some of its surplus in order to lessen taxpayer burden even more. However, he said that the fund balance surplus stands at about 2 percent of the budget. And the surplus money is used in case of possible emergencies. The funds are also a major indicator when companies such as Moody's give districts a bond rating. Some bond rating companies have said that 5 percent of a school's budget is an optimal surplus.

Although the Levittown district has a 2 percent fund balance, it currently maintains an "A" bond rating, one of the higher grades given, Carlson said. He estimated that the school would pay between 4 and 4.5 percent interest on the 15-year bonds. He also estimated that the state would reimburse the district for about 50 percent of the bonds' principles and interest.

Also during the meeting, the board expressed its regrets after hearing of the deaths of Steven DeSimone, a student who attended MacArthur High School, teacher Marie Meadows and Kenneth Whelan, a custodial department employee.