On May 16, Long Island residents will head to the polls to pass or reject their school district's proposed budget. The district is asking its residents to approve a 2006-2007 budget that would increase the tax levy 4.75 percent, according to the budget newsletter currently being mailed to residents.

Island Trees Superintendent James Parla said that the school board would reduce the tax levy increase to 3.5 percent due to an increase in state aid for the coming school year.

"We are very pleased that we're able to provide a budget that carries a tax levy increase that will be among the lowest in Nassau County," Parla added. "We've done our best to maintain programs, services, sports and activities and at the same time be fiscally sound. The board of education directed me to work with administration to ensure that we continue all our programs and ensure the educational needs of all students are met, while keeping taxes as low as possible."

Founded in 1902, the Island Trees School District has two elementary schools, one middle school and one high school, serving a total of 2,800 students. While the majority of students reside in eastern Levittown, a small portion hail from Bethpage and Seaford.

The proposed budget will increase the district's expenditures by 6.5 percent, with 3.5 percent of the increase being passed along to the taxpayers. The proposed budget has $49,511,234 in expenditures compared with $46,490,359 for the 2005-06 school year.

Parla emphasized that the portions of the budget with the highest percentage increases are due to factors out of the district's control. There is a 9.58 percent increase in the special education budget due to an increase in the number of special education students as well as higher tuition costs from other districts for students who require placement outside of Island Trees. Rapidly increasing health insurance premiums contribute to an 8.89 percent increase in employee benefits. The increase in employee benefits is also due to a state mandated increase in the retirement contributions that school districts must make to the retirement system. A 29 percent increase in the cost of electricity and a 22 percent increase in the cost of fuel, oil and gas have forced an overall 6.83 percent increase in the costs of plant maintenance and operations. Furthermore, the district must pay for increased state testing mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act. In 2005-06, all students in grades 3-8 took a math and English assessment exam. School districts pay the costs of administering these tests as well as the costs of providing increased teacher professional development, which is also mandated by New York State.

According to the superintendent, the proposed budget requires no reduction in staff while providing new instructional material to meet the requirements of the New York State standards and assessments. In addition to staff development initiatives, new textbooks will be purchased for high school earth science classes as well as for fifth and sixth grade science classes. New social studies textbooks will be purchased for grades one through 10. This year, new math textbooks were purchased for grades five through eight and new math textbooks will be purchased next year for grades one through four. There will also be a purchase of new algebra textbooks to implement the new math sequence required in New York State.

"The budget moves the program forward in keeping with the state standards and the No Child Left Behind Act," said the superintendent. "Traditionally our students do well on the state assessment exams, especially when compared to state and county averages. We want to continue to do well. Curriculum mapping initiatives are also included to ensure that we are teaching all the skills that our children are required to master and that these skills are covered in the correct scope and sequence."

In 2005, 87.7 percent of Island Trees' fourth grade students and 70.8 percent of its eighth grade students met or exceeded standards on the 2005 New York State English assessment. By comparison, the state average was 70.4 percent of fourth grade students meeting or exceeding the standards and 48.1 of eighth grade students. On the 2005 New York State math assessment, 97.3 percent of Island Trees' fourth graders met or exceeded the standards, as did 82.2 percent of the eight grade students. The state average was 84.9 percent of fourth grade students meeting or exceeding the standards and 55.5 percent of eighth grade students.

Parla, who is completing his second year as Island Trees superintendent, also stated that the district is working hard to keep taxes down. According to him, some people are seeing higher increases in taxes due to property reassessments and changes in the base proportion for the homeowner's property class used to calculate the tax rate, which is done by the Nassau County Assessor's office.

"We are cognizant of what the community can afford and are reasonable while providing programs that address the needs of our children," said Parla. "We determine what money we need, not who pays what portion of it. This year, we are proposing to increase the tax levy by 3.5 percent over the current year. Again, this will be among the lowest increases in Nassau County. If individual homeowners experience a higher tax increase it would be due to the other factors mentioned."

Last year, Island Trees voters approved a budget that resulted in a 5.99 percent increase in the tax levy from the previous year. The budget was approved by a vote of 804 to 469. At the same time, voters in other districts rejected a record 21 Long Island school district budgets.

Added Parla, "We very much appreciate the fact that our community is so supportive of its schools and the value placed on quality education here in Island Trees."

Registered voters in the Island Trees School District may vote at the Michael F. Stokes School from noon until 9 p.m. For more information call 520-2100 or visit www.islandtrees.org.