Residents of the Mineola School District failed to pass a budget for the 2003-2004 school year as the Mineola School District was among only five schools in Nassau County to have its budget fail Tuesday, June 3. Now, the district and the board of education will attempt to pass the budget again on Tuesday, June 24 when another budget vote will take place.

School officials may have been surprised that voters rejected the $62,376,459 budget, a 5.41 percent increase in expenditures over the current year's budget, considering it was the 15th lowest budget increase in expenditures in a county of 56 districts by a 979-852 margin.

The results by schools are as follows:

Cross Street School - 216 YES, 180 NO

Hampton Street School - 148 YES, 191 NO

Jackson Avenue School - 275 YES, 392 NO

Meadow Drive School - 213 YES, 216 NO

Although the budget reflects an increase of 5.41 percent in expenditures over the current year's budget, the estimated increase in the amount to be raised by taxes is approximately 8 percent.

Superintendent of Schools for the Mineola School District Dr. Lorenzo Licopoli, assistant superintendent for business and operations John Jackson and the board of education feel they put a responsible budget before voters.

In fact, the district and board are so confident in the budget, they will put in out to vote again on Tuesday, June 24 without making any changes.

If the budget fails again on June 24, a contingency budget will go into effect. In a contingency budget, $75,000 in expenditures would come out of the proposed budget for the repair of the roof on the Jackson Avenue School, which has been leaking for five years, and the repair and replacement of seats in the Mineola High School auditorium. Also, in a contingency budget, Dr. Licopoli said the district would have to scrutinize every expense it makes, but that all programs would remain intact.

However, the superintendent pointed out that there isn't much of a difference between the contingency budget and the proposed budget since the district has scrutinized every expense already. "In developing this year's budget, that is exactly what we did," Dr. Licopoli said.

If the contingency budget has almost the same impact to the taxpayer as the proposed budget, then why is the district putting the proposed budget out again? It's because the board and the district feel it's important to get a commitment in the school system from the public.

"I think it's really important that we have a budget in place," said school board member RoseAnn Buglione. "It's a positive thing to have."

According to the district, the increases in the budget were mostly due to mandated items such as increases in the teacher retirement system and health insurance costs that were out of the board's control. The district was able to save money, however, to offset some of the mandated items through the retirement of professionals who weren't replaced.

Still, the majority of voters rejected the proposal. Here are some possible reasons why:

* Bad Economy, Other Increases

Residents have seen their county taxes increase by 19.4 percent and their village taxes increase by 13.8 percent. The school budget is the only budget that is voted on and may have taken the brunt of the taxpayers' dissatisfaction on budgetary increases. Also, it didn't help that the economy is not in optimum condition.

* 'No' Voters Come Out, 'Yes' Voters Don't

Last year, voters approved a 2002-2003 school budget by a 854-709 margin. This year, the budget received 852 "Yes" votes, almost the same number of "Yes" votes as last year. However, there were 270 more "No" votes this year. In order for the budget to be successful, more residents will have to vote. As a parent pointed out at Thursday's meeting of the board of education, more people who benefit from the school district have to go out and vote. Consider that the Mineola School District has 2,877 students, yet only had 852 positive votes.

* Board Won't Compromise Educational Services

Board member RoseAnn Buglione said there are always cuts that can be made to the budget. But those cuts such as increasing the student to teacher ratio could have a negative impact on the educational program, something the district is reluctant to do. In fact, the district is trying to improve its educational program by adding a full-day kindergarten program.

One cut that was thought about was doing away with the quarter-day, universal pre-kindergarten program. However, when numerous parents protested the cuts, the board put the program back into the budget.

* Bang for the Buck

There could be a perception that residents of the school district aren't getting the bang for the buck. The Mineola School District is in the top five in Nassau County in expenses per pupil.

Assistant superintendent for business and operations John Jackson points out that the district has an excellent student to teacher ratio of 18 students to one teacher, which means Mineola students are getting more attention than districts in which there are more students in classes. Also, Mr. Jackson points out that the district is able to attract quality teachers to the district.

However, some members of the community may point to the state standardized test scores when assessing the quality of education children are receiving in relation to the amount the district is spending per pupil.

Results for 2003 fourth grade English Language Arts tests were recently published. At the Cross Street School, 84 percent of the students who took the test performed at or above state standards. For the Hampton Street School, 66 percent of the students who took the test performed at or above state standards. At the Jackson Avenue School, 81 percent of students who took the test performed at or above state standards and at Meadow Drive, 100 percent of students performed at or above state standards. The Nassau County average is 83.7.

For the eighth grade ELA results, 63 percent of Mineola students met or exceeded state standards. The Nassau County average is 63.5 percent.

Of course, state standardized test scores are only one assessment in determining the quality of work students are producing and is a flawed one.

One factor that tends to be overlooked when comparing schools from one year to another is that a different group of fourth grade and eighth grade students are taking the test each year.

However, Dr. Licopoli said that test scores, particularly at the fourth grade level have been improving. One of the Dr. Licopoli's major goals for the district is to get into a cycle of continuous improvement.

Dr. Licopoli has not even been in the job as superintendent for two years and should be given the opportunity to work with the board in implementing strategies that will improve student performance. The superintendent, in his brief stint in Mineola, has worked with the board in establishing an educational plan to meet the strategic objectives.

In Other News, McGrath Back on the Board

John McGrath defeated Gia Lynne Hall by an 885-750 margin and will now be back on the board of education. The curse of the board president continues. In each of the last three years, the Mineola Board of Education president lost his or her seat. Two years ago, McGrath, who was the board president, lost his seat. Last year, Dennis Mortensen lost his seat and this year it was Gia Lynne Hall.

Proposition #2 Passes

Proposition #2, which called for reducing the transportation requirement for grades three to five from one mile to a half mile at no additional cost to the taxpayer, passed by a 890-778 margin.