The Elmont School District spends the least money per pupil than any other school district in Nassau County. But even a school district that has been fiscally conservative in the past will have a hard time putting together a budget this year.

School districts across Nassau County including Elmont are fighting projected shortfalls in state aid. In fact, Elmont may have been hit harder than other districts. According to the 2003-2004 executive budget proposal, the Elmont School District will receive $1,691,034 less in state aid than it did for the 2002-2003 school year.

The projected shortfall has board of education and school administration members scratching their heads in trying to come up with a budget that is fiscally possible in difficult economic times.

"It means that taxes are going to go up. Whenever they cut state aid, in order to maintain the programs that you have minimally, someone has to pay for the services we offer to our children. Unfortunately, it's passed on to the taxpayer," said Elmont Board of Education President Deanna Doreson. "We are as a board very concerned about the impact on our taxpayers. They were very generous with us last year and trustworthy in supporting our budget. This board of education is very appreciative of that. We gave our word that we would keep the taxes as low as possible for our students."

The Elmont School District has already come out with a preliminary budget for 2003-2004, although it has yet to be adopted. Although it is too early to set the tax rate, the preliminary budget reflects an 8.8 percent increase over last year's budget. The 2003-2004 proposed school budget amounts to $50,973,890, which is $4,144,305 more than the 2002-2003 budget.

The challenge for the district's administration and board of education is trying to put together a budget that keeps intact a sound educational program and will be supported by the public. "While the numbers are not the numbers the board would like to come to the residents with, these are the numbers that we have to come to you with," said Doreson.

Of the 8.8 percent tax increase, 3.3 percent or a $1,551,519 increase in expenditures is due to mandated budget changes, according to the district. State mandated increases in pension benefits have caused expenditures to rise by $719,739, an increase of 329 percent. Social Security costs on wages district-wide have increased by $214,668, a 10 percent increase. Medical insurance costs have increased by $427,463, an 11 percent increase, and debt service costs have increased by $189,649, an increase of 9 percent, and have yet to be offset by state aid payments.

Other costs account for a 5.5 percent increase in the budget. Curriculum development, school supervision and in-service training accounts for $184,429.

Instructional costs for teachers and support staff, equipment, supplies, textbooks and similar instruction costs account for an increase in expenditures of $997,229. Special education costs for teachers and support staff, equipment, supplies, textbooks, tuition and similar special education costs have increased by $187,090. An increase of $162,160 can be attributed to the purchase of new personal computers for the computer labs. An increase of $174,649 is due to the district-owned and contracted transportation service costs including the purchase of two buses. An increase of $25,000 is allocated for the upkeep of the buildings and may be used for roof work.

There were days when budget increases amounted to less than $1 per $100 of assessed valuation. However, it doesn't look like that is the case this year. "Those days aren't here anymore and it's not our fault," said Doreson.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Maria Palandra celebrated her five year anniversary as superintendent. Dr. Palandra was also just honored by the Town of Hempstead with the Pathfinder Award for working tirelessly to promote unity and equality in a racially and culturally diverse community. She has written curriculum that has fostered academic progress for all students, according to the town. The Sewanhaka Central High School District Board of Education voted 7-1 not to continue taping board meetings. The one dissenting vote was Elmont representative Aubrey Phillips. It was reported that the Elmont Public Library still wants a portion of the Alva T. Stanforth Junior High School. The library is said to be interested in the front west four acres of the property and plans on maintaining the auditorium portion of the building. The library would have to purchase part of the property from the Sewanhaka Central High School District. The board recently voted to keep all of the property for athletic use and look into demolishing the building. Elmont and Sewanhaka board members said having a state of the art library there would be a positive thing to see. The Elmont Board of Education will look to adopt its 2003-2004 proposed budget at its April 15 meeting.