At a public hearing May 3, Sewanhaka Central High School District officials presented the proposed 2005-06 $126,501,634 budget, with a 6.8 percent increase in expenditures and a 6.2 percent tax levy increase. This is the smallest percentage increase in expenditures in the past three years and the smallest tax levy increase in recent budget history.

According to district officials, the budget increase is necessary to maintain current levels of service delivery across all five of the district's schools - Floral Park Memorial High School, Sewanhaka High School, Elmont Memorial High School, H. Frank Carey High School and New Hyde Park Memorial High School. The budget will also help maintain existing community services and the community's use of district facilities as well as maintain the comprehensive offerings of the adult evening school program.

Further, the proposed budget will allow for the continuation of existing projects, including systematic textbook adoption and upgrade of the district's website. It will institute additional programs and services like a web-based homebound program for students with temporary disabilities or exclusions and an advanced placement music program in lieu of sending students to BOCES.

Proposed service increases also include a transitional class for special-needs students as an intervention before special education, a second district-operated class for autistic students and the creation of a new networking program in the Occupational Education Department.

In addition to changes at the school level, there are also proposed administrative changes. These changes include an initiative to place all of the district's curriculum guides online for "ease of faculty use" and the implementation of a data warehousing program for achievement tests and related data retrieval and analysis.

Intended equipment purchases are also proposed. These include more than $800,000 to be invested for Phase 5 of computer hardware integration, more than $97,500 for Phase 1 of the district wide band uniform replacement, the purchase of more than 200 scientific and 300 graphing calculators for students and the regular replacement of science, music, athletic and occupational educational equipment.

Looking at the average spent per student in the 57 districts in Nassau County for the 2003-04 school year, the Sewanhaka Central High School District ranked 52nd, spending just $12,703 per pupil. The county average expenditure per student was $17,202 with 14 of the districts spending well over $20,000 per student. However, in many cases, class sizes in the district were ranked highest in the county. Operating under those constraints the Sewanhaka district boasts five national schools of excellence, a 98 percent graduation rate (67 percent with Regents diplomas) and 67 percent of its graduates going on to attend four-year colleges.

Last year's budget of $119,145,556, the last one under former Superintendent Dr. George Goldstein, who retired after 19 years, failed by 397 votes; 2,495 residents passed it while 2,892 residents voted it down.

All residents of Elmont, Floral Park-Bellerose, Franklin Square and New Hyde Park-Garden City Park are urged to vote Super Tuesday, May 17, between 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. To be eligible to vote, a resident must be a United States citizen, 18 years of age or older and a district resident for at least 30 days prior to the vote.

Floral Park residents may vote at the following sites: John Lewis Childs and Floral Park-Bellerose schools. If residents fail to approve this year's proposed budget it will be put to a second vote. If it fails to pass a second time, the district will be subject to a cap of a 3.24 percent increase in expenditures as mandated by New York State.