Westbury Public Schools has experienced a smooth opening of the new school year and has maintained after-school and other extra support programs, despite being on a contingency budget, Dr. Constance Clarke, superintendent reported this week.

Because the district's proposed budget was defeated by local taxpayers in the spring, both times it was submitted for a public vote, this year's $51 million budget is the result of a spending cap mandated by the state. The cap limits the district's spending increase to approximately 4 percent over last year's figure. Still, the district saw a successful start of the new school year, with after school and other special programs kept intact and class sizes kept below the national standard.

"Basically, our schools opened without any real problems other than that we're on a contingency budget," Dr. Clarke said during an interview in her office last Thursday. She noted that although funding for some special programs has been cut from the budget, the district has been able to maintain them through a combination of state, federal and private grants.

For example, the Parent-Child program, which teaches parenting skills to immigrant parents of pre-schoolers, was cut from the budget, yet is in operation this year thanks to private donations. The district continues to seek additional funding to maintain that and other special programs not supported by this year's budget, according to Dr. Clarke. "We will aggressively pursue other grants to fund our special programs," she said. Gear Up, a federal program that encourages secondary students to attend college, is another initiative retained despite the district's financial restrictions. A supportive business community has also helped maintain educational programs, through both their financial support and participation in collaborative projects, such as internships and mentoring.

And, because the hiring of new teachers to meet enrollment growth is not prohibited by the budget cap, the district has been able to hire needed, additional instructional staff members to keep the average class size at about 18-22 students per teacher, comfortably below the national standard of 25 to 1. "The board has been very adamant about maintaining class size," said Dr. Clarke.

This is the first time that Westbury Schools have faced a contingency budget since 1996, following a period of five consecutive years on austerity. While the 2000-2001 school year progresses, school officials are already beginning to prepare for the drafting of next year's budget, and the budget hearings that will take place in the spring. As they do, Dr. Clarke is hoping that local taxpayers will recognize the strides the district has made in improving academic results, and the impact of the public education system on the community. "What I want the community to understand is, it's an investment," she said. "There's a tie between the quality of education that we provide as a school district and your property value."

Providing an example of academic results, she noted that last year Westbury saw a 19-point percentage gain in the English Language Arts (ELA) assessments for 4th and 8th graders, one of the largest in the county. "We are showing results," said Dr. Clarke. "Are we where we want to be? No, not yet, but we're getting there. Our students are making gains." She added, "From an academic standpoint, our district is moving forward."

Like districts throughout Nassau County, Westbury School District is currently facing two major educational challenges - steady annual enrollment growth and implementation of tougher new state learning standards. According to Dr. Clarke, the district is addressing both of these, with a preliminary analysis of classroom space under way and curriculum revisions and staff development centered around the learning standards. The district's enrollment is expected to rise from its current level of 3,700 to 4,000 within the next three to four years. And, with space stretched to the limit, the board of education is currently exploring proposing a bond issue to add more classrooms, Dr. Clarke noted. Several Nassau school districts are in the midst of proposing, or implementing bond construction projects, for the same reason.

While enrollment growth is an issue common to many local districts, Westbury has the unique, additional challenge of serving a diverse student population with a significant number of students who need English as a Second Language (ESL) classes. Currently, 42 percent of the student population is Hispanic, 13 percent is Haitian, 41 percent is African-American and 3 percent is Caucasian. As the district aims to meet this and the other challenges, Dr. Clarke has some major goals set for the next two to three years. For example, she would like to move the bulk of the fourth and eighth graders into the highest performance levels (3 and 4) of the ELA standards. Helping 11th graders pass the new, tougher Regents examinations required for graduation is also a priority, as is moving as many ESL youngsters as possible into the mainstream academic program, and integrating technology into the classroom. As the administrative chief looks to the future of Westbury Schools, she wants to see facilities and field improvements, as well as expansion of classroom space. She also hopes to increase the portion of students who go on to college increased from the current level of 65 percent, to at least 85 percent.

"The long-term vision is to ensure that our students in Westbury are performing, and are competitive," said Dr. Clarke, "not only on Long Island, and New York, but also nationally."