Manhasset School District voters Tuesday gave resounding approval to the district’s revised $86 million budget for the 2013-14 school year, exceeding the required supermajority total by earning 72 percent of the vote.
Manhasset’s revised budget, which was $3.1 million less than the one that failed to reach the supermajority on May 21 and $900,000 less than the district’s 2012-13 budget, was approved by a vote of 3,706 to 1,451 and was one of six Long Island districts whose budgets were up for a second vote Tuesday.
The revised budget called for cuts to various extracurricular programs throughout the district as well as the elimination of about 20 full-time equivalent positions throughout the district, comprised of teachers, administrators, teacher aides and custodians.
“I believe the process we utilized after the first vote failed unified our community and created a tremendous amount of positive energy that would ensure our students would be the beneficiaries of a strong academic program and strong programs in arts, music, drama and interscholastic athletics and to provide meaningful opportunities,” Manhasset Superintendent of School Charles Cardillo said. “I am disappointed that the first vote failed, where we can’t provide comparable programs to our students that we offered this year and had the meaningful staff reductions, but the passing of the second vote allowed us to minimize staff reductions and retain high-quality teachers and staff.”
Only 53.3 percent of voters were in favor of the district’s $89 million budget on May 21, a figure that included a 5.98 percent tax levy which exceeded its allowable .14 percent levy limit.
Though most districts on Long Island were allowed a 3 percent increase in the tax levy under the state-mandated tax cap, Manhasset’s was much lower due to the refinancing of $1.4 million in district debt that began prior to the implementation of New York state’s tax levy cap legislation in 2011.
The revised budget had a tax levy increase of 1.97, which was the result of decreased funding for certain extracurricular activities throughout the district, the condensing of various class sizes, and the elimination of “combo teams,” which do not require a try-out process in an effort to give all students the opportunity to participate, from the middle school level.
Approximately $500,000 in Manhasset’s recent budgetary cuts came from the reduction of teachers and employees, and through collective bargaining negotiations with its teacher’s union, as well as new retirement incentives for the district’s nine teacher retirees. The district regained roughly $300,000 from pension contributions, which accounted for 78 percent of the budget expenses, Superintendent for Business Rosemary Johnson has said.
“Hopefully [the passing of the budget] demonstrates that we achieved something significant,” Cardillo said. “Of the 28 districts in the state that faced the supermajority vote, 78 percent failed, so having such community support on the second vote is important and restores confidence going forward with our ongoing commitment to excellence in all aspects of school life.”
If the second budget vote did not pass, the board of education was prepared to cut all extracurricular programs and athletics throughout the district, in addition to cutting more teachers from both the elementary and secondary levels, to reach an additional $1.5 million in reductions to achieve a contingent budget commonly referred to as “austerity.”
After the first vote failed, the board of education held three town hall-style meetings during which they outlined the revised budget, discussed how it would achieve austerity if a second vote failed and listened to comments from residents concerning their disappointment with the failed first vote and stressing the importance of passing the budget on the second vote.
“The turning point for the vote was the three meetings in five days,” Cardillo said. “There was a great deal of concern after the first vote failed, but the three meetings in five days created a renewed confidence in the proposed revised budget that voters overwhelmingly approved,” Cardillo said.
