The Manhasset Board of Education announced Monday that trustees had agreed to a $86,176,419 budget for the 23013-14 school year that is $3 million less than the budget that failed to get a supermajority vote last month, but with an increase of 1.97 percent to the tax levy will still require 60 percent of the vote to pass.
Manhasset Superintendent of Schools Charles Cardillo the reduction in the latest budget was the result of a series of cuts to teachers, administrators and custodians as well as to other areas of the district, including extracurricular academic programs and athletics.
“It’s been a really long process, especially in these last couple weeks as we really try to work something through that works for our entire community,” said Cardillo, who led the Board of Education’s budget presentation in a crowded Black Box Theater within Manhasset Secondary School.
Cardillo said the amended budget is approximately $900,000 less than the district’s 2012-13 budget.
The district earned 53.3 percent of the vote May 21 and had until Monday to approve a new budget in advance of a second vote June 18.
The new 1.97 percent tax levy increase is down from the proposed 5.98 percent tax levy increase, but the budget will still require a supermajority vote because it exceeds the .15 percent limit allowed the district under the formula for the state-mandated tax cap.
Cardillo said the increase amounts to $265 more per home on houses valued at $1,035,000.
Manhasset was one of six school districts seeking the supermajority vote whose budgets did not pass May 21.
“The goal is that we come out of this as a community, where we’re able to say, with all the differences that we’ve had and all the differences that we may have with what we have to go forward with, that we have the ability as a school community to say that, for this year, achieving the 60 percent is really the goal so we can keep the K-12 program intact,” Cardillo said.
Cardillo said he does not want to see Manhasset end up in a situation similar to Sachem, where he previously served for 30 years as a teacher and administrator, which reduced 200 employees.
“The reality is, that’s a huge hit, and we don’t want to have to be faced with those numbers,” Cardillo said.
Approximately $500,000 in Manhasset’s recent budgetary cuts came from the reduction of about 20 employees, comprised of teachers, administrators, teacher aides and custodians, Cardillo said.
Through collective bargaining negotiations with the teacher’s union, as well as new retirement incentives for the district’s nine retirees, the district regained $300,000 from pension contributions.
“That’s money they put back on the table,” Cardillo said. “So for all the criticism that the teachers are paid too much or the pensions are too high, they’re doing their part to help us out as well.”
State-mandated pension contributions to the teachers retirement system were 16.25 percent higher than last year’s and have increased 262 percent since 2009-10. Contributions to the employee retirement system, which increased 20.90 percent since last year, have increased 299 percent since 2009-10.
If a second budget vote does not pass, the board plans to cut all extracurricular programs and athletics, in addition to cutting more teachers from both the elementary and secondary levels, reductions outlined at the board’s May 30 town hall-style meeting.
“There’s a point that everyone has in their mind as to what’s attainable for the 60 percent vote should look like,” Cardillo said. “This is not a 50 percent election. This is about one thing – if we don’t reach 60 percent, we take a huge hit.”
Cardillo said one of the most significant programs the board wanted to keep at the elementary level was its full kindergarten program and maintain the class sizes it had projected prior to the May 21 vote.
The board decided to cut the fourth grade music program, but keep its programs at the fifth and sixth grade levels.
In addition, the board cut elementary funding for extracurricular programs by 50 percent.
Cardillo said at the middle school level, the board adjusted its class sizes, now between 28-32 students, rather than cut many programs.
“The integrity of the middle school program, just like the elementary school program, has been left intact,” Cardillo said.
The board also reduced funding of extracurricular activities by 50 percent, but wants its music and drama programs to operate the way they have in the last few years.
At the middle school level, the board eliminated from its athletics program the “combo teams” which had previously allowed all students to participate. Manhasset will now have one seventh grade and one eighth grade team per sport.
The board also raised class sizes to as many as 28 students at the high school, Cardillo said.
The primary objective for the board when approaching the high school’s cuts, Cardillo said, was to maintain its competitive academic programs while reaching the maximum number of students from a wide range of learning abilities.
The board kept its science and math research programs, as well as many of the district’s Advanced Placement classes, while also maintaining all special education classes, both for students staying on campus and those who travel to other facilities.
The board did condense some of its program requirements, and Cardillo said one such example is passing the school’s Latin 3 class would now fulfill the requirement for students taking Latin to earn a regents diploma.
The district would also fund 75 percent of its extracurricular programs and maintain all athletic programs.
“The reason the funding at the high school level is 75 and not 50 because the high school students really need it. We’ve heard about students speak about needing the programs to meet their needs as they apply to college, and we want to provide support so our students aren’t short-changed in a competitive atmosphere.”
