School Officials Present Budget for Adoption

The Kings Park Board of Education and school administrators will meet Tuesday evening to approve a draft budget of $79,111.079 which is less than a two percent increase over last year’s budget and will have a tax levy increase of 2.92 percent.

The budget includes the restoration of six teaching positions as well as two contingent positions.

A series of five open budget workshops have been held over the past several weeks beginning in February. The last budget workshop was held March 31 where it was determined that a librarian position at the elementary level will not be restored.

 “Having a librarian is the best of all scenarios. The children still do go to the library. It is a different program but it is working well,” said Agruso.

Some of the restored positions will likely include one elementary teacher, one reading teacher and one math, science and social studies teacher at the high school level.

Agruso stated that she believed it was important to restore these positions in order to continue providing students with a sound education, which left some wondering why they were ever being considered for cuts.

“We are in a tough spot faced with $1.5 million state aid gap and asked to keep the tax levy at a reasonable rate. It is a balancing act. What do we cut, what don’t we cut and still offer an excellent education program,” said Agruso.

The board also heard information regarding the Lead Teacher program, which is run at the high school level by grade. High school principal Lino Bracco explained the importance of the program.

“It is a vital service. They are a conduit for getting information to students,” said Bracco. Currently the principals and assistant principals are handling these tasks.

“We’ve suffered because we have eliminated this position,” said board trustee Steve Weber.

The board has not decided on whether or not to eliminate assistant coaching positions but have tabled the idea until the next board meeting.