Long Island

VGBROOSG

School advocates said Wednesday that 90-percent-plus passing rates in statewide budget elections prove voters want to decide for themselves how education dollars are spent. 
Their main point: Maintaining local control is better than the 2 percent property-tax cap proposed by Gov. Andrew M. <a href="/topics/Andrew_Cuomo">Cuomo</a> to curb school spending. 
"We already have a democratic process for capping property taxes, and it works pretty well," said Richard Iannuzzi, president of the 600,000-member <a href="/topics/New_York_State_United_Teachers">New York State United Teachers</a> union. 
Iannuzzi, who taught in <a href="/topics/Central_Islip%2C_NY">Central Islip</a>, noted that school spending increases have slowed in recent years, both statewide and on Long Island. He called Cuomo's tax-cap plan "ill-conceived." 
Not surprisingly, the governor drew a different conclusion from Tuesday's vote. Island residents approved all but five of 124 district budgets -- a 96 percent passage rate. 
"I think the message is getting out," Cuomo said Wednesday. "We've reined in state spending. We now have to rein in local government and school spending. I think you saw that in a lot of these school district budgets." 
On the Island, the average budget will rise less than the 2.3 percent inflation rate next year, as districts trim staffs and unions agree to salary concessions. But taxes will increase nearly 4 percent to make up for cuts in state school aid. 
In the <a href="/topics/William_Floyd">William Floyd</a> district -- to cite the most dramatic example -- voters on Tuesday narrowly agreed to a 12.47 percent hike in next year's taxes. That's on top of an 8.53 percent increase this year. 
School advocates cite voters' action as evidence that they will accept higher taxes to save music classes, sports and other popular programs. Residents would resent any state attempt to dictate how much they can spend, advocates add. 
"Do they want to pay higher taxes? No, they don't," said Wendell Chu, superintendent of <a href="/topics/East_Islip%2C_NY">East Islip</a> schools. "But when they're given a choice of higher taxes or cuts in programs, they're voting against cuts in programs." 
Relatively few people actually voted, however. The 288,590 who participated on the Island on Tuesday represented less than 16 percent of voters in <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a> and <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a> counties, according to April 1 figures on registered voters from the state Board of Elections. 
Tax activists contend voters are discouraged by state rules that sharply limit the amount of money saved when school budgets are rejected. 
"Most people don't even want to bother anymore," said Fred Gorman of <a href="/topics/Nesconset%2C_NY">Nesconset</a>, organizer of a regional tax group, Long Islanders for Educational Reform. "You've got to listen to the governor -- he's absolutely right." 
Cuomo's proposed 2-percent limit would kick in during the 2012-13 school year. The only costs exempted from the cap would be for construction and legal settlements. The cap could be overridden by vote of the local governing board and a 60 percent majority in a local referendum. 
The <a href="/topics/U.S._Republican_Party">Republican</a>-led Senate has passed the governor's bill. The Assembly, controlled by <a href="/topics/U.S._Democratic_Party">Democrats</a>, has not taken it up, but has promised to introduce its own version soon. 
Some school officials such as Joseph Laria, who is <a href="/topics/Glen_Cove%2C_NY">Glen Cove</a>'s superintendent, think a cap might work, if exemptions are added for such costs as state-mandated pensions and health care. Laria notes that his colleagues managed to find savings when state fiscal pressures demanded it. 
"Isn't it interesting," he said, "that when our backs were to the wall, we all tightened our belts and made do with less, and people supported our budgets."

Education

LISKUL19

School advocates: Results rebut guv plan

School District Budget voting

Long Island's school districts are saddled with $3.7 billion in long-term debt, the price of years of borrowing for construction and improvements ranging from solar panels and upgraded ventilation systems to science labs, refurbished auditoriums and updated athletic fields. 
While the state picks up part of the tab -- in some cases, the majority of it -- property owners, too, are on the hook for this fixed cost, which is plugged into district budgets already straining under dramatic cuts in state aid and the expense of government mandates. 
School budgets that residents in most of the Island's 124 districts will be asked to approve Tuesday include principal and interest due annually on bonds -- indebtedness that over the past decade was encouraged by state policies. 
Debt service on the Island's school district bonds last year totaled $468.9 million, up from $146.1 million in 1990, according to the state Department of Education. 
&nbsp; 
Footing the bill 
As with any IOU, the piper must be paid. 
"The thing you have to consider is, what is the alternative?" said Wendell Chu, superintendent of the <a href="/topics/East_Islip%2C_NY">East Islip</a> school district. "This type of debt that's being picked up is generally for capital projects that are not easy to include in regular budgets." 
The annual debt service is a small piece of a school district's overall spending, which also includes state aid. Last year, debt service ate up 4.5 percent of total expenditures in the Island's districts -- up from 3.1 percent in 2000 and 3.8 percent in 1990. 
In the 1990 fiscal year, <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a> and <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a> school districts had a combined $542.6 million in outstanding bonds, according to data provided by the state comptroller's office. By 2010, those bonded debt obligations had grown to $3.7 billion. Adjusted for inflation, that's a 309 percent increase. 
Consider <a href="/topics/Syosset%2C_NY">Syosset</a> as one example. When children were dismissed from <a href="/topics/Syosset%2C_NY">Syosset</a>'s schools in the summer of 1990, paying off the district's long-term debt bonds would have taken about $7 from the pocket of every man, woman and child in the district. In 2010, the payoff was $1,389 per person. The district's bonded indebtedness grew in that time from $225,000 to $47.5 million. 
Increased debt by itself doesn't necessarily mean that school districts are borrowing too much -- indeed, as Long Island became wealthier, it could afford more. Overall school spending grew from $3.89 billion in 1990 to $10.37 billion last year, a 60 percent increase after adjusting for inflation. 
"Just to focus on increases in the amount of debt is just a partial view," said Kate Hackett, an analyst at Standard &amp; Poor's. "You have to look at the growth in the economy. It's a very strong economy out in Long Island." 
&nbsp; 
Outpacing inflation rate 
Still, borrowing by many districts has outpaced inflation. The state's growing obligation to fund a portion of school construction and renovation over the past decade prompted changes in law this year that will bring to the fore the trade-off between construction and other costs, such as hiring teachers. 
"New York State has done a number of things over the years to encourage school construction, and some projects were sorely needed and others may have been done because the state's reimbursement was so generous that it was hard to say no," said Morris Peters, spokesman for the state Division of Budget. "The problem with that is it drives up state expenses for school construction." 
In the 1990-91 school year, New York paid school districts throughout the state $380 million for building aid. Twenty years later, that figure had risen to $2.49 billion, an increase of 295 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars. The amount of aid available for eligible projects is largely determined by a district's wealth, with the state paying a greater portion of poorer districts' costs. 
&nbsp; 
The borrowing boom 
Borrowing really took off in the new millennium, fueled by a confluence of factors that created fertile ground for debt. Part of it was simply cyclical need. Many Long Island schools were built in the 1950s and required renovation, or more classrooms were needed in growing districts. Enrollment increased during the 1990s and through 2005, driven by a number of factors, including offering full-day kindergarten in more districts and expanded curriculums. Falling interest rates in the 1990s and 2000s made borrowing cheaper, and rising wealth and property values made more money available. 
Observers point to state policy changes that encouraged borrowing: a temporary state increase in building aid, imposition of a payment schedule that spread reimbursement over fixed time periods, and a grant program that prompted sale of more bonds. 
Starting in 1998, the state temporarily increased building aid available to all school districts, prompting many to go out with bond referendums. 
Chu said that state incentives spurred districts to make needed investments in their facilities. 
"That incentive caused a lot of school districts to do those projects -- projects that they may have decided to put off for a later point in time or might have even enhanced projects to allow them to do better things," he said. 
Then, in 2002 the state changed the way it reimbursed school districts so that it paid them over 15, 20 or 30 years, depending upon the type of project, which discouraged pay-as-you-go spending. 
"Governor Pataki, when times were tougher, turned around immediately and stretched out the repayments over the life of the project," said John Bierwirth, superintendent of the <a href="/topics/Herricks%2C_NY">Herricks</a> school district. "In a relatively short period of time, the state was one moment encouraging construction and in the next moment encouraging people to go into debt." 
Finally, a program called EXCEL encouraged districts sell more bonds, though that cost generally fell more on state taxpayers than individual districts. The borrowing bonanza prompted state lawmakers to change the system this year. The 2011-12 budget capped growth in school aid, including building aid. That means as more funds are approved for districts' capital projects, less money will be available for other things. 
"This dynamic has existed for a long time -- of expense-based aid growing as a percentage of the total," Peters said. "Going forward, as we're constraining school-aid growth, that problem is going to essentially be compounded, and this will focus a little more attention on the issue."

LIBOND13

School debt soars on Long Island

lirally

<a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/Bayport%2C_NY">BAYPORT</a>-<a href="/topics/Blue_Point%2C_NY">BLUE POINT</a> 
Vote Approved, 1,511-887 
Budget $63,663,681, a 2.7% increase 
Tax levy $43,645,523, a 3.99% increase 
Average home Increases 3.99% to $7,057; assessed value of avera9ge district home is $37,350 in <a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/Bayport%2C_NY">Bayport</a> and $2,604 in <a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/Blue_Point%2C_NY">Blue Point</a>. 
School board Diane D'Angelo (1,296) beat Rita Palma (1,051) for a three-year term.

News

VGBLUE15

Bayport-Blue Point School District

<a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/Center_Moriches%2C_NY">CENTER MORICHES</a> 
Vote Approved, 958-539 
Budget $36,704,388, a 2.55% increase 
Tax levy $20,144,026, a 6.62% increase 
Average home Increases 6.62%, from $233.50 for every $100 of assessed value to $248.95 for every $100 of assessed value. 
Proposition Approved, 794-688, modification of transportation eligibility policy for grades K-12 from the existing zero-mile limit to 1-mile for grades K-5 and 11/2-miles for grades 6-12. 
School board Incumbents Daniel Finnegan (925) and Wayne A. Vitale (800) defeated Kelly Platt (649) for three-year terms.

VGCMOR15

Center Moriches School District

COMSEWOGUE 
Vote Approved, 1,239-523 
Budget $76,558,768, a .19% decrease 
Tax levy $47,395,268, a 7.33% increase 
Average home Assessed at $2,900 increases 7.33% to $6,239 
School board Alexandra Gordon (836) and James M. Sanchez (674) defeated Philip Lunarola (192), Jeanne Millett (331), Lynellen Nielse (359) and Stephen P. Ruddy (489) for two seats with three-year terms.

VGCOMS15

Comsewogue High School District

<a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/East_Moriches%2C_NY">EAST MORICHES</a> 
Vote Approved, 424-172 
Budget $24,085,123, an increase of less than 1% 
Tax levy $17,240,537, a 1.48% increase 
Average home Assessed at $3,000 increases 2.34% to $6,973 
School board <a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/Michael_Griffin">Michael Griffin</a> ran unopposed for three-year term.

VGEMOR15

East Moriches School District

<a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/Eastport%2C_NY">EASTPORT</a>-SOUTH MANOR 
Vote Approved, 1,040-525 
Budget $82,595,650, a 4.09% increase 
Tax levy $45,787,346, a 4.99% increase 
Average home Assessed at $3,440 increases 4.99% to $7,809 
School board Incumbent Janet Stevens (854) and challenger Donna Moeller (787) defeated Raymond Navarrete (680) for three-year terms.

VGEPRT15

Eastport-S. Manor Central School District

<a href="/topics/Fire_Island%2C_NY">FIRE ISLAND</a> 
Vote Approved, 95-6 
Budget $5,988,833, up .72% 
Tax levy $4,814,800, a 1.97% increase 
Average home In <a href="/topics/Brookhaven%2C_NY">Brookhaven</a> will pay a rate of $22.11 per $100 of assessed valuation; in the Town of <a href="/topics/Islip%2C_NY">Islip</a>, an average home will pay a rate of $1.63 per $100 
School board Incumbents Vernon Henriksen and Judi Phelan ran unopposed for three-year terms.

VGFIRE15

Fire Island School District

<a href="/topics/Longwood%2C_NY">LONGWOOD</a> 
Vote Approved, 2,571-1,169 
Budget $205,600,000, a 1.25% decrease 
Tax levy $115,856,855, a 3.95% increase 
Average home Assessed at $2,565 increases 3.95% to $5,649.78 
School board Philip Reany Jr. (1,450) and Frank Muraca (1,399) beat Jeffrey P. Davis (1,214), Desiree Elliott (1,074) and Robert L. Dickerson (914) for two seats with three-year terms.

VGLWOO15

Longwood School District

MIDDLE COUNTRY 
Vote Approved, 2,988-942 
Budget $211,302,498, a 1.65% increase 
Tax levy $118,660,456, a 6.68% increase 
Average home Assessed at $4,000 increases 6.68% to $8,805 
School board Incumbent Doreen Feldmann (1,520) beat challengers Lisa Bailey (914) and Vincent Zecca (777); Daniel Hill (1,714) beat Susan Jacobson (1,226) and Christopher M. Millwater (655); Debbie Parker ran unopposed. Terms are three years.

VGMIDD15

Middle Country School District

<a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/Miller_Place%2C_NY">MILLER PLACE</a> 
Vote Approved, 1,537-779 
Budget $64,252,252, a 3.83% increase 
Tax levy $39,857,391, a 3.89% increase 
Average home Assessed at $4,000 increases 4.94% to $9,214 
School board Brian Neyland (1,198) and Doug Ports (1,059) win three-year terms; Ann O'Brien (1,139), as third-highest vote-getter, is elected to a two-year term to fill out an unexpired term; Michael Arnold (1,054), Maria Schuchmann (948) and Jennifer Leen (746) were defeated.

VGMILL15

Miller Place School District

MOUNT SINAI 
Vote Approved 1,073-626 
Budget $54,921,905, a 1.24% increase 
Tax levy $36,167,469, a 3.93% increase 
Average home Assessed at $3,800 increases 3.93% to $8,685.32 
School board Robert P. Sweeney (727), Kerri Kelly (688) and Edward K. Law (668) defeated incumbent John Yavorka (657), Marnie Kula (603), Deborah Lang (577) and Tracy J. Harkins McCall (335) for three seats with three-year terms.

VGSINA15

Mount Sinai School District

<a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/Patchogue%2C_NY">PATCHOGUE</a>-<a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/Medford%2C_NY">MEDFORD</a> 
Vote Approved, 2,442-1,703 
Budget $159,971,975, a 1.19% decrease 
Tax levy $95,750,313, a 2.64% increase 
Average home Assessed at $3,000 increases 4% to $6,476.70 
School board Incumbent Brett P. Houdek (1,811) defeated Christine Rignola (1,639) and incumbent Joseph L. LoSchiavo ran unopposed for three-year terms. for a three-year term.

VGPATM15

Patchogue-Medford School District

<a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/Port_Jefferson%2C_NY">PORT JEFFERSON</a> 
Vote Approved, 832-807 
Budget $37,354,521, a 0% increase 
Tax levy $31,960,867, a 8.20% increase 
Average home Assessed at $5,000 increases 8.93% to $6,577 
School board Challenger Isak Prohovnik (954) and incumbent Robert Ramus (874) defeated James Laffey (787) for three-year terms.

VGPJEF15

Port Jefferson School District

<a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/Riverhead%2C_NY">RIVERHEAD</a> 
Vote Approved, 1,936-1,153 
Budget $109,594,658, 1.26% increase 
Tax levy $86,794,515, up 4.93% Average home A typical home in the <a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/Riverhead%2C_NY">Riverhead</a> part of the district assessed at $42,401 will pay $4,009, a 4.92% increase. Officials said they did not have the information to calculate the change in the <a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/Brookhaven%2C_NY">Brookhaven</a> and <a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/Southampton%2C_NY">Southampton</a> parts of the district. 
Proposition Approved, 2,069-930, transfer of up to $5 million from existing reserve fund for school repairs. 
School board Ann Cotten-DeGrasse (1,960), Gregory Meyer (1,957) and Kimberly Ligon (1,823) defeated Patricia Sapienza-Brown (1,661) for seats with three-year terms.

VGRIVE15

Riverhead Central School District

<a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/Rocky_Point%2C_NY">ROCKY POINT</a> 
Vote Approved, 1,039-515 
Budget $69,509,578, a 3.97% increase 
Tax levy $43,491,898, a 4.93% increase 
Average home Not available 
PropositionApproved, 1,056-450, to spend $2,993,000 from capital reserve fund for projects such as roof replacement and asbestos abatement at the high school. 
School board Incumbents Michael Nofi (1,037) and Diane Burke (752) defeated Barbara Dallon (420), Mary Heely (392), Frank Moscatiello (258) and Alan Longman (88) for three-year terms.

VGRPT15

Rocky Point School District

SACHEM 
Vote Approved, 4,960-3,034 
Budget $287,834,125, a 2.03% increase 
Tax levy $151,445,397, a 3.15% increase 
Average home Assessed at $3,500 in <a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/Brookhaven%2C_NY">Brookhaven</a> will be $6,178, up from $5,913; assessed at $40,000 in <a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/Islip%2C_NY">Islip</a> will be $5,208, up from $4,984; assessed at $6,000 in <a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/Smithtown%2C_NY">Smithtown</a> will be $6,913, up from $6,616. 
School board Incumbent Christine Lampitelli (3,101) defeated <a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/Daniel_Smith">Daniel Smith</a> (2,734); Dorothy Roberts (3,514) defeated incumbent Michael Licata (2,414); Michael J. Isernia and Teri Ahearn ran unopposed. Terms are three years except for Insernia, whose term is for one year to fill vacancy caused by a board member's resignation.

VGSACH15

Sachem School District

 Sachem High School North cropped 3.22.12

<a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/Shoreham%2C_NY">SHOREHAM</a>-<a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/Wading_River%2C_NY">WADING RIVER</a> 
Vote Approved, 1,742-905 
Budget $59,976,799, a 3.47% increase 
Tax levy $47,478,560, a 2.06% increase 
Average home Assessed at $400,000 increases 2.13% to $7,089 
Propositions Approved, 1,705-874, to spend $66,144 from the district's Tax Reduction Reserve Fund to improve storm-water drainage at the entrance of Briarcliff Elementary School; approved, 1,688-874, to spend $825,000 from the reserve fund to replace six underground storage fuel-oil tanks at district schools. 
School board Challenger John Zukowski (1,116) and incumbents Jack Costas (1,304) and William McGrath (996) defeated Robert Alcorn (908), Anthony F. Keith Field (830), Anthony DeLouise (779) and Stephen Offutt (614) for three seats with three-year terms.

VGSWAD15

Shoreham-Wading River School District

SOUTH COUNTRY 
Vote Approved, 1,709-1,188 
Budget $113,995,963, a 3.99% increase 
Tax levy $53,353,439, a 3.14% increase 
Average home Assessed at $3,000 increases 3.14% to $182.06 
School board Biaggia Jeanette Mistler (1,882) and incumbents Barbara Schatzman (2,041) and Victor Correa (1,425) defeated Antoinette Huffine (1,373) for three seats with three-year terms.

VGSCTY15

South Country Central School District

THREE VILLAGE 
Vote Approved, 3,621-2,519 
Budget $174,585,266, a 4.47 % increase 
Tax levy $127,913,641, a 3.8 % increase 
Average home Assessed at $4,200 gets a tax bill for $9,285 
School board The top three vote-getters -- Irene Gische (3,472), Jeffrey Kerman (3,431) and Inger Germano (3,289) -- won three at-large seats with three-year terms. Fourth-place finisher Deanna Bavlnka (3,240) will complete the final year of a seat vacated by Carol Leister. Defeated were incumbent Frank McIntosh (2,650), Faiza Akhtar (2,185), Charles Massimo (2,511) and Jacqueline Rudman (2,457).

VGTVIL15

Three Village Central School District

VOTING 
7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday in William Floyd High School's east lobby 
&nbsp; 
THE BUDGET 
The district is proposing a budget of $208,134,194 for the 2011- 12 school year, an increase of 4.05 percent over this year's $200,029,600. 
The local tax levy would be $90,116,091, up 12.47 percent from this year's figure of $80,121,159. The district says that increase would raise taxes on an average house to $5,186.40 next year from the current $4,611.04. The average home assessment is $1,995. 
The proposed budget includes a contractual raise for teachers of 1 percent, together with step increases averaging 2.2 percent. However, the district says raises are subject to negotiation. 
Like other low-wealth districts, William Floyd finds itself squeezed between declining state aid and rising costs in pensions and other areas. Next year, the district plans to eliminate 101 jobs, including 48 teachers and 33.5 teaching assistants or paraprofessionals. Also planned are deep cuts in student services such as BOCES career training and elementary music. Seventh- and eighth-grade sports teams will be combined, and middle-school schedules will be shortened. 
District website: wfsd.k12.ny.us 
&nbsp; 
THE CANDIDATES 
Incumbent Robert Taiani is running unopposed for another three-year term. Incumbent Jeananne Dawson faces Joseph H. Johnson for the other three-year term. 
&nbsp; 
Jeananne Dawson 
BACKGROUND: Dawson, 62, an administrative assistant for a private firm, has lived in the district for 36 years. She and her husband, Richard, have two grown children who graduated from the district. A grandson is enrolled there. She has served on the school board 31 years -- the longest tenure of any current board member -- and participated in civic organizations and church clubs. She holds a diploma from St. Joseph's Mountain School, a private Catholic academy in upstate Monticello that has closed since she attended. 
ISSUES: Dawson said the biggest issue facing the district, as always, is its dependence on state aid. As Albany cuts aid, she said, it has a responsibility to also reduce costly state mandates. As an example of an expensive mandate, Dawson cited a state requirement that districts provide graphic calculators to students who don't have them in math or science classes where such calculators must be used. Dawson said the state should pay for those calculators. She also said the state needs to distribute aid more fairly to districts such as hers that are low in taxable wealth. 
&nbsp; 
Joseph H. Johnson 
BACKGROUND: Johnson, 28, an attorney, is a lifelong resident of the district and a graduate of William Floyd High School. He is single and has a daughter enrolled in third grade in the district. Johnson volunteered as a catechism teacher and assistant youth minister at St. Jude's <a href="/topics/Roman_Catholic_Church">Roman Catholic Church</a> in Mastic Beach. He holds a law degree from Touro Law School and a bachelor's degree in business administration from <a href="/topics/Stony_Brook_University">Stony Brook University</a>. 
ISSUES: Johnson said fiscal responsibility is the biggest issue facing the district. He acknowledged his opponent's long service on the school board, adding that the current board has tried to act responsibly. But he said the board needs a "fresh set of eyes." Dawson cited the large-scale layoffs and program cuts being planned for next year, saying the board should consider other alternatives such as cutting "fat." Johnson said he could not be more specific about costs that might be eliminated without joining the board and familiarizing himself with school operations from the inside. That, he added, was the only way "to make sound fiscal decisions."

VGWMFL15

William Floyd School District

HLWILL13

Brookhaven school districts

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According to Port Washington's fire chief, two teens on a boat came across three men in Manhasset Bay after they capsized. The teens pulled them from the frigid waters to safety.

3 men rescued from Manhasset Bay

12 Jurors and one alternate were picked for Donald Trump's hush money trial. 

Jurors picked for Trump's trial

A settlement was reached in a lawsuit against the Bay Shore school district in an alleged sexual assault case involving former teacher Thomas Bernagozzi.

Update: Lawsuit against Bay Shore school district

LIU Post students are saying "no" to adding classes on Fridays.

Students push back

The program aims to reduce air pollution on the North Shore by promoting public transportation to local students.

Free NICE bus rides as Earth Day approaches

Across New York, the highest rates of sexually transmitted infections, or STIs, were found in young people, non-Hispanic Black people and men who have sex with men, the report found. 

Report: Sexually transmitted infections climb on Long Island

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