LI districts kick off new school year
Students from Longwood High School leave the building Friday after starting classes for the first day. (Sept. 2, 2011) Credit: Steve Pfost
Schools that served as hurricane emergency shelters just a week ago will open their doors to students Tuesday -- the biggest start-up date on Long Island's academic calendar.
Sixty-three of the Island's 124 districts are scheduled to launch classes Tuesday morning. Another 54 open Wednesday, and four on Thursday. Three districts opened last week.
Many districts still are reeling from a record, Islandwide loss of $206 million in state aid for this school year. Administrators say the state's plans to clamp a 2-percent limit on local property-tax increases next year could signal further teacher layoffs and cuts in student services ahead.
"With the tax cap looming, it's going to be harder for districts to recover," said Brian Conboy, superintendent of Seaford schools.
Seaford's financial troubles reflect a broader regional pattern. The district has lost 20 teaching positions over the past two years. Many elementary class sizes have risen from the high teens to the high 20s, and some secondary-school classes have more than 30 students each. Middle-school winter and spring sports have been canceled, and parents are trying to raise funds for restoration.
Despite the tax cap, schools statewide could get some financial relief next year. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and state lawmakers have tentatively agreed to boost aid for the 2012-13 school year by $805 million, or 4 percent. But analysts foresee difficult negotiations ahead as those leaders decide whether they can afford the increase and how it should be divided among individual districts.
"The $805 million is not guaranteed," said Robert Lowry, deputy director of the New York State Council of School Superintendents.
