$100M boost in state aid for Long Island schools

Long Island’s public schools will get an extra $100 million in state operating aid for the 2018-19 academic year — less than annual growth in the recent past but enough to help districts curb taxes or add such services as security patrols and psychological counseling, educators said Saturday.

The aid increase — a 3.57 percent gain — is the lowest in seven years, but well beyond the inflation rate. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and state legislators reached final agreement on the package late Friday night, ahead of the April 1 deadline mandated by state law and just in time for spring break.

Total state assistance for the 124 school districts in Nassau and Suffolk counties will rise to $3.21 billion. That figure includes money both for operating expenses and for school construction and renovation. The total is $2.9 billion when building aid is subtracted.

State funding for next year runs counter to the usual pattern, in which lawmakers up the ante whenever an election approaches. Cuomo had warned early on that the state faces growing economic uncertainties, including a potential budget deficit and unsettling changes in federal tax policy.

For that reason, the agreement in Albany came as a bit of a relief for many of the Island’s school leaders, who feared legislators might leave town without a budget in place.

“I was pleasantly surprised,” East Moriches schools chief Charles Russo said in reference to the aid hike. He is a past president of the Suffolk County School Superintendents Association.

Preliminary estimates, released in March by the state comptroller’s office, indicated that school systems in the two-county region could boost tax levies by an average 2.6 percent — the largest such average in five years. But Russo, like some colleagues, said Saturday that the latest state-aid increase could prompt districts to lower their tax projections.

“It definitely gives schools an opportunity to take another look at their revenue and reduce their levies, which is a benefit for everyone,” the veteran superintendent said.

Tax levies — that is, revenues raised through local property taxation — are restricted by statewide cap restrictions introduced in 2012-13 with a strong push from the governor. Those limitations, in effect, make school systems more dependent on state aid and put pressure on legislators to craft timely aid packages that help districts with their budget planning.

Local budget votes are scheduled for May 15.

“I think the Legislature has recognized that it’s a partner with schools in educating our children and, in another year, has come forward with more than it might have,” said Bill Johnson, the Rockville Centre superintendent, referring to the aid increase.

Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan (R-East Northport), agreed in a statement issued Saturday.

“Education is the largest growth area of the budget — and rightfully so — because we need to ensure students continue to have the resources they need,” Flanagan said.

Albany’s latest cash infusion was widely described as a $1 billion boost — or more precisely, $995 million. Cuomo in January had proposed a $769 million increase, reflecting an annual ritual in which governors tacitly allow legislators to increase the largesse.

Changes in aid allocations, though governed by state formulas, vary widely from one district to another, depending upon such factors as local spending decisions. Eight districts on the Island are due to lose operating aid in 2018-19, while Hewlett-Woodmere, Uniondale and Remsenburg-Speonk will receive increases of more than 10 percent.

Not all the extra money went to school districts to spend as they choose, however.

An additional $75 million was allotted statewide for independently run charter schools which, like traditional public systems, charge no tuition but collect money from local districts according to how many students they attract from those locales. Also, there was a $50 million increase for competitive grants to districts covering such programs as pre-kindergarten, mental health counseling and gang prevention.

One new school policy adopted as part of Friday’s package has divided educators.

Under the statutory change, school systems throughout the state eventually will be required to report per-pupil spending by school, rather than on the traditional districtwide level. Districts face losing increases in state aid if they do not submit reports as required.

Cuomo and other supporters of the new rules said the change will be especially helpful in discovering whether schools serving poor urban neighborhoods are shortchanged. Opponents, including many suburban school officials, counter that the new system is unnecessary in their communities and likely to generate data confusing to the public.

“This is just adding another layer of complexity to the budget process,” said Lorraine Deller, executive director of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association, who added that she was surprised by the statute’s adoption. “We see no benefit to the voting public.”

By John Hildebrand

john.hildebrand@newsday.com,kathy.diamond@newsday.com@johnhnewsday,

John Hildebrand is Newsday's senior education writer and has covered school news and policy issues affecting Long Island for more than 40 years.