Parents oppose 2 W. Islip school closings

Parents concerned about potentially overcrowded classrooms if a plan to close two of six elementary schools in West Islip goes through made their opposition known at a school board meeting Thursday night.

Faced with a $6 million budget gap and declining enrollment, West Islip School Board members are considering closing the two campuses in response to Superintendent Richard Simon's recommendation in a Nov. 29 letter to the board.

Simon had said some elementary schools are only half full. He also suggested that the district consider consolidating its two middle schools into one in the next few years.

The school board will reveal the two schools Jan. 12 at a board meeting.

About 100 people filled half of an auditorium at West Islip High School for Thursday night's school board meeting. Several parents said they were concerned closing the two schools would mean overcrowding and larger class sizes. By 9:45 parents approached the podium to address the board on the issue.

"It is unjust for the burden to fall upon the shoulders of our youngest students," Andrea Gebler, 42, the mother of a third grader at Oquenock Elementary School, told the board.

Before the meeting, several parents gathered to discuss their concerns.

"He's going to get lost in there," said Renee Steck, 40, a mother of four, referring to one of her children who attends Oquenock. "It's unfair to the teachers and the students."

Currently, the district has six elementary schools, two middle schools and a high school. The elementary schools serve kindergartners through fifth-graders. Its middle schools serve grades six through eight and the high school serves grades nine through 12.

The district -- which has 5,100 students -- laid off 35 workers last year, including five administrators, 20 teachers, 10 support staff and other jobs. It also cut programs and reduced library hours to save money.

Simon said in order to keep taxes under the 2 percent property-tax cap that New York State lawmakers passed in June, the district, which has a $107 million budget, needs to trim $6 million. He said the school-closure plan would save the district $2.5 million to $3 million. Simon made the recommendation because it will allow the same school structure. "I thought that was the least disruptive," Simon said, explaining his recommendation.

State lawmakers limit property tax increases at 2 percent a year or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower, to cut the burden of property taxes, which are among the highest in the nation on Long Island.