How four LI families voted in school elections

Although schools serve as one of Long Island’s few unifying threads, opinions about them are anything but uniform. Some people who voted against budgets in last Tuesday’s annual election are nevertheless strong supporters of their schools. Others, who voted in favor of the budgets, all but held their noses as they voted. They want the best for their children — doesn’t everyone? — but also wonder why it all needs to cost so much. With the election smoke cleared, Newsday spoke to parents about the big vote, and their schools.

Alison & Tim Mummer | Port Washington

Voted for the budget, which passed

Twin boys entering full-day kindergarten in the district in the fall

With her twin boys entering kindergarten at John Philip Sousa Elementary School in the fall, Alison Mummers wanted to make sure that the Port Washington school budget passed. She didn’t want the full-day kindergarten cut to half day, and she didn’t want busing reduced, either.

“Because they are entering kindergarten, I didn’t want to see the services cut,” said Mummers, 38.

It was the highly regarded Port Washington school district that attracted Alison and her husband, Tim, a vice president of technology at a Manhattan media company, to move to Port Washington from Forest Hills in 2001. Her sons, Tobey and Rigel, are ready for kindergarten at the K-5 school, she said. The Port Washington district had proposed a budget of $127 million for the 2010-11 school year, which included a tax increase of 1.94 percent. Taxes on the average home assessed at $2,387 increased to an estimated $10,352. Mummers said she would like to see more spent in the classroom.

“I don’t think the school has enough money,” she said. “It is sad that an entire elementary school shares 16 laptops.” She would also like to see the district offer physical education classes every day and add teachers and aides. But she is also conscious of costs.

“Obviously, I would rather pay less in all taxes, not just school taxes,” she said. She also says that a defeated school budget could also influence property values in Port Washington.

“If the school district would go down the tubes,” she added, “it would make it a less desirable place to live.”

Tatiana & Frank Labate | Commack district

Voted for the budget, which passed

One son graduated from Commack High; another is a freshman there; and their daughter attends St. Anthony’s High School in South Huntington

Dix Hills residents Frank and Tatiana Labate have a child in private school, but they consider themselves big fans of the public schools. Both supported Commack’s $160-million budget.

“We think the Commack education is great. We haven’t seen any programs that are better, and we do know,” said Frank Labate, 48, a Nassau County police officer. “What makes it difficult we had to pay for St. Anthony’s and Commack is such a bargain.”

The couple’s eldest, Frankie, 19, is in the pre-med program at the University of Delaware. Tatiana Labate, a part-time office manager, said he received 23 college credits while still in high school.

Their daughter Demi, 17, attends St. Anthony’s. Her father said it was her choice as she wanted a “new adventure.” Their youngest son, CJ, 15, is in the ninth grade at Commack High School. As a freshman, CJ won a state wrestling title, which Frank Labate attributes partly to the district having a middle school wrestling program.

“The high school has open mats and they really support their sports year-round, and that is why a ninth-grader became a champion,” said Labate, who also lauded the accessibility parents have with teachers and administrators. “How could a person like myself vote no? And you want to hand this down to the next family . . . to have the same opportunity.”

In a vote of 3,377-2,329, voters approved the budget that raised taxes 3.96 on the average home in Smithtown and Huntington. Taxes on the average Smithtown home will cost $8,737 and $9,193 in Huntington.

Labate said the state and federal government need to properly pay for public education.

“The school district is handcuffed,” he said. “The federal government doesn’t get money to the state. The state doesn’t have a budget on time, but everybody expects the public schools to be perfect.”

Louise Ward | Wyandanch

Declined to say how she voted on the budget, which failed

Two daughters and a son in the district

It was only last winter that a high-school coach told Louise Ward that her younger daughter, a ninth-grader and reliable three-point shooter, represented “the future of Wyandanch basketball.”

But now, the question for daughter Asia Ward Purnell, 14, as well as for her family, is whether Wyandanch basketball itself has a future.

“If you take away sports, you kill the whole community,” said the mother, an electronics assembler.

On Tuesday, Wyandanch’s $57-million school budget, which called for the biggest tax hike on Long Island, was voted down, 236-147. Under the proposed budget, the average house assessed at $2,750 would have paid school taxes of $5,397 — a 13.93 percent increase over the current figure of $4,737.

District officials warn that a second “no” vote next month would mean deep program cuts — including the potential cancellation of all team sports next year. Ward would not say how she voted on May 16, but said she would support a revised budget to be voted on next month if the tax increase is smaller.

In a community where state figures show 45 percent of students live near or below the poverty point, community leaders say that any loss of teams would also translate into a loss of crucial college scholarships — and of student motivation as well.

Ward’s son, Ricky Ward Purnell, 16, expects attendance and grades to drop at Wyandanch Memorial High School, if classmates are left without the inducement of varsity teams.

“They keep their grades at a certain high, so they can play sports,” said Ricky, an 11th-grader who plays varsity football and junior-varsity basketball.

Andrea Ward Purnell, 18, sings soprano in the chorus. During the past four years, she says, choral membership has grown from about 15 students to 45.

But the 12th-grader said she worries about the potential impact of a second budget defeat on the chorus, and on other programs as well.

“Now that it’s good, it could all be taken away,” she said.

— JOHN HILDEBRAND

Jayne McGratty | Garden City

Voted against the budget, which failed

Mother of three children in the district, and one who graduated

A real estate broker who is a graduate of Garden City High School, Jayne McGratty says she appreciates the high quality of the district and considers herself a strong supporter of the schools. But she voted against the budget Tuesday.

She was upset that the budget proposed a tax increase even as the district in recent months canceled middle school Friday recreation nights and other activities.

“It seems like we’re paying more and more for the schools, but getting less,” she said during a break downtown. Her school-age sons — 10, 7 and 6 — are interested in lacrosse and all sorts of activities, she said. Yet she has seen that it’s tough to make the lacrosse team, and the budget doesn’t include teams for those who don’t make the cut.

“There’s no B-team for varsity,” she said, “so my taxes are paying only for teams for the best kids, the elite?”

Garden City voters rejected, 1,662 to 1,459, a budget of $98 million, a 3.21 percent increase. District officials said they couldn’t estimate the effect on taxes for the average home.

McGratty said her clients with young children are eager to move to Garden City because of the schools, and she doesn’t consider the taxes unusually high for New York suburbs. Still, she noted that administrators recently offered to freeze their salaries for next year, yet teachers’ salaries would have continued to rise under the proposed budget, and teachers would continue to get what she calls “incredible” deals on health insurance.

“The rest of us are taking cuts in pay, so they should, too,” she added. Yet McGratty expects to vote for the next budget that the school board proposes.

“Of course I want the budget to pass — I don’t want kids to suffer,” she said. “I just want administrators to put their pencils to the paper and fine-tune the budget.”

— DAVE MARCUS