Long Island back-to-school primer

SCHOOL OPENINGS

Eighty-eight Long Island districts start classes Tuesday, followed by 25 Wednesday, according to regional BOCES offices. Six more districts open Monday. There were five pre-Labor Day openings last week.

ENROLLMENTS

Public school enrollments in grades K-12 are expected to drop nine-tenths of a percent from last year, to 453,102. This continues a gradual decline that began five years ago. Demographers at Western Suffolk BOCES expect the trend to accelerate, with an additional 2.4 percent loss of enrollment over the next three years.

DISTRICT FINANCES

All Island districts open the year with voter-approved budgets. Most districts have held spending hikes to near-record lows, in response to a sagging economy and surprisingly large cuts in state financial aid.

TEACHER CONTRACTS

No strikes or other job actions are expected on opening days, according to regional representatives of the New York State United Teachers union. Sag Harbor and South Country are starting their third year without renewed teacher contracts, while teachers in four other districts and the Riverhead Charter School are entering their second year without agreements. Teachers in 13 districts had contracts expire in June.