Elmont residents debate school budget

A sharply divided crowd of more than 250 residents and school employees at an Elmont elementary school Tuesday night debated the district's $77.59 million budget proposal, which already was reduced by nearly $1 million, but needs voter approval to override the state's tax cap.

The revised budget proposal would raise spending 1.49 percent and tax collections 4.9 percent -- higher than the 1.89 percent limit set by state formula. The original budget, which failed to gain a required 60 percent supermajority in the May 15 vote, would have increased spending 2.76 percent and taxes 6.87 percent.

Most audience members in the gym of Dutch Broadway Elementary School applauded when Cherry Redhead, PTA president at the district's Alden Terrace School, issued an emotional warning of what could be lost if the budget fails to pass on a second vote.

"There will be no full-day kindergarten. We will lose teachers and much more," the parent leader said.

But there was applause, too, when Virginia Amato, an Elmont resident of more than 50 years, spoke of the increasing difficulty many face in paying school taxes.

"A lot of people are out of work in this district," said Amato, who added that she has been without health insurance since she lost her job as a human relations manager for a firm that went out of business.

Superintendent Al Harper, in a message posted on the district's website before the meeting, said the reduced budget eliminates summer academic and enrichment programs, defers window replacements and other capital improvements, and reduces purchases of supplies and support services.

Harper added that failure to pass the budget on a second vote would affect full-day kindergarten and class sizes, and reduce pupil transportation, field trips and equipment purchases. In addition, the superintendent said, the district would be required to charge fees to local sports and youth organizations to use its facilities.

"Our school district is at a crossroads," said Harper, who urged residents to learn more about the proposed budget and vote next Tuesday.

The key question is whether Elmont -- the only Long Island district seeking to exceed the tax cap on a revote -- can muster the 60 percent approval required by the state's new tax-cap law. The original vote was nearly 57 percent favorable, not enough to win passage.

Budget supporters, including leaders of local youth groups, have promised a Saturday rally as part of a get-out-the-vote campaign. On the other side, some residents who criticized the district's original budget at a May 31 public forum have declared since then that they oppose the revamped spending plan as well."It's going to be close," said Pat Nicolosi, an Elmont library board vice president and frequent critic of the school system.Elmont, an elementary district on the Nassau-Queens border, has an enrollment of about 3,700 students and is one of the Island's most racially and ethnically diverse. There is little commercial property, so taxes fall mostly on local homes.