North Bellmore weighs shuttering school

The North Bellmore school district could shutter one of its six elementary schools because of budget constraints, officials said.

Superintendent Arnold M. Goldstein said he's saddened not only at the prospect of closing a school -- he said he didn't know which -- but because of the layoffs it would bring. It's unclear how many people would lose jobs; at least some teachers would move to other schools.

Parents opposed to the plan have signed online petitions saying the district should search for alternatives, but Goldstein said there may be none. He said the district is slated to lose $450,000 next year in federal funding as state aid remains flat.

The district budget is expected to increase to $50.3 million for 2012-13 school year, rising in part because of pension and health care costs. The increased expenditures come at the same time as a new, 2-percent tax cap. Goldstein said the district needs to cut $1.8 million in expenditures. In addition, North Bellmore's enrollment dropped to 2,133 in 2009-10, down from 2,528 in 2003-04.

Shrinking budgets and fewer pupils have led to the closure of elementaries in the Mineola and Lindenhurst districts.

A committee of school officials and parents is studying the budget and will make a recommendation to the school board. It is mulling a number of options and hopes to reach a decision by December. The panel will have a public meeting Thursday night.

School officials say the district could save more than $1,033,435 by closing one school and keeping the current configuration, kindergarten through sixth grade, at each campus.

Or the district could save $1,436,719 if two schools housed kindergarten through second grade and three others housed third through sixth grade. The district would realize its greatest savings -- $1,553,568 -- by using two schools for kindergarten through second grade, two others for third through fifth grade and one for sixth grade, officials said.

Linda Restivo, 45, has lived in North Bellmore since 1995. Two of her three children have graduated from the district; her youngest is in fifth grade at Jacob Gunther School.

"Splitting by grade . . . that's a lot of transition," she said. "They would be going to a different school every few years." She said she'd like the district to consider "trimming the fat" in other areas, perhaps by cutting administrators.