Huntington urged to trim school fat

Parents, students and residents came to a Huntington School Board meeting Monday night to offer ideas on how to refine a 2011-12 budget that is acceptable to the entire community.

Ideas ranged from fundraising to pay for extracurricular activities, using volunteers to replace extracurricular staffers, cuts to administrative staff and an austerity budget.

"Everything is on the table," school board president Bill Dwyer said in the meeting at the Jack Abrams School in Huntington Station. Last week the board advised administrators to come back with a draft budget for 2011-12 with a 3.5 percent tax increase.

At the meeting, Assistant Superintendent Dave Grackin said a 3.5 percent tax increase would amount to a budget of $108.7 million. In that scenario, at least 47 full-time instructional employees could be lost, along with at least 58 non-instructional full-time employees.

But Superintendent John Finello stressed that any job cuts would depend on which educational programs are cut.

A draft budget is set to be presented at the March 28 board meeting.