Locust Valley spending plan debate goes on

Citing the uncertainties surrounding a proposed state property tax cap, the Locust Valley school board agreed Wednesday night to hold a June 21 budget revote, but put off a final decision on the size of that spending plan.

Final budget figures will be cobbled together by the state's June 7 deadline, trustees said.

The district's original $73.9-million budget was narrowly defeated last month -- one of only five budgets rejected on Long Island. The plan would have raised spending by 2.9 percent and property tax collections by 5.81 percent.

Other than that original figure, only one other option was outlined Wednesday night: a 2.4 percent spending increase with a 5.34 percent tax hike. But board members said other options might be considered as well.

In the end, the board decided against approving a whittled-down contingency budget with a 1.68 percent spending increase that would require no public vote.

Trustees decided that the contingency budget could stigmatize their district, even if it might make it easier to deal with an expected state tax cap in the 2012-13 school year.

"There's a black eye in my mind with a contingency," said Jack Dolce, the board president. "People don't want to move into a district with a contingency."

Before last night's meeting, district officials already had agreed to cut 13 teaching positions next year, along with an equal number of nonteaching posts. In addition, seventh-grade and eighth-grade sports teams were to be combined. Dropping to a 2.4 percent spending increase would require a few other modest cuts, such as postponing a bus purchase.

One focal point of debate is Locust Valley High School's International Baccalaureate program, now in its seventh year. The program offers college-level courses and exams, which count heavily in annual rankings once published by Newsweek magazine and, more recently, by The Washington Post. The latest rankings last month place Locust Valley High at No. 8 on Long Island and 139th nationwide.

Nonetheless, some influential residents question costs of the IB program, which includes fees of $92 per exam. George Stimola, 25, a local landscape designer who won election to the board last month, said he hears complaints that some teens cannot keep up with the program's requirements.

Mary Jane Conlon, co-president of the district's Coordinated Parents' Council, said her son passed four IB exams and was granted extensive academic credits when he entered college in 2009.

Votes in three other Long Island communities are planned June 21, while Fishers Island adopted its contingency budget.