Middle Country rallies against school cuts

Armed with signs reading "You cut, We Vote," nearly 200 Middle Country Central School District employees, parents and students rallied over the weekend against stiff cuts in state education funding included in Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's recently enacted budget.

The Suffolk County school district is set to lose $9.2 million in state operating funding in the 2011-12 budget, an amount equivalent to 4.4 percent of its entire budget this year.

District teachers recently reached a three-year salary agreement -- including a one-year pay freeze and an 18-month hold on step increases -- allowing officials to maintain all school programs.

Still, without additional aid, the district could exhaust its reserve funds within two years, potentially leading to cuts in sports, music, arts and foreign languages, said Middle Country School Board president Karen Lessler.

"The community needs to come together and say 'we can't tolerate this anymore,' " Lessler said during a rally Saturday on the football field at Centereach High School in Centereach.

A spokesman for the governor did not respond to a request for comment.

Cuomo's budget cuts state school aid by an average of 9.1 percent on Long Island. But Middle Country will be hit harder, with its proportion of state aid declining by 12.5 percent.

The budget cuts are nothing new for the district. Middle Country has faced double-digit decreases in state aid during the past three years. While state funding accounted for more than half of the district's schools budget in 2000, it now covers about a third.