Board of Education Discusses Tax Rate

The Sayville Board of Education discussed the setting of the tax rate at its Sept. 8 meeting. While voters approved the school district’s 7.39 percent tax levy last year, a decline in property value and a shift in property allocation left the school district with excess funds.

Superintendent Dr. Walter Schartner offered three scenarios for setting the tax rate. Due to the shift, the board could set the Homestead tax rate at 5.91 percent, leaving non-Homestead at 12.75 percent. Another option was to keep the 7.39 percent levy originally voted on and approved, leaving the district with an extra $800,000 and raising the non-Homestead tax rate by 14.34. The last scenario, which Schartner recommended, was a compromise between the two. The 6.65 percent increase in residential and the 13.55 increase in commercial tax levies will leave the district with an excess of $380,000. Discussions had most board members learning toward option three but it will be finalized at the Sept. 15 meeting by resolution.

“This will help to offset some of our losses moving forward; keep in mind that we will be losing $550,000 in federal money in 2012-2013,” Schartner said.

The first day of school went smoothly, Schartner told the board after visiting all the buildings. “It’s really a tribute to our teachers and their level of planning,” he said. “The kids hit the ground running and the staff did a phenomenal job. It was like I was visiting the schools in May.”

The board discussed the issue of class sizes this year, and how going back to a shared area may help to provide some balance between the elementary schools. “We could easily cut out four positions next year if we balance out the numbers,” Schartner said. “We are going to be a difficult situation when we talk budget for next year.” However, Board of Education president Raymond Nelson added, “There is a reason why we went away from the shared area. I think going back to shared area is just a knee jerk reaction to the class size issue.”

Other notable happenings included:

• Grading dates have been set. April 27 will be the ELA grading and May 2 will be the math assessment grading.
• The transportation policy has caused some upset parents this week. While students in kindergarten through second grade get a bus if they live more than a half mile from the school, the distance goes up to a mile for third to fifth graders (grades six to 12 is a mile and a half). Assistant Superintendent John Belmonte said he has actually gone and measured the distance over the last few days. The buses haven’t been crowded so far this year, but he will get a better indication of numbers next month when they do physical counts of busers.
• Senator Lee Zeldin was able to secure a grant for the district for $40,625. The money will be used for additional clicker student response systems in Lincoln Avenue and Cherry Avenue as well as the purchase of three iPad carts (each containing 10 iPads). Each elementary school will receive a cart which also includes printers, wireless and charging stations.
• The district was pretty lucky overall when it came to damage inflicted by Hurricane Irene, Belmonte said. There were a few downed trees and ornamental tree were damaged at Sunrise Drive. “Probably the most damage occurred at the high school,” Belmonte said. “The large tree downed in front of the auditorium had to be professionally removed. There was also an electrical surge that took place, which caused a minor fire in one of the high school classrooms.” Overall the district suffered a $12,000 loss.  
• Belmonte also offered an update on construction throughout the schools. There are still projects happening at all schools after hours and on the weekends. Cherry Avenue is close to completion and the Lincoln Avenue projects are also coming to a close. The administration building is getting new windows and HVAC units. The Garfield Avenue project has just been put out to bid and a recommendation will be proposed by Oct. 13, Belmonte said.