Schools

WHB School Budget Talks Commence

School Board starts budget process with an eye toward reducing costs.

The Westhampton Beach School Board meeting on Monday night kicked-off the first in a series of upcoming discussions on the proposed 2011-2012 school budget.

Prior to commencing the first budget talk, Superintendent Lynn Schwartz told the board and public to keep in mind that the budget is constantly “evolving.”

He said, “This is the first presentation and the budget will continue to evolve until we are ready to recommend a total K-12 budget.”

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First up to talk numbers with the board was High School Principal Chris Herr.

In presenting the high school’s portion of the budget, Herr told the board that his budget will come in 10.8 percent lower than the previous year.

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Herr said he managed to reduce his budget largely through a decrease in the textbook line of his budget; the need for English texts is down 73 percent and math books 67 percent.

The budget also represents, he said, increased AP course offerings, including those in psychology and math.

School Board President Aram Terchunian commended Herr and said, “Good job with the scalpel.”

The next budget lines to be presented were Transportation and BOCES.

According to Kathleen O’Hara, assistant superintendent of finance, the district is looking at a six percent increase in transportation, which translates to a $58,000 increase over the last budget.

In discussing the BOCES budget she said the line is expected to increase by 3.7 percent.

Between transportation and BOCES, the district will need to budget an additional 90,000, which represents three percent of the entire budget, according to O’Hara.

While the Transportation and BOCES lines are on an upward spiral, the Adult and Continuing Education Budget, according to Mike Radday, assistant superintendent, will remain the same as it did last year.

“We will stay at a flat zero and hope to continue the same adult services we have had,” said Radday.

Radday was questioned by board members about possibly increasing fees for the adult programs offered; however, Radday argued that he feels that less people would then enroll in the program.

On average 200 to 300 people register for continuing education programs each semester, according to Radday.

Superintendent Schwartz says the board intends on having at least four more budget discussions as a group prior to a May 9 budget hearing and 

subsequent vote on May 17.

It is anticipated, said O’Hara that there will be an overall budget increase, given a decrease in state-aid and expected increases in salary and retirement fund budget lines.

O’Hara said she could not yet comment on how much that increase will be.

WHB Looks to Meet New Special Education Guidelines

In other school board news, a presentation to the school board by Mary Ann Ambrosini, director of pupil personnel services, indicated that the school district is close to meeting a set of new state standards for developing Individual Education Programs for Special Education students.

According to Ambrosini, the district, in order to comply with the new state regulation, has been working to educate and instruct teachers on the new IEP format, which is similar to what the district has already been doing.

“There are a number of changes, but basically it is the format that has changed,” said Ambrosini.

According to Ambrosini, IEPs must be created for every special education student in the district on an annual basis.

“We have finished training on the high school and middle school levels and are working on the elementary school. The annual reviews are already underway and I am confident we will meet the challenges,” Ambrosini said.

In addition, to the new training for IEP’s, Ambrosini said her office will be holding a workshop for the community on March 22 to educate parents about the new IEP reports.  For further information, on the workshop, visit the district’s website.

Guys and Dolls

Superintendent Schwartz sent out a message to the community to attend the Westhampton Beach High School’s production of Guys and Dolls, which will be performed on March 3, 4 and 5 at 7:30 p.m. and on March 6 at 2 p.m.

The performance is free.

 Wrestler Recognized

The Westhampton Beach School board recognized varsity wrestler and high school student Conner Bass for placing 5th in the recent State Wrestling Tournament.

There were 20 wrestlers competing in the competition.

To make it to the state championships, Bass first placed in the Suffolk County Championship. There, he came in second place.


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