As neighboring school districts release their 2016-17 budget, Manhasset residents will have to wait till Saturday, March 12 to get a glimpse of the proposed 2016-17 school budget.
School Superintendent Charles Cardillo said it isn’t unusual for the school district to release the draft budget in early March.
Cardillo said initial budget meetings have always been set for Saturdays to “kick off” the unveiling of the budget to residents.
“We’ve been doing this since I joined the school district in 2006,” Cardillo said. “This gives parents and everyone who wants to see what’s contained in the budget an opportunity to come in.”
Roslyn, Williston, and other neighboring school districts have released at least a draft budget for critiques from the board, parents and residents leaving room for tweaking before the May 17 budget votes.
According to Cardillo, releasing the budget at a Saturday work session gives more people an opportunity to actually see what’s in the budget.
The budget review process gives residents a chance to review the schools’ expenditure and get an idea how that impact their property taxes in the coming year, he said.
“We will be having a whole day of work session where anyone can come in and take a look at the budget,” Cardillo said.
After the March 12 unveiling of the school budget, two informal budget hearing will follow at Shelter Rock and Munsey Park elementary schools on March 22 and April 7 at 8 p.m. respectively.
During the Feb. 25 board meeting, Cardillo and board president, Regina Rule urged stakeholders to attend all upcoming meetings.
According to Rule, the new budget, which will be available at the Saturday meeting, includes reduced class sizes for grades K-12 students, an additional elementary math specialist and a new middle school after-school intramural program.
Of the 207 elementary schools in Nassau County in 2013, Munsey Park and Shelter Rock had some of the highest class enrollments.
Rule said the district hopes to get reduced class sizes for K-12 students.
Contained in the budget is also a continued investment in technology and staffing, school officials said.
The education board said at the meeting, it is aiming to rebuild and restore programs which were impacted in 2013 after a proposed 6 percent tax increase was voted down by residents.
The affected programs, which the board is deeming the four “As” includes academics, arts, athletics and activities.
Cardillo said the budget workshop will “present discussions and objectives” on the impending fiscal year.
There will be a budget adoption and BOCES vote on April 19 followed by the budget vote and board elections on Tuesday, May 17 at Manhasset High School’s gymnasium from 6:30 a.m.-10:00 p.m.
