Roslyn school board adopts $102M budget

Laura Cerrone

The Roslyn School District Board of Education last Wednesday approved a $102 million budget for the 2013-14 school year that spared current programs while keeping within the state-mandated tax cap.

The budget represents a 2.63 percent increase from last year, with the district’s tax levy increasing 2.11 percent from $89,050,882 in 2012-13 to $91,050,882.

Roslyn Superintendent of Schools Dan Brenner said in a column released last week that the budget increase was “among the lowest in the area.”

“In fact, over five years, the average increase in the tax levy in Roslyn has been about 1.4 percent,” Brenner said. “This is less than the rate of inflation, and less even than the “tax cap” allows the district to spend. 

Assistant Superintendent for Business Joseph Dragone said Roslyn has the eighth lowest tax levy among the 46 school districts he had surveyed.

“Ironically, in two of the school districts that are lower than us, one of them has 176 children [total], and the other one has 42 children. So I think they may have a little bit more flexibility in their tax levy than we have,” Dragone said.

The district’s total tax levy stands at $91,050,882, and its rate is expected to increase slightly, from $780.86 in 2012-13 to $818.10 for 2013-14, Dragone said.

“We believe it is appropriate for us to take advantage of the financial situation that we’re in, and not burden the taxpayers any more than we need to, and that’s why we’re recommending this,” Dragone said.

“The last few years, I believe, the public has voted over 70 percent to pass the budget,” he said.

According a budget overview, the largest increases in the budget result from teacher and employee retirement pensions, employee health benefits, and workers compensation. 

The tax levy was reduced by the user of reserve funds and the elimination or reassigning of some teachers at the elementary level due to a decrease in enrollment, school officials said.

The public is set to vote on the budget at Roslyn High School on May 21.

Voters will also be asked to approved two propositions.

Proposition 3 asks voters to authorize the board of education to use $4,062,000 from the capital reserve funds that have already been set aside to continue the district’s capital improvement program.  

Proposition 4 voters askes to approve the lease/purchase of five vehicles to replace older vehicles in the district’s fleet that are no longer road-worthy for the transportation of students. In years past, the acquisition of school buses was included as a regular line in the school budget. However, leasing companies now require specific voter approval for such transactions. 

Also on the ballot on May 21 will be election of three trustees on the Board of Education.  Candidates will be chosen for two at large seats, and, due to the resignation of board Trustee Dani Kline, a candidate will be chosen to complete her unexpired term. 

The 2013-14 budget for the Bryant Library will be on the ballot as well.

Budget documents are posted in the Business and Finance section of the Roslyn School District web site (www.roslynschools.org). Voting will take place on Tuesday May 21 from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Roslyn High School. 

To vote, an individual must be a U.S. citizen, 18 year old, a resident of the Roslyn School District for at least 30 days, and registered to vote in advance of election day.  For additional information, please contact the District Clerk at 801-5002.

At the board meeting, six administrators and nine teachers in attendance at the meeting received tenure, including Allison Brown, Dawn Cerrone, Melissa Krieger, Tami Cutler, Maria Favara, Stacie Rosenberg, Tara Berkowitz, Erik Scott, Cherrie Totillo, Thomas Lynch, Susana Rivera, Charlie Windwer, Deb Cooper, and Ashley Raszka.

“This is a milestone, but also a beginning,” Brenner said.

Ken Cerini from Ken Cerini Associates presented the January-March quarterly claims audits. Cerini’s company has reviewed the 1,280 claims and out of that number found only three claims of significant areas of importance.

“Out of a dozen districts our firm looks at, Roslyn is the lowest in significant claims,” Cerini said.

Roslyn resident and parent Jason Bash introduced the idea of incorporating palm trees to the Roslyn High Schools campus. 

Bash’s company, Kokomo Trading LLC, has researched palm trees and found they can withstand cold temperatures and would survive better than most pine and oak trees more common to Roslyn would fare in hurricane winds.

“Palm trees can take hurricanes, that’s what they’re meant to do,” Bash said.

“I noticed that Roslyn likes to separate itself from everybody else, they like to be first, they like to be a leader, and they like to be different – so do I,” Bash added.

Bash said he hopes Roslyn will become the epicenter for palm trees on Long Island, “and not just a sight Long Island snow-birds get to see.”

Share this Article