It was another busy week in our school district and once again I had the opportunity to witness more “firsts” of my East Williston tenure.
On Wednesday I attended the induction of 114 students into the Wheatley Chapter of the National Honor Society; approximately two-thirds of the junior class were inducted! Congratulations to the students, their families and the school staff for achieving this special student recognition.
Wheatley Musical
One of the many aspects that makes the East Williston School District special is the range of opportunities available to students. These different opportunities enable students to develop and be recognized for their individual talents. On Nov. 15, 16 and 17 at 7:30 p.m. the Wheatley Theatre Company will present a production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at the Wheatley Auditorium.
This one-act musical comedy is about six quirky adolescents competing in a spelling bee run by three equally quirky adults.
The musical, which had a successful run Off Broadway, is very popular and still widely produced throughout the country.
You can purchase tickets to Wheatley’s performances on our website at www.ewsdonline.org (see news box) or by calling 516-336-9333. Don’t forget to make your reservations.
Senior citizens are the district’s guests at this event and admission is free for you; but please call the number above or email digennarol@ewsdonline.org to reserve your seat!
Tax Bills
You may have recently seen a television report or read in the newspaper that there was an unexpectedly large rise in the property tax bills that some Nassau County residents received, including some of our district residents.
This may be confusing and particularly upsetting to those residents since they expected a small rise in property taxes this year due to the New York State property tax levy cap enacted by our state government last year.
The East Williston School District, like most other Nassau County school districts, stayed within the mandated limit of the tax levy cap for the 2012-13 school budget.
In fact, East Williston’s tax levy increase of 2.6 percent was the lowest in 20 years.
So why did some residents’ property taxes increase by a higher percentage? (The tax levy is the amount of money needed to be collected by the county based upon the voter approved budget less district revenues.)
Each year school districts in Nassau County report their tax levy to the county. It is the county assessor who determines how much of the levy each individual taxpayer will pay, with no involvement from the school districts.
In Nassau County there are four classes of property that the levy comes from: (i) single family homes, (ii) apartments and condominiums, (iii) utility company properties and (iv) commercial properties (e.g. factories, offices, stores).
Initially the county determines what proportion of the levy each class of properties will pay. This is called the adjusted base proportion. This year, Class 1 (single family homes) properties’ levy share increased.
Additionally, the county reassesses individual homes annually. This year, some home assessments decreased resulting in these homeowners being responsible for a lower share of the tax levy. As a result, other homeowners (in Class 1) may have to pay a larger share of the tax levy, as determined by the county.
The district finds this challenging as the Board of Education and administrators worked, along with community input, to create a low budget and low tax levy for this 2012-13 school year.
If you have any questions or would like some further support in understanding this complex situation, please do not hesitate to give me a call or to contact Jacqueline Fitzpatrick, assistant superintendent for business in the district office. Ms. Fitzpatrick will also give a brief presentation on this topic as part of the Superintendent’s Report at the Oct. 22 board of education meeting at 8:00 p.m. in the Wheatley Auditorium.
If your tax bill differs significantly from East Williston School District’s 2.6 percent change in tax levy for this school year, you may wish to call the Nassau County Department of Assessment at 516-571-1500 or contact the department at www.nassaucountryny.gov/agencies/Assessor.
Strategic Planning Update
As you are aware by now, the district is embarking on a five-year strategic planning initiative. Identification of key goals and planning for funding these initiatives will result from this process. It is important that all of the community be involved in creating a shared vision to guide decision making and budgeting over the next several years.
On Dec. 5 at 7:30 p.m. we will be holding a Strategic Planning Community Forum which will be the first of several opportunities for you to give us your input into district priorities and suggest ideas.
More information to come, but mark your calendars now for this date that will involve small roundtable discussions where people can be comfortable sharing ideas without having to speak in front of a large forum. A summary of roundtable ideas will be shared afterward.
In the meantime, and always, if you have thoughts and ideas to share about the East Williston School District, things that work well and initiatives to continue to grow our district in the future, always feel free to email me at kanase@ewsdonline.org or call 516-333-3758. I will be sure to add them to the ideas being gathered.
In this busy world, with many family and work obligations, it is not always easy to juggle a myriad of time demands and add new activities to an already busy schedule. We are fortunate in the East Williston school community to have a diverse community of members with different strengths, from different backgrounds. Embarking on this strategic planning initiative, a key goal is to make sure that we try to include everyone in the process. If you have suggestions for how to reach out to various groups in the community, or ways to provide opportunity for input, please share these ideas.
District Goals
The 2012-13 District Goals that I mentioned in my last weekly newsletter have been posted on the district website. You can view by going to the District tab and clicking on About Our District. Scan the navigation bar in red on the left and click on District Goals.
Upcoming Board Meeting – Oct. 22 at 8:00 p.m.- The Wheatley School Auditorium
The Board of Education Meeting will include the second reading of the new Code of Conduct (revised to align with the newly adopted New York State Dignity for All Students Act).
Have a good weekend!
As always, please email me at kanase@ewsdonline.org or call 333-3782 with any questions, comments or suggestions.
