Residents in the New Hyde Park-Garden City Park School District will vote in Tuesday’s election on a 2020–21 school budget that increases spending by about 2.1 percent. Also on the ballot are incumbent Trustees Tara Notine, currently serving as vice president, and James Reddan, who are running unopposed for re-election.
The voting is being done with absentee ballots because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Notine, a New Hyde Park resident, has served as vice president of the board since July 2016. She was first elected to the board in 2013 to fill the seat previously held by Alan Cooper. Notine won her first full term in 2014.
She has also served in the Manor Oaks PTA.
Reddan is a lifelong Garden City Park resident who works as an engineer for the Town of Hempstead. He has served on the board since October 2014, when former Trustee Patricia Rudd resigned. He won an unopposed bid in 2015 to finish the term.
Reddan has also served as a district representative to the Sewanhaka Central High School District school board.
The proposed budget for 2020–21 is $41,073,250, a 2.21 percent increase over the $40,184,675 2019–20 budget.
The tax levy increase is 2.67 percent, which is within the district’s state-mandated tax cap.
The budget would allow for the continuation of all current instructional programs, the creation of new positions, the purchase of new library furniture and professional development for literacy and technology instruction.
In a letter to voters, Assistant Superintendent for Business Michael Frank said that the budget process is decentralized, meaning that department heads have a role in coming up with the initial budget proposal.
The majority of the budget, approximately 80 percent, goes toward staffing costs, Frank explained. The remaining 20 percent covers materials, supplies, equipment and external contractual obligations such as transportation costs.
The district is reliant on state aid to maintain programs, Frank emphasized. In the past, he said, had it not been for additional state aid allocated to New Hyde Park-Garden City Park, the district would have experienced reductions in staff and therefore potential cuts to programs. This year, school districts across New York face potential cuts of up to 20 percent of their state aid. It remains to be seen how this will impact New Hyde Park-Garden City Park.
