By Jake Pellegrino
The Roslyn Board of Education heard budget presentations Thursday on the departments of transportation, and physical education, athletics and health for the 2018-19 school year.
The transportation budget is contributing to the $3 million budget increase that the district is expecting, bringing the total budget from $107 million to $110 million next school year.
David Shoob, the district’s transportation supervisor, said the proposed transportation budget, including salaries and equipment, for next school year is $4,704,370. This represents an increase of $247,770, or 5.55 percent.
Shoob said three main reasons for the increase are a rise in the price of fuel, a rise in the number of automotive parts to be purchased and the cost of alternative transportation contracts for the rising number of special needs, private school and homeless students.
The additional funds will also allow for the purchase of three vans and two buses, replacing five older vehicles in the district’s fleet.
Michael Brostowski, director of physical education, athletics and health, said his department is requesting a $1,369,610 budget. This represents a decrease of $42,979 or 3.04 percent.
Brostowski said one reason the budget is expected to decrease is that equipment and supplies were purchased in previous years.
“The items were not needed; we didn’t need to buy scoreboards because we had them already,” he said.
According to Brostowski, the new budget will also allow for the creation of new programs and maintenance of current ones and increase opportunities for participation in athletics and recreation.
Cheerleading and fencing teams will be added, as well as new physical education classes like yoga, CrossFit, and dance. Also, students will soon be able to enjoy a new Friday night recreation program.
“This is going to be an organized and structured program with ample supervision,” Brostowski said. “The program will offer a range of experiences from basketball, table tennis, and badminton. We want to provide a safe, structured environment so that they have a place to go on a Friday night and maybe not go into some bad influences and be on the streets when they could have a place to go.”
Future goals of the department include building the football program, upgrading the school fields and assessing new and existing programs to build programs off of student interest.
The district has several more budget presentations scheduled leading up to the May 15 budget vote, such as one on facilities and technology on March 8, and one on district revenue and the tax levy on April 17.
