East Williston school district principals presented the proposed budgets for their respective schools at the Board of Education meeting on Monday, and one of the schools is projecting a decrease in spending over this year.
North Side Principal Stephen Kimmel said his proposed budget of $6,743,661 is a 2.4 percent decrease over the current $6.9 million budget and includes an 11.9 percent decrease in program spending next year.
Kimmel said he is expecting about 416 students across 18 sections at North Side School, including about 135 fifth graders new to the middle school.
Kimmel said the social studies budget is expected to be cut in half, dropping from $20,155 to $10,052, because the curriculum software subscription does not have to be paid this year.
Kimmel also projected a 5 percent decrease to $13,375 in English, a 5.5 percent increase to $1,900 in foreign language for new software and a 12.5 percent increase to $13,030 in mathematics for workbooks and textbook replacements.
The special education budget is projected to increase by 74 percent, from $5,720 to $3,290 to purchase new software and supplies for the department.
North Side School’s projected $8,641,095 budget for 2018-19 shows a 2.03 percent increase over the $8.46 million this year, Principal James Bloomgarden said.
Bloomgarden said he expects about 578 students across 27 sections in the five grades at North Side School with an average class size of 21.4.
The second-grade class size is projected to be the smallest at about 19.5 students per section, and the fourth grade is projected at the highest with 24 students.
While the school’s overall budget is projected to increase, the cost for programs is set to decrease by 2.53 percent to $309,967.
Bloomgarden said the science department budget is projected to increase by 27.7 percent to $20,883 and the social studies department budget is projected to increase by 41.5 percent to $14,083 for new supplies for each.
The language arts budget, however, is projected to decrease by 25.4 percent to $18,493 because less new materials are needed for the upcoming year.
At The Wheatley School, Principal Sean Feeney said his projected overall budget of $12,272,696 would be a 1.44 percent increase over the current budget but also projected a 5.51 percent decrease in program spending.
Feeney said he expects about 704 students at the high school next year, a decrease from the current 735 students.
In English, Feeney said he has projected a 17.5 average student class size, a 20.3 average for world languages, a 17.6 average for math, a 20.6 average for science and a 17.3 average for social studies.
In the program budget, Feeney said he projected a 42.16 percent increase in industrial technology for new television station cameras and supplies for the program.
Health, business, health services, psychological services and the foreign exchange budget are all expected to stay flat.
Feeney said about 21 percent of the program budget is dedicated to core academics, while 16 percent is for instructional needs and 12.7 percent for library and audiovisual needs.
