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Schools

Local Schools Face Aid Cuts Under Cuomo's Proposed Budget

Southampton, Bridgehampton and Tuckahoe face budget blows.

If Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed executive budget for 2011-12 passes as is, local school districts will see a reduction in state aid amounting to a combined total of more than half a million dollars.

Southampton, Bridgehampton and Tuckahoe school districts are all slated to take a hit, while Sagaponack, a school district in a community , does not receive significant aid from the state.

While the cuts are not devastating when considering the size of each district's annual budget, if they pass they will require some belt tightening, or tax levy increases.

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Members of the state legislature’s Long Island delegation, including the East End's representative in the senate, Kenneth P. LaValle, R-Port Jefferson, have vowed to fight the cuts, but if they will be successful remains to be seen.

The governor's proposal includes a $2.8 billion gap elimination adjustment, which aims to help achieve a balanced budget by reducing school aid based on a formula that considers districts’ wealth, student need, administrative efficiency and property tax burden, according to a release from New York State Homes & Community Renewal.

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“The size of the GEA in part reflects the loss of $1.3 billion in one-time federal funding provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the Education Jobs Fund of 2010,” the release states. “The GEA is partially offset by $305 million of growth in existing expense-based aids such as Building Aid, Transportation Aid and BOCES Aid.”

faces an 11.97 percent, or $315,656, cut in aid, bringing the total amount of annual state aid for Southampton down to $2.3 million. The cut is equal to 0.55 percent of the district’s $57.2 million budget for 2010-11.

“The cuts are severe, but necessary,” said Southampton Superintendent J. Richard Boyes, Ed.D. He said he is a realist and understands that the state just doesn’t have the money to hand out.

“We knew that cuts would be wealth-adjusted, so on that basis I expected a larger percentage cut for Southampton,” he continued. “That's what we got.”

Boyes pointed out that while $315,000 is a lot of money, it only represents about 0.75 percent of the district’s tax levy. He said the district would have to make up for it through cutting out expenses or a tax levy increase.

“We will get through this without decimating student programs or services,” he said, explaining that the school expects several retirements and the staff is being downsized through attrition where possible.

“Remember that this aid package is still a proposal, though I don't expect it to change very much for the better or for Southampton in particular,” Boyes said.

is looking at a cut that represents 0.92 percent of its $10.0 million budget for 2010-11. Aid is slated to be reduced 16.47 percent, or $92,352, to $468,475.

“It is too soon to tell the effect on the tax rate, as we are in the preliminary stages of budget development, but of course these are the types of cuts that usually mean that something must go,” Bridgehampton Superintendent Lois Favre, Ed.D., said Tuesday. Without cuts across the board, it would mean a tax rate increase, she added. “That being said, the administration, budget advisory committee, and the board of education here at Bridgehampton will, once again, work together to deliver the best case scenario to our community and students.”

Favre said she is not ready to discuss what the cuts may be, as the district is still exploring different budget scenarios.

The superintendent said she is pleased with the support of New York’s state senators, local representatives and Eastern Suffolk BOCES, but she expects that the cuts will stick.

“We are certainly not the worst hit in terms of a reduction in funding, which sadly, often seems to hit the most needy of districts,” Favre said.

The governor’s budget proposes a 16.06 percent, or $151,845, cut in Tuckahoe, bringing annual state aid down to $793,800. The cut represents 0.92 percent of ’s $16.5 million budget for 2010-11.

Ed Joseph, the Tuckahoe School business official, said he has no comment on the effect of potential cuts at this time because the district is still preparing its budget and has some months to go. He would say he is optimistic and hopeful that the legislature will vote to give schools some relief from the governor’s proposed cuts.

The state did not provide data for . According to the state education department, Sagaponack received less than $5,000 in miscellaneous state aid in the 2010-11 school year.

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