ImPORTant Updates: School Board Meeting – March 4th – Special Budget Meeting

Photo+Credit%3A++Michael+Puglisi

Photo Credit: Michael Puglisi

Michael Puglisi, Contributor

The school board has recently been meeting on a weekly (as opposed to their usual biweekly) basis to discuss, piece by piece, the upcoming school budget. This night focused on instruction, technology, and BOCES.

 

But before discussing the budget, they host a public hearing on a property tax law exemption for the elderly and disabled. This exemption will help to combat rising amounts of taxes on account of inflation. This is already the policy of the Town of Huntington, and they noted that some towns nearby did not have an official policy memorializing it.  No public comments were made, and the meeting moved on to the budget portion.

 

Superintendent Banzer started the budget meeting with a presentation over viewing this portion of the budget. This particular portion of the budget has increased 2.75% over last year. Chromebook distribution is continuing, with them being rolled out at the rest of the high school, and in grades 3-5. The robotics and CAD computers are being replaced, and school servers are being replaced.

 

The art department is acquiring a kiln and a high resolution printer, and the music department is getting a new drumline for the high school band. The sports department is getting new lacrosse goals, scoring and signage, and a few multi-purpose exercise machines. The auditorium restoration at the high school will be completed with the addition of a new speaker system. The football and lacrosse teams will also be getting new helmets.

 

AEDs are being replaced, and the high school counseling library is being increased in size. They are creating new flexible learning furniture for the high school. If you’ve noticed the rolling chairs in the social studies classrooms at the high school, that will become more of prevalent, with 5 classrooms being outfitted with them. There will also be a flexible learning space at each elementary.

 

The district is also planning to enact a pupil capacity study, showing data on how many students are attending each school, and what programs are popular and which ones are not. This study would be designed to answer questions from the board and students. Dr. Boshnack, who will be helping in this study, says that this study will take about a year. A similar study was done 5 years ago, and it is still available on the district website.

 

After Banzer’s presentation, the board members went through the budget, asking questions when something needed explaining.

The board then moved the personnel action report, a corrective action report, and a meeting schedule for next year. One of the meeting dates was changed to merit better attendance. Then an internal and external audit report and a few financial matters were approved. Then the boards approved the two policies addressed in public forum earlier in the meeting, and the meeting was adjourned. However, the superintendent urged everyone to attend Jim Gaughran’s LIPA town hall.