School district talks budget
It is nothing but positive news in this year’s budget plan in the Farmingdale School District. Farmingdale, School Superintendent, John Lorentz said that the district tax levy came in at 2.35% which is below the district limit of 2.96%.
“We worked with the community and were able to come in slightly below the cap,” said Lorentz. “This is good news as we will be able to continue the programs in the district and not make any staff or teacher reductions.”
The district is also using its Proposition 2 Ballot, which does not affect the tax levy, to use capital reserves for a district wide window project. The project calls for the replacement and renovation of windows in all of the districts major schools. It is a three phase project.
“The High School’s windows were the first ones to be completed,” said Superintendent Lorentz. “Currently we are working on Howitt Middle School and Albany Avenue Elementary School. After those schools are completed we will work on Northside and Woodward Parkway.”
The district has saved enough money in its Capital Renovations fund to pay for its Energy Performance Contract which is not budget related. The contract, which is also of no cost to the taxpayer, includes two main areas, the school’s lighting and heating controls.
“With the high cost of energy this contract is hugely beneficial from a community standpoint,” said Lorentz. “It will allow us to save an estimated annual cost of $825,000 on our utility bills. Environmentally we are also setting our carbon footprint.”
State Standardized testing is currently underway in the district and students are studying hard. The redesigned and tougher tests given to Third through Eighth graders, are intended to align with ‘Common Core Standards,’ a set of unified academic guidelines adopted by almost every state.
“We are spending a lot of time focusing on these tests,” said Lorentz. “We are looking forward to the results which will be announced in the Summer.”
