With the support of state aid funding increases, the Board of Education’s proposed 2015-16 budget is at the 2.52 percent allowable tax levy cap.
Highlights include:
• Offering all elementary sections within class size guidelines—enrollment remains stable.
• Adding two elementary math specialist teaching positions enabling Munsey Park and Shelter Rock to each have two full-time math specialists.
• Maintaining or lowering current class sizes in most secondary school core instructional programs as enrollment continues to grow at the high school level.
• Providing additional high school academic opportunities in new course offerings/electives for students including: advanced creative writing, journalism, Latin I, Mandarin Chinese I, combined French IV/V, multivariable calculus, AP computer science and accounting.
• Providing more high school academic opportunities for students by adding sections in existing courses including: AP studio art, architectural drawing, drawing I/II, electronic keyboarding, introduction to business, AP environmental science, forensics, criminal civil law, and introduction to psychology.
• Adding sections for each of the respective support classes, while maintaining the high school inclusion model to more appropriately support all students as they encounter the increased rigor of Common Core standards with one additional section, due to enrollment growth: English 9R, English 10R, English 11R, global 9R, global 10R, U.S. history 11R, living environment, earth science, algebra, geometry and algebra 2/trigonometry.
• Restructuring middle school inclusion to better meet the rigors of the Common Core standards—moving to an integrated co-teaching model with both the regular education teacher and special education teacher subject-certified in English 7, English 8, social studies 7, social studies 8, math 7, math 8, science 7 and living environment inclusion classrooms, with the special education teacher also teaching support classes.
• Adding English as a New Language (ENL) teachers at the elementary and secondary level as mandated by the implementation of Part 154 of the New York State Commissioner’s Regulations for all public school districts throughout New York State.
• Adding sections of living environment Regents to meet the needs of virtually all eighth grade students who will now take living environment as part of the district’s secondary science initiative.
• Purchasing Chromebooks and equipment in conjunction with the Tower Foundation’s “Digitizing the English Classroom Experience.” In addition, maintaining the district’s instructional technology and infrastructure equipment rotation.
• Continuing to offer the current K-12 music program, which includes the restoration of fourth grade band and orchestra programs, elementary jazz ensemble and chamber chorus.
• Continuing to offer the current level of club opportunities in the elementary and secondary extracurricular program.
• Continuing to provide the current level of team offerings in the middle school, junior varsity and varsity, which includes the addition of three coaches for the middle school winter I track team which 100 student-athletes participated.
• Offering intramural athletics at the middle school level.
• Restoring the district’s financial support to both the Manhasset Coalition Against Substance Abuse and the Parent Child Home Program, which benefits economically disadvantaged children between the ages of one and a half and three years old.
The goal of the BOE’s proposed budget is to continue to restore and to rebuild aspects of the “4 A’s”—Academics, Arts, Athletics and Activities—that were negatively impacted by the 2013-14 budget votes.
For more information on the 2015-16 budget process go to www.manhassetschools.org. The budget hearing is scheduled for Thursday, May 7 at 8 p.m. at the secondary school. The budget vote is Tuesday, May 19 from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. at the high school gym.
—Submitted by Manhasset School District
