Schools

BOE to Evaluate School Closing Options

The WI District Study Group's research discussed at meeting Tuesday night.

Superintendent Rick Simon revealed the projected budget for the 2012-13 school year and presented several school closing options in front of a packed crowd at West Islip School Tuesday night during the district's first Study Group Community Hearing.  

Nearly 400 residents, teachers and students attended the highly anticipated meeting where Simon presented the findings the WI Study Group has been researching over the past several months.

The group, which is comprised of 35 teachers, administrators, students, parents and community members, was formed to develop solutions on how the district can reduce expenditures in light of the recently passed two percent property tax cap.

Find out what's happening in West Islipwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Simon explained through a series of PowerPoint slides how the district's enrollment is projected to decrease over the next 10 years and how the 2 percent tax cap will force the district to make economic reductions. 

One of the slides focused on facility utilization, a key topic the Study Group has been keying in on. Currently, seven of the nine schools in the district are utilizing between 50-65 percent of their building capacity (the high school and Manetuck use 71 and 81 percent, respectively).  Simon said he would like to see those numbers be around 80 percent. But the next slide showed how those percentages will be lowered throughout the next 10 years as a result of declining enrollment.

Find out what's happening in West Islipwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Another slide displayed the 2012-13 projected budget of $114,076,570, which is a 6.47 percent increase from the current budget of $107,143,770. The budget also included a tax levy increase of nearly 11 percent.  However, the tax levy limit for the 2012-13 school year is approximately $74,426,770, which leaves the district over the tax cap limit by $6,513,675. 

In the public portion of the meeting, a majority of elementary school parents, particularly from Oquenock, made their pleas to keep the district from closing any schools. Simon responded by saying no school closings have been determined and that the Board of Education will have the final say of which option will work best for the district. A final decision by the board is expected in early 2012.

Simon then went on to explain the closing options discussed by the Study Group.  Below were a few of their options (all can be viewed on the school district website.):

  • Option 1: No elementary school closings which wouldn't save the district any money and continue to use two transitions. This Study Group said this is not a realistic option.
  • Option 2: Close two elementary schools which would save the district between $2.4-$3.2 million and include three transitions. This option is being considered by the study group. 
  • Option 4: Close one elementary school which would save the district between $1.2-$1.6 million and include two transitions. This option is being considered.
  • Option 5: Close one middle school which would save the district between $1.8-$2 million and include two transitions. The structure would consist of five K-6 buildings, one 7-8 building and one 9-12 building. This option is being considered.
  • Option 8: Close two elementary schools which would save the district between $1.8-$2.6 million.  The structure would consist of four K-4 buildings, one 5-6 building, one 7-8 building and one 9-12 building. This option is being considered.

Other news and notes from the meeting:

  • As previously mentioned, enrollment was a big topic of focus.  From 2004-10, Long Island's enrollment decreased 3.4 percent while West Islip's decreased 9.6 percent. Between 2010-13, West Islip's enrollment is projected to decline another 9 percent.
  • In 2010, West Islip School District's total enrollment was 5,307 students.  It's projected to decline steadily throughout the next 10 years and fall to 4,202 in 2020. 
  • Other Long Island school districts considering closing schools are Mineola, Lindenhurst, Smithtown, Sachem, Hungtington and Elwood (merging with another district). 
  • No school has been identified to be closed. 
  • A formal presentation will be made to the Board of Education on Wednesday, November 9, at 7 p.m. at the high school.


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