West Hempstead school budget passes on second vote
West Hempstead Schools Asst. Superintendent for business Joel Press has called tapping into emergency funds irresponsible. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
West Hempstead's trimmed $71.1 million school budget won voter approval on a second try, with 1,239 residents in favor and 1,065 opposed, district officials announced Tuesday night.
The latest polling results meant that all 124 districts on Long Island would go into the 2022-23 school year with spending plans passed. Fiscal years begin July 1.
For West Hempstead, the budget passage in Tuesday’s revote means that the 1,700-student district no longer faces the risk of freezing taxes and raising class sizes, as it did when its original larger spending plan was rejected by voters in May. The budget approval followed the repeated distribution of anonymous handbills by budget opponents.
“Thank you for supporting the school district and the community,” board President Karen Brohm told supporters gathered at West Hempstead Middle School to hear the voting results.
On Sunday, district representatives posted a notice on their website denouncing as "intentional misinformation" a second wave of flyers that had been distributed to local homes the same day. The anonymous leaflets criticized West Hempstead for the size of its cash reserves and for spending hikes in the face of falling enrollments.
"The district presented the facts in its most recent budget presentations to counter this misinformation, yet the anonymous authors of the most recent flyer being circulated have once again chosen to ignore the facts in an effort to mislead the community," the website stated.
School supporters have widely blamed an earlier wave of similar flyers for the defeat of West Hempstead's original budget. The vote was 1,103 to 734.
School leaders emphasized these points, among others, in defending their revised budget:
- The proposal carries a projected 1.5% increase in property taxes — down from an original projection of 2.14%. The current proposal is less than West Hempstead would be allowed to charge under the state's tax-cap law.
- The plan calls for the use of millions of dollars in reserves and fund balances to offset the projected tax levy.
- A second budget defeat would force West Hempstead to freeze taxes and consider larger class sizes, along with cuts in sports and course electives.
- The revised budget supports district programs such as project-based learning, new math, science and career exploration. The plan also earmarks more than $6 million to support services for students attending schools outside the district, including busing and special education.
The latter expense is a major issue in West Hempstead, where an unusually large proportion of students attend private schools. That proportion is 44%, in contrast to a 12% average for Nassau County as a whole.
Parents of students attending private schools have been among the most vocal budget critics, leaving public school supporters anxious over the next vote.
Opponents contended that they saw no reason to pay for increased costs in a district where enrollments have dropped 25% in the past decade. Opponents also noted that West Hempstead holds more than $17.5 million in "fund balances," a term often applied to reserves and equivalent to about 25% of the district's budget. That's similar to the size of school fund balances countywide.
West Hempstead's website stated that the district holds just over $12 million that truly can be considered reserves. Another $2.4 million was being applied to next year's expenses and $3 million to cover emergencies such as roof repairs due to storm damage.
Joel Press, the district's assistant superintendent for business, has said that spending down emergency funds would be "irresponsible."
John Hildebrand is Newsday's senior education writer and has covered school news and policy issues affecting Long Island for more than 40 years.
