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Wyandanch school district business official Idowu Ogundipe at Tuesday night's board...

Wyandanch school district business official Idowu Ogundipe at Tuesday night's board meeting. Credit: Raychel Brightman

The Wyandanch.school district’s top finance administrator said Monday night that the system intended to keep within its state-assigned property tax cap limit next year — a shift from previous statements from other local officials that a cap override was a possibility.

“We intend to stay within the cap,” said Idowu Ogundipe, who took over as a school business official earlier this school year.

Ogundipe added that the district projected a $2.3 million budget deficit for the current 2018-19 year, but was taking steps meant to reduce that amount.

Some school board members and residents at the lightly attended meeting voiced confusion over the budget presentation, and the district’s shifting numbers. Several said they still worried about the potential for a sizable tax hike.

“I’m not confident about anything til it’s done” said Alicia Portwine, the district’s PTA council president.

The district’s timetable calls for adoption of a final budget proposal for voters on April 10.

Mary Jones, superintendent of the 2,700-student system, had stated the district may have to raise property taxes beyond its state-assigned cap during the 2019-20 school year in order to get finances under control.

Any such action, under state law, would require a 60 percent majority vote by district residents during school elections in May. 

James Crawford, president of Wyandanch's school board, had also said last week that lifting the tax cap was a potential step.

District leaders repeatedly have said in recent weeks their primary goal is to avoid any action that would further weaken academic programs. District offerings already lack some features found in most other school systems, such as college-level Advanced Placement courses.

Wyandanch, which is located in northern Babylon Town, is Suffolk County's poorest school system in terms of taxable income and property wealth. Eighty-seven percent of its students are counted as economically disadvantaged.

Until recently this school term, the district had operated on a $71.3 million budget approved by voters last spring. In December, however, a majority of board members agreed to shift about 18 staff positions — a move Jones said would save about $1.2 million. 

Last week, the state Comptroller's Office declared Wyandanch one of five districts statewide facing "significant" fiscal stress. Wyandanch was placed in the same category for 2015-16, but appeared to be recovering somewhat before acknowledging in November that it faced a substantial deficit and lack of cash reserves.

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