School Budget Guide: Facts to Know Before You Vote

Hauppauge residents can to cast their vote on the proposed 2011-2012 school budget and board of education candidates on Tuesday. Let this guide serve as a round-up of the numbers, facts and issues to review before you head out to the polls.

Proposed 2011-2012 school budget

The Hauppauge Board of Education approved a $97.2 million budget for the 2011-2012 school year to go before voters on May 17. This budget increases district spending by $3,151,814, or 3.35 percent increase, over the current year.

Hauppauge School District expects to raise $74.5 million of the budget through the tax levy, while receiving $12.3 million in state aid - $1.4 million less in educational than the current year.

Under the proposed budget, school officials proposed to eliminate 32 staff positions, including 23 teachers and five teaching assistants, cut sports coaches and combine the Hauppauge middle school’s sports teams, and reduce budgets for co-curricular activities.

Teachers

If passed, the 2011-2012 budget calls for the elimination of 23 teaching positions and five teaching assistants, likely resulting in the layoff of 16 teachers and three teaching assistants according the superintendent

Staffing cuts, as apply to specific schools:

• 5 full-time teachers at Hauppauge High School
• 5.8 full-time teachers at Hauppauge Middle School
• 1 librarian between the high school and middle school
• 2 full-time teachers in the elementary schools
• 2.8 special education teachers between the elementary schools

District residents have petitioned school officials to negotiate a with the teachers union, who is in open contract negotiations with the district as their contracts expire June 30. Parents have expressed their concerns over

Sports

Hauppauge school district plans to cut the junior varsity tennis teams. In addition, eight varsity-level assistant coaching positions will be reduced from the boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball and varsity football teams. This will cut the district's sports coaching budget by $74,580 from the current year.

School officials plan to combine the seventh and eighth-grade sports teams at the middle school, saving the district $23,675.

Get a more detailed breakdown of Hauppauge's proposed budget .

If passed, the tax levy...

* - These projected rates are based on the current average home's assessed value in the Town of Islip and Town of Smithtown.

Candidates

Board trustees Susan Hodosky and Pat Lesser are running unopposed for re-election. Read more about the candidates

Voting Information

The polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. at the former Whiporwhil Elementary School, . Voters must be over 18 years of age and live within the Hauppauge school district. Anyone who has registered to vote in a school or general election (local, state, federal) in the past four years can vote without registering.

Hauppauge School District information

• Q&A on the 2011-2012 budget from school officials
• A line-by-line breakdown of the proposed budget
• Public Budget Presentation given on May 10