By Stephanie Mariel Petrellese

The proposed 2009-10 school budget will include a net reduction of almost five full-time equivalent teaching positions, announced Superintendent of Schools Dr. Robert Feirsen at a Garden City Board of Education meeting on Tuesday evening. He emphasized that class size guidelines will not change.

The announcement came during Dr. Feirsen's presentation on the proposed instructional component of the budget, which comprises the largest portion with a total of $69,977,859 or 73.4 percent. "We tried to be very prudent and recognize the fiscal climate," he said. "Usually it's a lot more complex. But this year it's very modest."

Dr. Feirsen recommends adding one full-time equivalent position in special education, most likely at the primary level, and reserving one FTE position in case of a potential enrollment increase. However, he suggests several reductions that equate to a net reduction of 4.9 full-time equivalent positions: teaching staff at the elementary schools would be reduced by four due to enrollment decreases, teaching staff at the high school would be reduced by 2.5 when electives with low enrollments are removed from the schedule and a technology staff developer position would be reduced to .4.

At Stratford, Dr. Feirsen proposes adding a .5 FTE nurse but reducing a nurse's secretary position from 1 to .5 so there will be no significant impact on the budget.

If the current proposed budget is passed, the district will spend $14,662 per pupil, which is just four dollars higher than the lowest amount when compared with 11 other districts in Nassau County with residents in a similar income bracket: Jericho, Locust Valley, Great Neck, Manhasset, North Shore, Roslyn, East Williston, Syosset, Port Washington, Rockville Centre and Herricks. With $14,658 allotted per pupil, Herricks is the only district in this group that spends less than Garden City.

This comparison is done every year to show residents that they are getting a comparable level of quality for less money. In Nassau County, Garden City is ranked eighth in wealth by the state and 31st in per pupil spending.

When class 1 tax rates are compared to other districts in Nassau County, Garden City ranked 45th with a rate of $371,185 in 2008-09. Levittown has the highest tax rate, totaling $696,743.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Robert Feirsen's proposed budget is $95,340,587, which is .88 percent higher than last year. The projected tax levy increase (with STAR) is 2.48 percent. Dr. Feirsen emphasized that the budget is still a work in progress. The tax levy increase in particular is expected to change since the amount of state aid the district will receive has yet to be determined.

A budget work session scheduled to be held on March 3rd at 8:15 p.m. at the high school will cover other instructional components including Pupil Personnel Services (PPS includes special education as well as health, guidance, psychological and social work services, speech and hearing services, home instruction and adaptive physical education), computer education, continuing education, summer school and interscholastic athletics. Even though it is a work session where public participation is usually not permitted, when it comes to the budget the school board has been allowing time to address public questions and comments.

A public hearing on the budget will be held on Monday, May 11. Garden City residents will be asked to vote on the budget on Tuesday, May 19. For a complete list of budget sessions, visit www.gardencity.k12.ny.us.