Sullivan West Central School Dsitrict budget proposed

Board president lauded

By FRITZ MAYER

LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY - The next budget for the Sullivan West Central School District, if approved by voters, will see an increase in taxes next year of less than 1.5 percent, but the dollar amount of the budget will actually shrink by about $600,000. In discussing the proposed budget at a school board meeting at the high school in Lake Huntington on April 21, superintendent Dr. Kenneth Hilton said the budget is shrinking because the number of students in the district continues to shrink.

Hilton said, “In the last five years, our student enrollment has declined by 17 percent, and it only makes sense that we can downsize our programs and our staff.” In the 2004-05 school year, enrollment was 1,507 students; in the 2009-10 school year, it is expected to be about 1,250.

The budget for this year and last year was about $33.3 million, while next year’s proposed budget is about $32.8 million. The budget process was made slightly more difficult because some monies that had been promised by the state will not be coming, resulting in a $287,000 shortfall that the district had to make up.

The nine-member board approved the proposed budget unanimously. There will be a public hearing on May 7, and the budget will be up for a vote by district residents on May 19.

Also on May 19, residents will vote on a new school board member. Shawn Sensiba is not running for another term this year, and two candidates, John Reggero and Shannon Bailey, are vying for his seat.

In a sign of how much the mood of the board meetings have changed over the past few years, Richard Sandler, the board president, received the friend of education award from the Sullivan County School Boards Association. In announcing the award, Anna Nieman, the vice president, said that during the years of strife resulting from the 1999 merger of the former Delaware Valley, Jeff-Youngsville and Narrowsburg school districts, Sandler played an important leadership role. Neiman said he was a “voice of reason and civility,” and since becoming president in May 2007, Sandler has helped to restore the public respect of the board.