Wantagh Swimmers Rally To Save Their Team at School Board Meeting

Emotions ran high at Thursday night’s Wantagh Board of Education meeting over the potential budget cut of the swim program.

Dozens of Wantagh High School swim team members and alumni packed the town hall style meeting to voice their displeasure that the sport they compete in is on the list of preliminary budget reductions. The swim program is one of many budget cuts the school board is considering in order to come up with a fiscally sound spending plan that will be approved by voters.

Stephanie Robbins, a 2010 Wantagh High School graduate who swam for the Lady Warriors for six years, spoke during the meeting attended by over 200 people about how cutting the swim program next year would be especially devastating to next year’s seniors. “If my senior year of swimming had been taken away I would have been devastated,” said Robbins.

Wantagh Board of Education president Jean Quinn emphasized that the budget is still being worked on and that no final decisions have been made over cutting any programs. She said the reason the swim program is being considered as a cut compared to other sports is the fact that there is no swimming pool at the high school and the district has to transport students to other pools outside of the district. The cost to run the Wantagh swim program is about $55,000, according to district officials.  

The March 24 town hall meeting was so well attended with a standing only crowd packed into rooms 150-152 of Wantagh High School that about an hour into it the forum was moved to the much larger auditorium. While some expressed concerns over proposed reductions, others spoke about the need to keep the budget as low as possible because of taxes already being too high.

Wantagh Superintendent Dr. Lydia Begley explained the challenges being faced in crafting the 2011/12 budget due to the district being projected to lose $2 million in state aid. The preliminary budget presented at Thursday’s meeting would represent a 1.68 percent increase over the current spending plan of $69.2 million.

As a result of the budget challenges facing he district Dr. Begley and other central administrative staff have agreed to take a salary freeze for next year. Some budget eliminations that are in the preliminary budget include the high school tour play, elementary school intramurals, and the part-time elementary supervisor position at held by Anthony Ciuffo, who would remain as a physical education teacher. The seventh and eighth grade athletic teams at would also be combined under the preliminary budget proposal.

Wantagh Assistant Superintendent for Business Dana DiCapua said a 1.68 percent budget increase would equate to an estimated $343 tax increase for an average district home valued at $418,000. Under the 1.68 percent budget increase proposal the tax levy, which is the total amount that a district must raise in property taxes in order to meet expenses, would be 4.71 percent.

If voters rejected Wantagh’s proposed spending plan it would be forced into a contingency budget. Under a contingency budget the budget to budget increase would be 1.92 percent but it would also mean the district would be limited to spending only on bare essential items, which would result in further reductions to equipment, capital expenditures and public use of school buildings and grounds.

Dr. Begley urged residents to contact their state legislators so that they know how important it is for the district to receive more aid from Albany.  A sample letter that residents can send to lawmakers has been posted on the district’s website.

“Nothing is more powerful than your voice,” said Begley in urging people to write letters to their elected officials about state aid cuts.

The Wantagh Board of Education has two planning sessions scheduled for March 31 and April 7. The  proposed budget will be adopted at the school board’s April 14 regular meeting in the Wantagh High School Auditorium.