I Heard What You Said...But Can I Have It Anyway

The process of watching a school district and its board of education put together a budget can be fascinating and tedious at the same time. But deciding how to spend $100 million dollars to educate the children of West Islip is undoubtedly the most important job of local educators and board trustees.

Our board of education in West Islip provides local residents the opportunity to sit in and listen to how the school district will spend precious tax dollars. Attending the meetings also provide an education in that school administrators clearly outline how are schools are funded and the unique challenges that face the school district.

But two things continue to amaze me about school budget hearings. One is the continued lack of interest shown by the community as a whole. The fact that the board of education is able to hold their public budget meetings in the library at Beach Street Middle School is maddening and somewhat sad. The school district advertises the meetings on its website and WestIslipTribune.com also promoted the dates. I guess property taxes are not an issue here.

My other point of amazement is how some residents at local meetings can be tone deaf. Through two meetings as of March 2, School Superintendent Dr. Beth Virginia Blau had been quite clear in outlining the financial hurdles facing the school district as it works to develop a spending plan for the 2010-11 school year.

While those challenges are too many to outline here — see article on WestIslipTribune.com — this is not the year to be asking for new programs, Smart Boards in every class room or extra teachers where none are needed. Whether fair or not, this generation of students may have to learn to do more with less, or at least the same. We all want the best for our students. But when looking at the national economy, having the best without the ability to pay is a dangerous proposition.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I have two children who attend Manetuck, which is West Islip's largest elementary school in terms of student population.

Many local residents cannot afford a significant increase in their property taxes. Job losses, shrinking home values and other economic factors are squeezing many of our neighbors. In fact, the need for donations to local food pantries remains dire since a growing number of West Islip residents are seeking help in an effort to keep their cupboards from being completely bare.

So while I understand some may want a bit extra for their particular school, it's important to keep in mind that what the school board does for one, it has to do for all. And that leads to spending funds that just aren't available.