RSS Feed
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||||
DPSD budget passes, new faces on board The Deer Park School Budget passed on May 15, by a narrow margin of 132 votes, 1,324 to 1192. In addition, voters put incumbent John Gouskos back on the school board for another three-year term and elected first time candidates Keith Rooney and Frank Wilkinson. The budget will provide preservation of the current instructional and extracurricular/athletic programs, mobile computer workstations, additional guidance support, new AP math courses, expanded advanced college courses and other educational enrichment. The $90 million spending plan is expected to increase taxes $8.68 per $100 of assessed value, bring the current rate of $158.30 to $166.98. While some voters said they were happy with the way things were going in the district, others looked for change. "I am looking for new ideas," said Dawn King. "We need more high school electives, but I feel that overall the district is well represented." "We need a change in Deer Park," Shirley Hunter, the treasurer of SECCA. "Why are the 7th grade ELA scores so low (55%)." One resident hurrying away from the polls added, "we need a new attitude with the way the school board looks at things." Other voters said they wanted more communication between the board and the community. Wilkinson won with 1,444 votes and said he is looking to close a communication gap between the board and the community. "I am looking for more attendance at the meetings so the residents may have more control. It's their community too." He said he also want to work on improving the board's relationship with the staff, and the administration. "We have lost focus," he said. Rooney will be a new face on the board. He won with a total of 1,193 votes. An employee of KeySpan Corp., said he will focus on energy conservation throughout the district. He will conduct inspections of all the buildings and look for ways to save the taxpayers money by looking at alternative energy which could include installing solar panels. "I am passionate about our community and make a commitment to the community to work hard on their behalf as a member of the school board."
Gouskos serves on the district's audit control team and chairs the Budget and Finance Committee. While he was not available for comment following the vote, he said in a previous interview that he plans to continue to focus on obtaining a firsthand view of the policy and decision making that directly impacts on the community and educational system. "I want to help achieve positive results in reducing our cost and tax base, which has been consistently down for the past four years."
|
for larger version       |
||||||||||||||||||
