The weak economy continues to make budgeting a tough job, especially for public school districts that must adopt budgets before final state aid and revenue figures are in. At a March 8, board of education meeting, Babylon School District Trustees and community members learned that the preliminary 2010 - 2011 budget increase for the Babylon School District right now is hovering at about 2.8 percent. Deputy Superintendent Peter Daly presented the framework of the district's proposed spending plan at the meeting.

"This budget is a work in progress," emphasized Daly. "This budget is quite lean. We experienced some savings through teacher retirements and reductions in enrollment."

The Babylon School District is looking at a state aid reduction of $683,527 under the Governor's proposed budget. Daly says this is about an eight percent reduction from last year. This potential loss is compounded by the approximate $70,000 Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) tax the district is required to pay. This tax was imposed on all employers in the MTA service area last year. The mandate included a provision that school districts would be reimbursed for their share of the tax, that has not happened.

"We are a people-oriented business," said Daly. "Close to 70 percent of the budget is for salaries and fringe benefits."

The plan the district is proposing would maintain all current academic and extracurricular programs and current class sizes. If a contingency budget became a reality, these and other areas would be vulnerable. The state imposes a contingency spending cap on districts if a budget is voted down two times by the public. The cap, which is based on the previous year's Consumer Price Index (-0.4%), would be zero percent for the 2010 - 2011 school year. No increase in spending would be allowed.

More details about the proposed school budget will be available in the coming weeks. During that time, the legislature will be working to pass a budget for the entire state, including determining the amount of state aid that will go to school districts. Babylon administrators will continue to look at every option in order to keep costs down for the taxpayers, they said. Thenew state fiscal year begins April 1, 2010 and by law a new budget should be in place.

The community will have an opportunity to comment on and examine the proposed 2010 -2011 school budget at the March 22, board meeting set for 7:30 p.m. in the High School Library. The board will meet to adopt the final budget on April 12, 2010. The budget vote is Tuesday, May 18, 2010 from 6 AM to 9 PM at the Babylon Memorial Grade School.

In other School News

The Babylon School District is moving forward with its research program for seventh and eighth graders. SMART is a team-oriented program in conjunction with Stony Brook University and the Milwaukee School of Engineering.

"It's time to give our students the ability to do more," said Kenny, chair of the Science Department. "They deserve this opportunity."

Recently, B abylon's seventh-and eighth-grade students, the only students from that age group to compete against eleventh and twelfth graders, took third place in a Long Island Science Competition. The students were also recently invited by Rockefeller University in New York City to participate in a Protein Modeling Symposium.

•Trisha Taggart, a representative from the Babylon Community Coalition, reported that since the group's formation last May it has held several seminars and workshops for parents/community members on substance abuse prevention and education. More educational programs are planned. The group meets monthly in the Village Hall.