School Board Toils With Latest Budget Proposal, Anti-Bullying Policy

With the annual budget vote right around the corner, Plainview-Old Bethpage Board of Education members have been contemplating last minute budget adjustments for the 2011-12 school year.

At Monday night's board meeting, district officials examined a new budget plan proposed by the district's Assistant Superintendent for Business, Ryan Ruf, and Assistant Business Manager, Sam Gerges. The new proposal focused primarily on changes to the district's BOCES budget, the business office budget, miscellaneous items and potential modifications to the 2011-12 first draft.

For the BOCES budget, the district proposed a 3.87 percent increase in spending, mainly due to Special Education Tuition. A significant decrease was seen in areas such as Occupational Education Tuition, from $377,128 to $325, 399 and Transportation, from $436,364 to $255, 150.

Unlike BOCES, the Business Office budget offered the district a savings in nearly $12,000 from last year, with a 3.3 percent decrease in spending. 

Potential modifications to next year's budget's first draft were discussed at the end of the meeting. Board members struggled with items such as putting an elementary health position back into the budget, along with the district's Enrichment For All program.

"There are some programs that make us different from other school districts and this is one," said Plainview-Old Bethpage school board member Ginger Lieberman.

The Enrichment For All program offers elementary students in grades K-4 an enrichment program that enhances discovery through hands-on experiences with subjects like chemistry, physics, genetics and forensics.

After a long debate, the board decided against putting the Enrichment For All program back into the budget based on necessity and cost, but left the health position decision until next week.

The school board also addressed the district's Anti-Bullying Policy and what can be done to make it more clear for students, parents and faculty alike. Arthur Jonas, Deputy Superintendent, voiced some of the feedback he received from parents in the community, and noted that all comments were shared in full with the school board prior to Monday's meeting.

"They felt that it was vaguely drawn," Jonas said of the district's current policy. "As it's currently constructed, because of the definitions, it would be likely that things would be considered bullying based on the definitions that probably shouldn't be considered bullying.

"Others felt it was well done up until the point of consequences," he said. "They said it needs more consequences to give it some teeth; it should be very specific in reference to zero tolerance."

Lieberman agreed with some of the parents' feedback on the policy.

"It is too vague. If we were to walk in any hall, in any school, in any district, you're going to see kids doing this stuff. In the middle school, you see rites of passage where kids are flirting, making innuendos; that's not bullying. Bullying and harassing is the intent to harm. Teasing is not bullying, taunting is bullying. I don't know that this is enforceable," she said.

Jonas and the board agreed to re-examine the policy's details and find room for improvement. All board members thanked Jonas afterwards for the hard work and long hours put in to assure bullying is handled properly in the district.

The Plainview-Old Bethpage Board of Education will meet next on Monday, April 4 at 7:45 p.m. at Mattlin Middle School's Administration Offices.