The Huntington School Board has begun the long process of finalizing a budget to fund district operations during the 2019/20 school year.
Trustees held the first of what will be a series of public meetings on the budget this past Monday night in the Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School auditorium. Superintendent James W. Polansky presented the first draft of the budget, offering a general overview of the document and then going line-by-line through the sections that fund the board of education, central administration and transportation.
Many key budget variables are still up in the air, including the district’s assessed valuation, the state aid it will be allotted in the state budget due April 1, enrollment in the kindergarten program and the staffing needed to educate the youngsters and a handful of other expensive areas. Current expenditure and revenue projections will be updated as more information becomes available.
“A great deal of work has been put into developing the first draft of the 2019/20 budget, which incorporates the new building-level fiscal allocation requirements included in last year’s state budget,” Mr. Polansky said. “There are still cost decisions to be made and other revenue-related unknowns (e.g., state aid) that will be determined in the weeks to come.”
A copy of Mr. Polansky’s public presentation along with the first budget draft are posted on the district website at www.hufsd.edu. All of the budget meetings are open to the public. Residents are given two opportunities to address trustees at each meeting.
The first budget draft will be updated over the next two months, culminating on Monday, April 15 when the 2019/20 budget will be adopted by trustees. District residents will vote on the proposal on Tuesday, May 21.
Upcoming meetings will focus on the following topics:
March 11
- Huntington School Board extended budget workshop: Overview of employee benefits, debt service, inter-fund transfer and capital projects
March 25
- Huntington School Board meeting: Overview of instruction and staffing
- Approval of propositions other than the budget to be placed on the ballot.
April 8
- Huntington School Board meeting: Overview of revenues and overall budget review.
April 15
- Huntington School Board meeting: Adoption of budget.
May 13
- Public hearing on budget at Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School at 7:30 p.m.
May 21
- Budget vote by residents at Huntington High School from 6 a.m.–9 p.m.
Each of the budget meetings will begin at 7:30 p.m. and be held in the Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School auditorium on Lowndes Avenue in Huntington Station. The public is welcome to attend and will be given an opportunity to address the trustees.
