Dear Resident:

We are posting a summary of the information that was provided at our Community Forum on January 28th. As everyone knows, the State of New York is in very serious financial deficit. The Governor has proposed his deficit reduction plan and one of his options is to reduce aid to education in next year’s budget. In Harborfields’ case, this reduction amounts to over $900,000.

Prior to presenting a 2010-2011 school budget, we wanted to present various percent increases to our budget to show the effect these increases would have on the present tax rate which is $201.17 per 100 Assessed Value.

To duplicate all of the current programs and other expenses currently in existence, the budget-to-budget increase would be somewhere between 4% and 5%. Because this is not going to be a one-year problem, we also showed a 3‑year projection based on a hypothetical 4% increase each year, known increased pension costs, and state aid based on the Governor’s proposal. Also figured in calculations is the fact that federal stimulus money will not be available after the 2010-2011 school year.

Below is a list of our Board of Education meetings through the end of the year.

February 10, 2010: Regular meeting 7:45 p.m.
March 6, 2010: Budget Work Session 9:00 a.m.
March 17, 2010: Regular Meeting 7:45 p.m.
April 14, 2010: Special Meeting/Budget Adoption 7:45 p.m.
April 27, 2010: Regular Meeting 7:45 p.m.
May 11, 2010: Regular Meeting/Budget Hearing 7:45 p.m.
May 18, 2010: Special Meeting/Budget Vote and Election 3:00 – 10:00 p.m.
June 16, 2010: Regular Meeting

Because this is such a critical year relative to quality education, vs. the community’s ability to support it, we urge you to attend...especially the budget meetings. On that note the central office personnel and board members would make themselves available to meet with any organization or group to review the financial situation of the district and the impact it has on education.

Yours truly,

Frank J. Carasiti
Superintendent of Schools


“Join the 10,000 Letter Campaign to Our Legislators in Albany”

Help Harborfields Central School District support the One Voice-One Island Letter Campaign. The district plans to work collaboratively with Western Suffolk BOCES districts to send a message to our legislators in Albany regarding the proposed State budget and the issue of providing aid to education in a more equitable and appropriate manner consistent with the cost of education on Long Island.

A sample letter may be accessed at the following link. You can personalize and sign each letter by referring to the following list of officials. Once you have addressed each letter it may be placed in one of the GOTV boxes located in the main lobby of each school.

We appreciate your support with this initiative.