The Riverhead Central School District Board of Education adopted a $144,831,131 contingency budget on June 29 that will take effect July 1, 2020, the start of the new fiscal school year. It was designed to preserve as many core academic programs as possible.
The Board resolution indicated that the District will likely present a budget for a revote in July.
“While many cuts were unfortunately necessary,” said Deputy Superintendent Sam Schneider, “the goal was to ensure that our educational programming remains intact as possible.”
The budget total, representing a 0.27% budget-to-budget increase, was guided by Education Law that requires a 0% tax levy increase under a contingent spending plan. There must also be a freeze on equipment purchases and salary increases for individually contracted staff. After removing $223,750 in planned equipment purchases and $57,025 in salary increases from the original budget, the district needed to cut an additional $2 million to meet guidelines.
Specifically, cuts were made to the following areas: athletics program ($963,978), clubs and musical performances ($317,947), after-school buses ($186,006), computer technology ($100,000), high school electives ($151,108), science program ($135,122), elementary literacy program ($148,459), and auto and building maintenance ($121,839).
The contingency budget will remain in place until the district’s board of education can have further discussions about a second budget vote. A revote cannot take place until Gov. Cuomo sets a specific date for it.