What’s in the budget and on the ballot in Tuesday’s school district vote

Riverhead Central School District voters go to the polls Tuesday to vote on the district’s proposed spending plan for the 2018-2019 academic year.

The $140.38 million operating budget represents a spending increase of just under 3 percent over the current year’s budget.

The proposed real property tax levy required to fund the projected spending is within the .91-percent tax levy limitation imposed by state law.

The 2018-2019 budget contains funds for a School Resource Officer to be present in the schools. The SRO will be an officer in the Riverhead Police Department.

The budget also contains funds to add the following positions: a full-time bilingual guidance counselor in the high school; a full-time Spanish teacher in the middle school; a full-time bilingual reading teacher at Pulaski Street; a half-time reading teacher at Roanoke; a full-time ENL teacher at Riley; two full-time door monitors (one each) at Phillips and Riley.

All retiring teachers will be replaced except for one kindergarten class at Riley, which is being collapsed due to enrollment.

Just under 76 percent of the total planned expenditures are for program costs, with 8.3 percent going to fund administration and 15.9 percent for capital costs, including bond payments in connection with the recently completed capital construction plan.

The district anticipates state aid of over $31 million, an increase of nearly $2.5 million over current state aid levels.

Riverhead currently enrolls 5,490 students. Twenty-eight percent of Riverhead students are classified as “English language learner” or ELL. Twelve percent are classified as special education/IEP &504 students.

Forty-eight percent of Riverhead’s students are Latino, 38 percent are white (non-Hispanic), 11 percent are black (non-Hispanic) 1.6 percent are multiracial, 1.2 percent are Asian/Pacific Islander and .2 percent are native American.

Slightly more than fifty-three percent of the district’s students are classified as economically disadvantaged.

The district’s overall graduation rate for 2016-2017 was 72 percent. It was only 50 percent for the Latino population and 46 percent for students with disabilities — all well below the state standard of 80 percent.

Riverhead Central School District was identified by the State Education Department as a “focus” district for the 2017-2018 school year. That means the district is considered a low-performing district because it has schools that have low academic performance on the Grades 3-8 ELA and math assessment tests or low graduation rates for certain groups of students (such as economically disadvantaged, students with disabilities, and English language learners). The performance of these schools is not improving. Six of the seven schools in the district are identified as focus schools; only Aquebogue Elementary School is not designated as a focus school.

Other ballot propositions

There are two other propositions on the ballot. Proposition II authorizes the expenditure of up to $154,500 from the Cafeteria Fund (Food Service Fund) on capital improvements to the kitchens at Phillips Avenue, Aquebogue and Riley Avenue schools; Proposition III establishes the a Cafeteria Capital Reserve Fund, authorizing the district to set aside up to $400,000 per year, up to $4 million over 20 years, to fund capital improvements to the district’s school cafeterias.  

School board candidates

Seven people are seeking election to three open seats on the Riverhead Board of Education this year. See separate story.

Voting information

Polls are open on Tuesday, May 15 from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the district’s four elementary school buildings. The district is divided into four election districts. Voters must cast their ballots at the elementary school where a child residing at their address would attend grades K-4.

For additional information, visit the school district website.