________________ LONG BEACH _______________
HERALD Also serving Point Lookout & East Atlantic Beach
City earns new rating
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Vol. 35 No. 6
FEBRUARY 1 - 7, 2024
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Long Beach schools may lose state aid about $35 billion in total aid for state schools next year, an increase of $825 million, or 2.4 G o v. K a t h y H o c h u l percent increase. It is the largannounced her proposed execu- est investment in education in tive budget for fiscal year 2025 the state’s history. “The loss of $4.3 million in on Jan. 16, revealing, among other things, the aid each school foundation aid in a single year is devastating for district would be our district, particreceiving — or losularly since the cut ing. comes without In Nassau Counwarning or prepaty, 10 districts are ration,” Schools set to lose some aid Superintendent Dr. funding in the proJennifer Gallagher posed spending said. “No district plan, including can absorb that Long Beach, level of loss without Oceanside, Island cuts to programs, Park, Lawrence and which ultimately Oyster Bay. In Sufaffect our students. folk, 34 districts We will be working would see less aid hard with our state money. representatives to This school year, DENNIS RYAN urge them to seek a t h e L o n g B e a ch President, reprieve so that we S c h o o l D i s t r i c t Board of Education can maintain our received just over student programs, $28 million in total aid. In the governor’s proposed particularly as we continue to budget, the district would recover from the pandemic.” In a letter to district families receive just over $25 million in 2024-25, a decrease of $3.3 mil- sent out on Jan. 24, Gallagher lion, or just under 12 percent. wrote, “A reduction in revenue The district’s foundation aid of this magnitude is really diffiwould drop from $19.5 million to cult for any district. It means that we will have to make subjust over $15 million. The governor’s plan includes Continued on page 4
By BRENDAN CARPENTER
bcarpenter@liherald.com
Herald file photo
Welcoming the Year of the Dragon The public library will mark the Lunar New Year on Monday, in collaboration with Artists in Partnership, and feature the mythical monsters for which it is named. Story, more photos, Page 10.
So many cats need your help
Short of money, L.B. Humane Society may close By ANGElINA ZINGARIEllo azingariello@liherald.com
The Long Beach Humane Society, which has been in operation since 1976, is at risk of closing amid a financial crisis worsened by the coronavirus pandemic. “It takes a lot of money to run a nonprofit, especially this size,” volunteer Kim Boley said. “Believe it or not, we might look small, but I would say we have almost 400 cats a year. That includes medical, it includes food, it includes labor, litter, or other things we need. With Covid, unfortunately, fundraising wasn’t a possibility. Regardless of how we tried, it wasn’t. So our savings were tapped into.” In 2020, the organization, now headquartered on Austin Boulevard in Island Park, suffered a steep drop in revenue from “gifts, grants, contri-
butions, and membership fees,” as revealed on its federal tax forms, from $75,208 in 2019 to $10,750. Subsequent years saw a recovery, with revenue increasing to $53,759 in 2021 and $72,933 in 2022. At this point, the nonprofit needs to raise $50,000 to stay afloat. Its Kitty Cove, a shelter and adoption center in Island Park, which typically cares for 70 to 100 kittens and cats, currently shelters 30. At the end of December, the organization temporarily stopped accepting additional animals in order to cut costs. “Some cats are residents, and you have to look at them and say, you know, at some point, are they going to lose their home?” Helen Aloi, the Humane Society’s director, said. “How do we stop that? So to stop something like that, and Continued on page 16
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e’re going to go through the regular process of presentation to different areas of the budget.