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Vol. 33 No. 19
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District 13 presents next year’s budget By JUAN lAsso jlasso@liherald.com
With school budget season in full swing, Valley Stream Union Free School District 13 is proposing a spending plan totaling roughly $58.5 million for the 2022-23 school year. Even as school districts inch closer to a post-pandemic normal, the district’s budgetary challenges reflect continuing inflation and market uncertainty. Nonetheless, district officials say the spending proposal maintains all student prog rams and services and
expands others, while remaining fiscally sound and taking into account the financial strains on district families. The proposed tax levy of roughly $38.6 million is 1.5 percent larger than the total taxes in this year’s budget, an increase that is well below the district’s 3.47 percent tax cap. Spending will rise by around $3 million, or 5.44 percent, most of which will fund contractually obligated salary increases and benefits for teachers and other school employees, and rising transportation and health insur-
Courtesy Valley Stream District 13
At A BUDgEt meeting on March 22, the District 13 Board of Education adopted its proposed 2022-23 spending plan. ance costs. “There are some important increases in volatility in some high-cost areas,” district Superintendent Dr. Judith LaRocca said. “We have existing contracts with collective bargaining groups, and that requires us to increase the budget. Health insurance rates have continued to be
very volatile. There is a projected 15 percent increase in health insurance rates.” Student transportation has also become challenging as a re s u l t o f t h e p a n d e m i c, LaRocca added. “There have been transportation companies that have gone out of business, higher costs for drivers due to minimum wage
increases, and an increase in gas prices,” she said. The superintendent further explained that the 202122 fiscal plan was underbudgeted for special education services by about $500,000 “given the high needs for indistrict and out-of-district placement for our special-eduContinued on page 15
Six vie for three seats in V.S. District 24 board election By JUAN lAsso jlasso@liherald.com
Three seats on District 24’s Board of Education are up for election, with three challengers aiming to unseat three incumbents seeking re-election. District 24 comprises the William L. Buck, Brooklyn Avenue and Robert W. Carbonaro elementary schools. It is the smallest of Valley Stream’s three elementary school districts, with just under 1,100 students. Cristina Arroyo is challenging incumbent John Maier, who has been a trustee since 2013 and is seeking his fourth term. Arroyo made an unsuccessful bid to nab
an open seat in 2020 that is currently held by Melissa Herrera. In the second contested race, incumbent Kimberly Wheeler is facing a challenge from newcomer Cynthia Nuñez. Wheeler has been a trustee since 2016, and is seeking her third term. In the third contested race, Meaghan Fleming is challenging incumbent Markus Wilson, who was appointed by the board to fill Joseph Shipley’s vacant seat following his resignation in 2020. Wilson is now seeking election for a full term this year. Fleming made an unsuccessful bid last year to unseat Wilson, who had run for the remaining year of Shipley’s term.
The Herald asked the candidates about their platforms and their ideas for progress and change. We interviewed them by email, and their responses have been edited for clarity and brevity.
ARRoYo vs. MAIER Herald: Why did you decide to run? cristina Arroyo: There are no
people on the board who are advocating for the children of people like me, a Latinx single mom; or people like my friend Shehla, who’s Muslim, or Lisa, who’s Jewish, or Bianca, who’s trans, and I could go on. Now, I don’t know if the board
and administration don’t want teachers of color, but I know that there’s not a single Black person teaching in a district where 86 percent of students are not white. I don’t know if the leadership bears any animosity against LGBTQ+ people, but I know that the health/sex classes they approved erased the biological and social experiences of this
community. And I don’t know if our elected officials consider Spanish speakers to be secondclass citizens, but I know in a school where the largest racial student demographic is Hispanic, nobody who can speak Spanish is available when you call. While mission statements, Continued on page 3