Our District

Superintendent's Message

September 2008

Dear Residents:
In 2006 Shoreham-Wading River CSD was awarded a prior years’ state aid claim of $35,800,000. As of today, the District has not received these funds. The district expects to receive these funds in four annual installments beginning in the 2009-2010 school year.

Legislation that was passed in 2006, 2007 and 2008 specifies how the funds must be used and enables the district to borrow money in anticipation of receiving the prior years’ state aid. This allowed us to fulfill the requirement of the legislation to freeze the tax rate at the 2005-2006 amount, which was accomplished for the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 school years. In order to do this, funds from the anticipated prior years’ state aid were appropriated to each of those school year’s revenue budgets.

In accordance with the most recent legislation and as specified in a resolution passed by the Board of Education on September 2nd, the district borrowed $11.4 million in Revenue Anticipation Notes (RANs). Four million dollars was allocated to the 2007-2008 budget; $600,000 to the Briarcliff Portable Capital Project, a project that received voter approval in May of 2007; and $6.8 million allocated for the 2008-2009 budget. The Revenue Anticipation Notes will be paid with the first installment of the prior years’ state aid.

Recent legislation sponsored by Senator LaValle and Assemblyman Alessi and signed by the Governor eliminates the requirement that the tax rate be frozen for the 2009-2010 school year (next year). It has not yet been determined how much of the prior years’ state aid claim the Board of Education will to apply to the 2009-2010 budget. At this week’s Board of Education meeting, the Board discussed this, along with the potential impacts to the district of the uncertainties of Wall Street and the State budget for the next fiscal year. For now, in light of these concerns and the fact that the District has not received the prior years’ state aid (borrowed RANs in anticipation of receiving the aid) the Board has taken a ‘wait and see’ attitude with respect to the application of the prior state aid claim for the next fiscal year. This will be discussed at length and determined during the budget preparation process.

Board of Education meetings are public meetings and residents are invited to attend. We will continue to keep you informed about the prior years’ state aid and, if you have questions, do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,
Harriet Copel, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools