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Friday, May 10, 2024
Vol. 10, No. 19
PortWashingtonTimes Washington GUIDE TO MOTHER’S DAY
PALESTINIAN CHILD TREATED AT COHEN’S
PAGES 21-24
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ART AND WRITING ACCOL ADES State aid increased but issues remain District administrators say final funding does not properly account for inflation New York State finalized its school aid allocation after many school districts had already adopted their budgets as it restored foundation funding to all districts prepared to see a reduction. Yet while foundation aid was considered restored through the state’s hold harmless policy, which ensures districts receive the same amount or more in foundation aid from year to year, final totals still came in lower than anticipated due to changes in the formula. Port Washington Assistant Superintendent of Business Kathleen Manuel said that while at face value foundation aid was restored, it wasn’t actually in its entirety. “Schools should have actually received more in aid if [Gov. Kathy Hochul] had let the formula run the way it should,” Manuel said. Despite this change, a majority of school districts on the North Shore are keeping their budgets as is. Multiple school district administrators said the inflationary increase percentage used to calculate the amount of foundation aid awarded was lower than the inflationary factor that should have been used – leading
to lower amounts of foundational aid being handed out. Inflationary increases were estimated at about 4.1% while the governor used a 2.8% increase in foundation aid calculations. Districts, though, were expecting that 4.1% increase and received foundation aid totals that were still lower than what they anticipated if foundation aid’s hold harmless policy had been restored. Manuel said she did not understand why a 2.8% inflation increase was used rather than the actual 4.1%. Multiple school districts drafted budgets in anticipation that foundation aid would be restored. While this did happen, districts still received fewer funds than they expected due to the altering of the foundation aid formula. For the Port Washington School District, this amounted to $170,000 fewer funds than what their 20242025 budget anticipated in foundation aid. Manuel said “$170,000 doesn’t sound like a lot, but that’s a teaching position.” She also said no teaching position will be eliminated to offset this lesser foundation aid amount. Continued on Page 34
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE PORT WASHINGTON SCHOOL DISTRICT
Nine Paul D. Schreiber High School students were awarded scholastic art and writing awards, receiving gold, silver and honorable mentions.
Port philanthropist Peter Dejana dies at 84 BY C A M E RY N O A K ES Peter Dejana, an Italian immigrant who planted roots in Port Washington and continuously gave back charitably to his community,
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died Thursday. He was 84. His cause of death is unknown. Dejana is remembered for his work ethic, brilliance, energy and philanthropic dedication. “Peter was a friend to all who
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offered their friendship. He interacted easily with people from all walks and stations of life,” his obituary said. “He found great satisfaction in getting to know people and Continued on Page 33
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