This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Seniors Share Mixed Feelings on School Budget

Some show support for the budget, others criticize administrators' pay and involvement.

A trip to lunchtime at Riverhead Town’s Senior Center in Aquebogue showed that senior citizens in town have mixed feelings about the Riverhead School District’s 2011-2012 budget, over last year that would result in a 4.92 percent tax increase for residents.

Many seniors believed slight increases in the budget were necessary in order to provide quality education.

Doris Sneed said, “I do think children should get the budget they need.”

Find out what's happening in Riverheadwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“I can’t see they should be cutting anything,” said Kathleen McKeon.

“They should pass the budget; kids need it,” said Theresa Albers. “A lot of people don’t understand how a budget cut will affect children.”

Find out what's happening in Riverheadwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Jean Spivak, who had worked for the tax department in Rockville Centre, said, “I don’t feel they should cut school budgets. When I worked for the town, when one department needed something, they went to other departments to get it.”

Related: .

On the other hand, there were certainly those who had their criticisms.

Mike Curan, settling down to a card game after lunch, remarked, “I’m always concerned about what the schools want. The worst thing to me is that they pay administrators too much. And the whole tenure system has to be called into question.”

Also in the card game was Barbara Graziano, a former English teacher. She both echoed and elaborated on Curan’s remarks. She said, “Every single person in a school who is certified should have to teach a class. In other words, every administrator should have to teach. They usually come from being teachers, but they seem to forget how it is to teach, forget how to teach.”

She added, “That includes the principal. I mean, the principal’s job is basically public relations; they don’t do much else.'

She summed up her feelings with, "I'm not automatically against the budget; you just don't want it to be ridiculous."

That led into the issue of schools using public relations firms. “I’d like to know just how much that adds to the budget,” said Curan.

Sondra Thompson wondered just “how much money the schools get from the lottery? Isn’t that what it is supposed to be for? And who is monitoring that system? The state is always crying they don’t have much money, but is that true?”

Doreen Teves grew up in England, and contrasted the school system here and in Britain.

“Communities don’t vote on a budget," she said. "They have a government allotment. You have less perks that way, but still good teachers.”

She felt she had gotten a more literary and musical grounding through high school than her own children did, but added, “I know if they had grown up in England they would not have had the opportunities, the advantages they had in America."

There were a few seniors who seemed wholly indifferent to the issue. Some, such as Irwin Almer, looking younger than his 79 years, gave his economic complaint of the moment: “I get very upset at the price of gas. Where’s it going to go?”

The vote for the school budget will be held on May 17.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?