School Aid Boosted in Final State Budget

With school districts scrambling to prepare , state lawmakers have agreed to increase state aid to area schools.

The State Legislature approved an $805 million increase in state aid on Thursday as part of the 2012-2013 budget. It is the first increase in three years.

The  will receive a 5.59 percent increase over last year, or about $907,500. 

The numbers are also up from the governor's original state aid proposal;  According to reports, the governor wanted to allocate $250 million for competitive grants, though lawmakers were able to lower that number to $50 million, freeing up $200 million to be spread across the state.

"I've received a few calls from superintendents and school officials so far today thanking us for the work we did up here, which was nice," said North Fork Assemblyman Dan Losquadro, R-Shoreham. "I don't think any geographic area of the state was entirely happy, but this is a much better balance given the economic constraints we have now."

Losquadro's entire assembly district netted $8.8 million more over last year, he said.

South Fork Assemblyman Fred Thiele, I-Sag Harbor, said the state aid numbers are based on a variety of factors, from transportation reimbursement, to changes in enrollment, to a district's wealth ratio.

"I think for the cap to be successful, state aid had to be increased," said Thiele. "Some responsible shift had to be made to the state because every dollar in state aid obtained by school districts is less that that will have to be paid in property tax."

Neighboring districts increases are as follows:

Quogue School: 3.14 percent

East Quogue: 1.93 percent

Westhampton Beach: 3.90 percent

Remsenburg/Speonk: 9.07 percent

Hampton Bays: 4.39 percent

Tuckahoe: 13.47 percent

Bridgehampton 1.22 percent

Southampton: 1.65 percent

Montauk: 13.55 percent

Sag Harbor: 3.32 percent

Springs: 2.10 percent

Amagansett: 1.03 percent

East Hampton: 4.33 percent