By Lindsay Press
‘A recent report from the New York State Comptroller’s Office found that three of the 22 school districts showing signs of fiscal stress during the 2023-24 year school year were from Long Island. Those included New Suffolk Common School District, Amityville Union Free School District, and East Meadow Union Free School District.
Each district was in various states of stress. Moderate stress is defined as between 45 to 64.9 points. Susceptible to financial stress is defined as between 25 and 44.9 points. Schools under 25 points do not have fiscal stress.
New Suffolk saw “significant” fiscal stress with a score of 66.7 points. According to the Comptroller’s office, the district has been significantly stressed for eight of the past twelve years. Significant stress is defined as having a score of 65 to 100 points. If a school district is determined to have significant fiscal stress, it means that the district was not able to build enough revenue to cover its tax payments to the town.
Amityville was determined to have moderate fiscal stress with a score of 66.7 points. The comptroller’s office defines moderate fiscal stress means as having faced difficulties in collecting enough money to pay the town.
School Superintendent Dr. Gina Talbert said the school made progress, since they were facing “significant” stress the previous school years. In a statement to Long Island Life & Politics, Talbert said, “This progress reflects a step forward in our efforts to strengthen our financial standing and better position the District for long-term stability. The improvements in the school district’s fiscal stress scores are based on several factors that reflect positive changes, including an operating surplus in 2023-24, improvement in fund balance, and better cash position. We anticipate that this trend will continue.”
East Meadow received a score of 25 points, which determined that the district was “susceptible” to fiscal stress. That means the the district is starting to show signs of a potential financial problem.
In response to a request for comment from Long Island Life & Politics, Superintendent Kenneth Rosner said the district required the use of a Tax Anticipation Note (TAN), which is short-term borrowing. for the first time. “This was necessary due to the new schedule of tax payments from the Town of Hempstead,” he said. “The district is currently not and will not be in any risk of being fiscally stressed.”
Long Island Life & Politics repeatedly reached out to New Suffolk, but did not hear back as of press time.