Discovery Cut Concerns Lead to Tabling of SD 14 Budget

Hewlett-Woodmere School District parents and students once again raised concerns about proposed cuts to the Discovery Program, but district officials argued the cut will only affect a small number of students.

The district’s proposed 2013-14 budget includes the elimination of a Discovery lunch lab for eighth graders at Woodmere Middle School, which is offered every other day for students who decide to give up their lunch breaks. Superintendent Joyce Bisso said that only four to 12 students out of a possible 57 utilize the lab, a pattern in the eighth grade for three years.

But any cut for the district’s gifted students could have big repercussions, students and parents said.

“Cutting it would destroy opportunities for many students,” said Lenny Khazan, an eighth grade Discovery student. “Students in Discovery tend to go on to do great things. Eighth grade Discovery lab takes a small portion of the budget but it will have a big impact on the student body.”

The $12,000 cut is part of a total $109,543,638 budget that includes a restoration of popular programs from the district’s adult education program, which had been eliminated outright in a prior proposal. The new budget maintains the previously proposed 2.49 percent increase to the tax levy. The Hewlett-Woodmere Board of Education tabled the adoption of the budget until Wednesday (a special meeting will be held 7:30 p.m. at the middle school) to discuss the issues brought up by the public.

Board members argued that this year’s budget was particularly challenging, leading to cuts across the district, including the laying off of teachers.

“We have literally millions of dollars that the state chopped away,” said board member Dr. Jonathan Altus. “We want to keep the Discovery Program as solid as we can, but we have to cut a little here and a little there. We’re pained by the realities of what we’re forced to do.”

In 2011, the district had proposed cutting the number of Discovery teachers at the elementary and middle school levels from three to two, but scrapped the plan after community backlash. It also proposed a similar cut for the eighth grade Discovery lab.

Ethan Davidov, a sixth grader, suggested that the lab could become a before- or after-school program, allowing participants to fundraise for it. Bisso said that was a viable concept.

Ethan’s mother, Ilana, said it would be a shame for future students to lose the lab because the currents students aren’t utilizing it.

“This a home for these kids,” she said. “This is where they want to be.”