'Mind-boggling'

In your last issue of Warwick advertiser you published the WVSD budget of $92.8 million.
This amount is mind -boggling, considering that Warwick schools enrolment is decreasing.
This amount is an increased by 3 percent from the last year budget and the tax levy for the citizens of Warwick will by 2.95 percent.
If this continue there will be very few people who can afford to live in Warwick.
As you also know, there are strikes by the teachers in Oklahoma, West Virginia and recently in Arizona.
In Arizona for example the average teachers salary is $47,500.00. In Warwick 70 percent of the teachers make at least $100,000/nine months of work, including all the holidays, snow days, sick days, etc.
In addition to that they have fully funded pension, health insurance, (with minimal amount of their contribution).
It also must be noted that average spending per student nationally is $11,375. In Warwick that amount is double.
In this school year budget WVSD is also asking the taxpayers to approve the purchasing of the five new school buses in addition to vote for creation of a "repair" reserve funds. School buses as you know are under utilized as is and the number of buses are very high.
Last year WVSD created a new project for 10.5 million and promised the Warwick taxpayers that it will cost them nothing and the school will utilized the reserve funds.
Now we have to replenished the reserve funds.
It would be highly recommended for the WVSD to take the members of the school board on a school bus ride and see how many houses are on the market and ask the owners of those houses why they are leaving Warwick.
The answer would be: The school taxes are too high.
For that matter they are too high in New York State in general and our politicians must come up with alternate funding of the public schools, other then the homeowners.
John Ihnachak
Warwick