Mineola Seniors Mixed Over 2011-12 School Budget

As part of its and voices in the community, the Mineola Patch recently sat down with members of the to speak about the issues affecting seniors when it comes to the .

This past week during their regular meeting in the , seniors belonging to the age 55-and-up club expressed mixed feelings about the upcoming budget vote.

Two distinct mindsets exist for seniors when discussing the 2011-12 school budget: that children are a priority, necessitating the  to give them an optimal education without cutting valuable programs and those who say they are already paying too much and dread an increase every May.

While a few said if the district has to cut back they would be willing to pay more to support the schools, the majority of members were adamant about taxes being “already too high” and being amongst the hardest hit when their school bills come due.

Mary Cassese, 81, was born and raised in Mineola and recently celebrated her 61st anniversary with her husband and their three children. Although she admits to liking young people around in the community, she says voting for the budget is “unrealistic,” especially when social security has stayed the same for more than two years.

“I just paid $40 to put a half-gallon of gas in my car,” another Golden Age Club member said, wishing to remain anonymous. “Everything is going up. While gas may go down, taxes are one of those things that will never; they just don’t.”

Several other seniors agreed, sharing similar feelings but admitting that they have not put any deep thought into their vote, saying the “higher” people will simply raise taxes anyway.

“Without question I am voting against them raising the taxes,” said Joe McCarthy, who did not identify whether or not he was referring to the board of education. “They say it’s only going to be 2.5 percent but it’s never actually what they say – it’s always higher.”

Several seniors whose children went through the Mineola school system said a tax hike was not an issue but worried for those who could not afford to pay for increases much longer.

“Even though my kids have long graduated we are still left to anticipate what will happen next,” Ann Shuillher said. “It gets to a point where if we need to keep paying funds, some of us may not even have the money.”

With the impending reconfiguration of the district and this coming year and presumably to follow, seniors said that there is no reason why money should be put into schools if they are going to be vacant.

“It’s foolish you keep a school open with less than 200 children,” Mary Creegan said. “The schools should be combined for the interest of all of us.”

Creegan pointed out that the ultimate decision seniors face when they vote comes down to risking educational losses versus continuing to pay taxes when many are on fixed incomes. 

“When it comes to education, we need to invest and give the younger people the experience of the older people and teach them a sense of moral values,” she said.

The budget vote will be on May 17.

Interested in having your voice heard? Contact Mineola Patch editor Geoff Walter at geoffrey@patch.com.