Music Safe from Cuts in Smithtown School's 2013-14 Proposed Budget

Music students in the Smithtown Central School District took over the Joseph M. Barton building auditorium Tuesday night for the 2013-14 budget hearing, hoping to save their programs from facing cuts – and left getting what they wanted.

Getting what they wanted, however, was made possible before anyone stepped up to speak at the podium.

With the state restoring more than $1.43 million in aid to Smithtown school's at the end of March that had been cut in Gov. Andrew Cuomo's original budget proposal, Tier's 2 and 3 of possible cuts would not need to be implemented to reduce the deficit. On the list of Tier 2 cuts was fifth grade band and orchestra, resulting in letting go six full-time employees, saving the district $470,000.

Superintendent Anthony Annunziato said saving some programs was "a sigh of relief for a year."

"It's like a dance, every year it's a dance," he said. "Next year we'll see the governor's budget – is he going to do it again? Is he going to take aid from this district and reallocate it to other districts? I don't know."

Speakers hoping to keep music programs in tact Tuesday included members from the not-for-profit music education advocacy group Smithtown Friends of Music and a number of the district's music students, including High School East's Intel Science Talent Search finalist Michael Zhang.

Annunziato said after the meeting that while this is a temporary sigh of relief that if the district continues to face hard financial times going forward a tough and unpopular decision to help the district financially could be made.

"As we look forward I think we have to find ways to economize, but essentially if we have a deficit every year, whether it be great or small, it will mean making reductions or hopefully using more reserves, if we could replenish them," he said.