On Jan. 24 the Glen Cove Board of Education met in the Landing Elementary School. Interim superintendent Dr. Elliot Garfinkel's first order of business in this, his first public Glen Cove Board of Education meeting, was to announce the two winners in the Nassau County Martin Luther King, Jr. essay and art competition. Glen Cove High School senior Laticia Willis earned first place countywide for her essay on the impact of Dr. King's accomplishments upon her life. Connolly Elementary School student Melissa Rapelje won third place countywide for her poster depicting love as a spray repellent to the bugs of prejudice, hate and violence.

During the lengthy meeting, board members discussed the need for the board to have a policy regarding charter school applications. Simply put, the legislation on charter schools doesn't require a public hearing for members of the community within which a charter school is proposed. Charter school applications can be submitted to either the local school district, the Board of Regents or the State Education Department. There is no guaranty a local district would know of an application in time to consider the impacts of a charter school approval upon the school district's budget. In addition, the Glen Cove School District would also bear the financial impact resulting from a charter school approval in a district within a 15-mile radius of Glen Cove. Should a Glen Cove parent decide to send their child to a charter school with the 15-mile designation, the Glen Cove district would have to provide transportation to that school. (Such would have been the case if the application had been approved for a charter school in Great Neck recently).

Last year, an application was made for a charter school in Glen Cove by the director of the School for Language and Communication Development which operates on the former South School property. The application for The Charter School at the Cove was for a K-12 school with 180 students within the School for Language. The application was rejected, but this does not mean the same applicant will not try again for the 2001 school year or that another entity will not submit an application. The Glen Cove Board of Education has determined the policy would neither oppose nor support an application for a charter school. The policy will, however, take a step not legally required by charter school legislation. The board will make sure to notify Glen Cove residents that an application for a charter school has been filed and they will sponsor a public hearing on that application. The applicant would be invited to the public hearing to present their proposal. Board member Robert Lupinskie said, "The board policy would speak to the issue that the board is cognizant of its responsibility to community, although not required. The board will share issues and information with the community and actively solicit community input considering the charter school's effect on the tax rate and costs incurred."

Board member Phil Enright said he was afraid that information provided by the Glen Cove Board of Education might be skewed and that in establishing a policy to communicate with the community, the board may leave out the benefits a charter school would offer to certain children in the community. Mr. Lupinskie noted that the whole process which produced charter school legislation did not include public participation. Board member Jeff Spector said the board's responsibility, bottom line, is not to hide anything from the public. Mr. Enright said that if the accountability required for a charter school to remain open were applied to the district's public schools, the public schools would be closed. "The tax dollars belong to parents. It's very simple; make this school district a very good school district so we won't fear the competition from charter schools," said Mr. Enright.

Dr. Garfinkel said it is the obligation of the board to keep the community informed. The policy would merely state the board will inform the community about a charter application being filed and will offer an open arena to discuss that application. "And nothing beyond that," said Dr. Garfinkel.

The district has reached an agreement in the contract negotiations with CSEA Local 1000 Glen Cove Cafeteria Unit. The board's attorney, Bob Sapir, said the negotiations were long and hard and the settlement provides "a dollar amount increase" for each unit member comparable to that of other units. The board conducted the second reading and adopting of the district's web site policy. Voter registration for those not already registered was set as April 15. Voting for School Board members, (two seats this year), and the School Budget will be on May 16.

The need for more English as a Second Language staff is a result of increased enrollment. The board has three alternatives as described by the acting assistant superintendent for personnel, Dorothy McGarvey. Mrs. McGarvey said there are overcrowded ESL classes at the high school-- 5 classes had 27 students. Mrs. McGarvey said, "By June the figure will increase, making it necessary to split up the five classes and requiring the hiring of another teacher. We can hire a full time teacher for the rest of the year; we can assign a teacher to part of the sections and double up with smaller classes incorporating the larger classes in other school buildings; or hire a 3/5 teacher reducing services provided by ESL at the elementary level because of the larger class size this causes. Mrs. McGarvey said the district will definitely need a new ESL teacher this September, so if one is hired now, the district will have a jump on the next school year. Ten percent of the district's student body requires ESL services, (a little over 300 children). Board member Bill Boeddener said the language in this country is English and didn't see why more ESL staff should be added.

Rosemary Dilgard cited a letter mailed to all parents of high school juniors facing mandatory passage of the English Regents exam as a graduation requirement. The exam was given on Jan. 26 and Jan. 27, with a second scheduled for this June. The letter, signed by high school Principal Lane Schwartz and Thomas Ruckert, the district's acting coordinator of English, advised parents that eleventh grade students can take both the January and June exams; students scoring below 90, (considered mastery level), will be required to take the exam again in June. Students scoring above 90 will have the option of taking the exams again in June. The letter states that students would benefit from an early experience of the new format of the exam, the January exam will provide teachers with a clear understanding of each student's strengths and weaknesses, and the June exam experience will build upon the January administration and thus be a better, more realistic measure of student learning. Mrs. Dilgard said she, as a parent, should decide whether or not her junior in high school would re-take the exam, especially if her teenager passes the exam. Mrs. Dilgard questioned who participated in the letter's writing and while board President Vito Abbondondalo said the board did not discuss the letter, the assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and grants, Dr. Ingrid Spatt said she participated in creating the contents of the letter. Mrs. Dilgard said there was no reason to force a student who passes to retake a six-hour exam and it's up to a parent to make that decision. The discussion ended with an assurance by the board that the whole matter will be examined. The Record-Pilot has learned that a decision had been made and parents of juniors will be notified within a few days.