According to an official from the Glen Cove School District they are nearing the finalization of a lease with the Solomon Schechter School, yet representatives from the Jewish parochial school maintain they have not signed a lease and are still in search of a building that meets the needs of their 300 students.

A press release from the Office of the Superintendent from the Glen Cove School District stated the district had approved a proposal of a five-year lease of the Coles School, a school they closed in 1991, to the Solomon Schechter Day School of Nassau County.

On June 2, according to Dennis Lindner, Glen Cove Assistant to the Superintendent for Business, the district received a security deposit on the building from the Solomon Schechter School with the condition that it not be deposited until the lease had been signed. The latest draft of the lease was received by the district the following day and, according to Lindner, has only minor details that need to be worked out.

"We are of the belief that we will be leasing the building [to Solomon Schechter]," said Lindner.

The Solomon Schechter School stated that the school has not entered into any contract with the Glen Cove School District and is still looking for a suitable building for their school.

"We have not signed a lease with the Glen Cove School District," said Wende Jager-Hyman, executive director, Solomon Schechter School. "We are trying to make this work but nothing has been finalized."

Solomon Schechter has been on the hunt for a new building to house their middle and high school since they were informed in early March by the Hicksville School district that their lease of the East Street building would not be renewed. The district plans to open the building on East Street for grades K-5 in the fall to address rising enrollment numbers in the district.

According to Jager-Hyman the building in Glen Cove has only 12 classrooms and it would be difficult to move a school presently using over 25 rooms into that scenario. She did cite that Solomon Schechter has looked into setting up modular classrooms, or relocatables, at the Glen Cove site.

Jager-Hyman stated they are wary of the confining design of the building in question. "The building is too small. It has only twelve rooms where we need at least 20," she stated.

The signing of the lease figures prominently in the plans of the Glen Cove School District because their 1998/99 budget was defeated on May 19 and the income generated from the Solomon Schechter lease would lower the proposed tax rates for the revised budget being voted for on June 18.

Lawyers for the Solomon Schechter School have still not ruled out legal action against the Hicksville School District if they cannot find a new building.

"We are trying our best to see if we can find another location," said Jerry Kremer, an attorney representing Solomon Schechter. "If we cannot find a location that is going to take us...then we will be in court with the district.

Zefy Christopoulos, editor of the Glen Cove Record-Pilot, contributed to this story.