(Ed. Note: The following letter was sent to Governor George Pataki, Senator Carl Marcellino and Assemblyman Marc Herbst. It is printed here at the author's request.)

On May 18, the taxpayers of our community, as well as all the communities in the State of New York, voted on their local school district budgets. Key components of our budget included the administration's initiatives to achieve the Board of Regents' new guidelines for graduation from high school, as well as other state mandates. Thankfully, the residents of Hicksville supported our proposed budget.

In establishing our budget, we anticipated that the legislature would be responsive to the needs of our community and grant Hicksville the necessary state aid, in the 1999-2000 budget, to execute our educational responsibility. Unfortunately, once again, the state budget is over 100 days past due. On Aug. 16 the Hicksville Board of Education must determine the amount to be raised by taxes and, once again, it appears that the board will need to do this without knowing how much state aid we will be receiving.

In the spring, boards of education throughout the state did their jobs by presenting budgets that will meet the educational guidelines set by the State of New York. The communities throughout the state did their job on May 18 by voting on these budgets, which were based on estimated state aid. Now we need our state legislature to do their job, support the needs of the community and provide us with a final state budget.

We, the Hicksville Board of Education, strongly urge you and your fellow legislators to finalize a 1999-2000 budget, which will provide sufficient aid in education, immediately. We ask that you do this so that we may meet our responsibilities to the taxpayers and, most importantly, the children of Hicksville.

Peggy Theis
Hicksville Board of Education Secretary