Once again I find myself having to respond to the ridiculous allegations of Hicksville's very own self-appointed watchdog for the taxpaying residents of the community.

In Mrs. DePalma's (June 25th) letter she paints a picture of a happy frolicking staff who worship the hallowed grounds on which Superintendent Maureen Bright walks. Well, guess what folks, pictures lie! Whenever I have written in and stated my arguments in letters past, I have always given a website or quoted the source from where my material has come and then encouraged the reader to verify the information for themselves. Just stating that everything is lovely in the land of Oz does not make for the truth. You can't find your answers to this one at the library nor on some website. What you as a member of the community have to do come September, is speak to your children's teachers and ask them how they would rate Superintendent Bright's performance. Then you'll know the truth firsthand.

Mrs. DePalma puts herself out to the unsuspecting as the champion of teachers. "We have great staff - teachers, secretaries, administrators, teaching assistants and building and grounds employees - who are happy and working very hard at their jobs and we can see the results of their hard work! But these staff members hear the negative complaints of a 'handful' of very vocal disconnected miserable people and they shouldn't have to work like this ... residents of Hicksville and parents of Hicksville Public Schools should not stand by and let these people take over our school district - don't let them speak for us!"

Those, my friends, are the words of a hypocrite extraordinaire. Why don't you tell the people how you sat on a board that refused to meet with the teachers and kept them without a contract for two years. While you're at it, why don't you tell us how any communications between administration and staff would only go through the district's lawyers. If everyone is so happy then why does our teaching staff leave in droves each year? Check the yearbooks at the library folks, year in, year out it's a constant change of staff. A staff that your tax dollars pay to train that leaves at the first chance for better working conditions. No, contempt and respect are not synonymous words. Putting yourself out there as the savior of the teachers and taxpayers just further goes to show your disgust for the intellect of all.

I'm going to try a bit of amateur psychology on you. When you write of "a handful of very vocal disconnected, miserable people," could you be speaking of yourself? Why don't you take a deep breath and just admit that the people of Hicksville have shown by their votes a need for change that does not include you or your group of incompetent petty malcontents. Your disingenuous fear tactic of how this new board will "give away the store" is nothing short of contemptible. You've helped lower this district into an educational abyss by making Hicksville the next to lowest paying school district in the county; now let the new kids on the block rebuild what you've torn down. I think they'll start off by showing some respect to both the teachers and the people of Hicksville, something you and your lot have always failed to do!

Bob Boxer

In Ed Lee's impassioned letter "Questioning Intentions of Superintendent, Past Board Members" (which appeared in the July 23 issue of the Hicksville Illustrated News), he belittles Superintendent Maureen Bright's outstanding professional performance and he disturbingly slanders her character and integrity. What facts does Mr. Lee present to support his damaging and unfounded insinuations? We do not know Mr. Lee and we doubt that he was at the last two board of education meetings since they were poorly attended by the public.

However, at the last board meeting any community member would have left feeling very proud of all the accomplishments in our district and would have felt confident that all the board members were working together for the benefit of all the citizens and students of Hicksville. Both our current and past board of education members have been very instrumental to the overall academic and physical improvements in this district, and they have encouraged and supported Mrs. Bright's efforts to execute these improvements. Therefore, we do not understand where Mr. Lee's unwarranted accusations of misbehavior have come from.

With three children, we have been very active as both volunteers and executive committee officers in the PTA/PTSAs at Lee Avenue, the Middle School, the High School, the Hicksville Council of PTAs. From attending many meetings and functions at all the schools throughout the years, we have had many close up objective opportunities to observe Mrs. Bright in action. Mrs. Bright attends and supports a wide cross-section of activities and events that our children are involved in. Being intelligent, honest, approachable, informative and genuinely interested in our children, she continuously has demonstrated her commitment to our community.

If Mr. Lee has some specific gripes about particular issues, then I am certain Mrs. Bright or any of the other administrators and board of education members would address them. To seek to oust Mrs. Bright over unsubstantiated accusations is to insult the collaborative intentions of many dedicated community members who have genuinely supported her as a superintendent. We do not know who Mr. Lee thinks is "out there" who should be the superintendent of Hicksville. Unless Hicksville were to offer a higher salary - even more than what Mrs. Bright earns, we would not attract high caliber candidates to the job. The district would have a difficult time finding someone with Mrs. Bright's valuable knowledge and experience with the community, her dedication to excellence, and her strong work ethics - these are qualities that money cannot buy.

If Hicksville were to do a search for a superintendent tomorrow, we doubt that the district would readily or easily find someone with her exceptional qualities. We trust that our board of education will continue to work with Mrs. Bright for the benefit of our school district. If we were to lose Mrs. Bright, especially now during our district's renaissance, we would truly be left in the dark.

Edward and Lorene Vorbach Bossong