At the outset of the last New Hyde Park/Garden City Park School Board meeting president James Kane, who is a captain of the New York City firefighters, issued the following statement:

Before we begin tonight's meeting I would like to take a few moments to make a few comments on things that have changed since our last meeting.

Our last board meeting was five weeks ago on Monday, Sept. 10. Less than 12 hours after our meeting ended our country suffered the greatest single act of terrorism ever perpetrated against it. In just five short weeks, all of our lives have changed. We have all been affected by this act, some more than others.

Right here, in our schools one of our teachers, Mrs. Wendy Cosgrove, who is a Resource Room teacher at Manor Oaks, lost her husband Kevin and her children lost their father. Mrs. Karen O'Reilly, a second grade teacher at Notre Dame lost her son-in-law and the second grade class at Notre Dame is praying for one of their students' uncle who is listed as missing. I am sure each of you knows of someone who has suffered some loss from this incident. I personally worked side-by-side with at least 70 of the firefighters who have died or are listed as missing.

I have read countless letters and have looked at countless pictures from children of all ages, including children from our own neighborhood. We have had boxes and bags full of these letters delivered to every firehouse in the city. They have even been delivered to Ground Zero. Some of these letters are asking us to please help find their missing relatives. Many of these children made thoughtful thank you cards and drew beautiful pictures to try to cheer up the rescue workers. The one thing that seems clear to me in all these letters and pictures is that these children have witnessed a piece of history that will be a part of their lives forever.

Our president George Bush has declared the attacks on the World Trade Center Towers as an "act of war." We have started to retaliate by bombing Afghanistan and I am sure we will get much more involved in the future. The president has said that this will be a long war, some of which we will see, and hear and some of which we will not.

I am not going to sit here and talk to you about the price of freedom but I am going to tell you that in the last five weeks I have seen people of all ages, color, creed, religion and so on come together as a city and as a country as I have never seen before. Their pride is in our country, the United States has given our children a renewed feeling of patriotism.

We cannot take the events of the last five weeks lightly. We must continue to protect and educate our children. We must keep them aware of the fact that they are living through a part of history that will be talked about 50 years from now, just as Pearl Harbor is today.

I think that we must all realize that the full effects of these trying times will not be seen or felt for months and maybe even years. Our children are especially vulnerable and it is the duty of us all to be vigilant in our protection of them.

The board then continued on with its regular meeting. New Hyde Park/Garden City Park School Superintendent Joseph Rudaitis announced that it was "School Board Recognition Week" and gave a brief thumbnail sketch of each trustee including James Kane, Lawrence Montreuil, Martin Cernese, Curtis Axelsen, Patricia Rudd and Suzanne Wenz. Superintendent Rudaitis praised the trustees for their time and dedication to the children of the district. Interschool PTA members had at each trustee's seat on the dais a beautiful fruit bowl and after the meeting cake was served in honor of trustees and School Board Recognition week.

The next item on the agenda was the description of the new science curriculum. New Hyde Park Road School Principal George Usdin along with Dale McInerney and Joanne LaRocca described in detail the curriculum from kindergarten to sixth grade and how each grade level builds on the previous grade. In the audience was Joseph Elenchik, the chairman of the Science Department at New Hyde Park Memorial High School who is working closely with the science chairpersons at New Hyde Park so that the science program in the elementary school and the high school complement one another. Then when the elementary students get to the high school they will make the transition with ease especially in the science department because as George Usdin stated, "They will be familiar with the language of science."

A discussion was held on the status of the various construction projects in the district. Director of Facilities and Transportation Christopher Milano gave the report.

At Manor Oaks-Roof is just about complete and they are awaiting a final signoff; with the exception of the ventilation covers that are being installed at the end of the month.

The bleachers at Manor Oaks are completed and awaiting an architect walk-through.

The roof at Hillside is still not complete but Milano said they are working closely with the contractor to accommodate his working hours on Saturday and that job should be completed at the end of the month.

In addition, Assistant Superintendent Bonnie Palker said that she and the architect John Grillo have gone over every classroom to be used as a special education class to make sure the specifications are accurate before they are submitted to BOCES. As soon as BOCES approves the plan they can then be submitted to Albany for final approval.

The board approved the hiring of a groundskeeper, Gerard McKenna, which members of the audience felt was good because now each school will have the landscaping that is needed.

Just before the end of the meeting Donald Pearce, of Miller, Lilly & Pearce, the auditor for the district arrived and gave a brief report on the finances of the district, which he said were in good shape.

Pearce said he first wanted to thank Bonnie Palker and her staff for their hospitality while doing the audit.

First he said they sample various transactions and the statements present "fairly" the highest level of praise when doing an audit. The general fund balance is about $360,000 which he said is the extra money to be set aside for emergencies and the district is allowed to keep 2 percent of the year's budget and for a budget of $18 million that's about right. The board he said, has given back $990,000 to the taxpayers. He said, "It's terrific that it has been given back but the down side of that figure is that you have to come up with that figure every year or taxes will increase." He added, "Actually, I received a late note that we are getting the state aid that was expected which is very good."

He added, "You will have to be very careful with spending and watch it closely this year."

For anyone who would like to further study the audit report, there will be one available in the superintendent's office at the Manor Oaks School.

During the audience to visitor portion of the meeting a resident wanted to know the status of the swings at the Manor Oaks playground. Palker said that the district will have to go out to bid which she had hoped to avoid.

The meeting ended and the next meeting will be held on Nov. 19 at 8 p.m. at the Manor Oaks School. Ordinarily the next meeting would be on Nov. 12, however, that is Veteran's Day and the schools are closed. The schools will also be closed on Nov. 6 for election day.