At the last New Hyde Park-Garden City Park School Board meeting a report was given by Assistant Superintendent for Business Michael Frank outlining the details of the Excel Aid that the board is proposing.

However, prior to any decision of the board to apply for the aid, that is financed by the state, but with restrictions, the board will hold a workshop so that the public can become more familiar with the proposed aid and potential bond, which will eventually only be obtained by voter approval.

First, the monies must be used for capital projects and will only be paid for by the state after the project is completed. Therefore, the district will have to take out short-term loans, and possibly long-term loans. The interest on those loans which will have to be paid back by the district. Further, the large amount of monies that are being offered, if not applied for at this time, will be lost.

The process is confusing but will be explained in detail by Frank at the various workshops. Dates will be announced, so all are encouraged to attend the workshops.

In spite of the strong objections by New Hyde Park School Board Trustee David DelSanto and some members of the community, the board approved a new budget transfer policy that increased the sum of the transfer, without prior board approval, to $10,000. The transfer will be eventually approved by the board at its next meeting, but the transfer will have already been made.

The reasoning behind the new policy was that, since the board only meets once a month, the business office would run smoother if a transfer up to that amount could be made without waiting for the next board meeting. The board pointed out that no transfers would be made to a $0 budgeted line item without board approval.

The policy was approved by all board members except DelSanto who voted against it.

Rose Sava is appointed as Emergency Conditional Interim Director of Technology.

After 25 years of excellent service to the school district Hillside Grade School, secretary Marilyn Magyar has announced that she will retire at the end of the school year. Superintendent Cohn expressed her heartfelt thanks to Magyar for her invaluable service during the past 25 years.

At the open portion of the meeting a woman in the audience wanted to know how to apply for the position and was told that the position would be filled from a civil service list.

After the discussion about the various policies but prior to the beginning of the regular school board meeting, the board presented a special service plaque to Douglas Rubano, head custodian at the Garden City Park School on his retirement.

A Certificate of Recognition was presented to Nassau TRACT Mini Grant winners for their project "Math Made Fun" JoanAnn Kiffel, of Hillside Grade School and Kelly Setiadi, of New Hyde Park Road School. Both are kindergarten teachers.

Grace Quinlan was a presenter at "How to Make Math Count" sponsored by the Math Teachers Association and she was presented with a Certificate of Recognition.

Susan Schlueck and Angela Fiorillo were both listed in the Who's Who Among America's Teachers.

The following students were recognized with certificates. They are:

Kara Cheng, Olivia Chan, David Kim, Traven Ton and Alen Alexander. Elizabeth Braun, Nicole Kemmet, Gabrielle Rosario, Shivani Verman, Tara Zebrowski, Amanda Lalik, Shivanie Muneshwar, Samantha Verdecchia, Kaitlyn Colgan, Michael Lopez, Jessica Ali, Deanna DelSanto.

Ryan Thomas, Ailish Malone, Martin Cass, Christopher Iniguez and Michael Fink.

Trustee Curtis Axelsen proposed that he and a member of the community, namely, Annette Giarratani, form a committee to study what effect the proposed LIRR third rail and the track elimination will have on the school district if properties are taken, by public domain, for the construction of the project. Giarratani agreed to be on the committee.

The board announced that it will hold two budget workshops. The first on Jan. 22 from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at the New Hyde Park Road School and the second on Feb. 5 from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at the New Hyde Park Road School.

The next regular school board meeting will be held on Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. at the Hillside Grade School, West Maple Drive, New Hyde Park.

This month brought the death of longtime District Clerk Marguerite Swaider, who served from 1956 until 1995, and the death of Herman Kratz, district treasurer from 1985 until 2004. The board of education extended condolences to the families.

My visits to the classes of non-tenured, and leave replacement teachers, continue, including sitting in on a lesson, meeting with the principal, and meeting with the teacher to review the lesson. In addition, as teachers invite me to special programs taking place in their classes, I am delighted to see the instruction and student engagement.

Our wonderful concerts took place in all of our schools in December. Our five music teachers did an outstanding job of working with our students from grades three through six with choruses, orchestra, and band presentations.

The New York State English Language Arts exams started today, with third graders taking the first part of their test. Each grade, from grade three through grade six, has two or three days of testing for English language arts, and the initial testing period continues through next week, with days the following week to conclude testing of absent students. The testing is slightly different this year for a group of students, our English language learners. Up until this year, students who have been receiving English as a Second Language program services for less than three years took a test designed to meet their learning of English from a reading, writing, listening, and speaking perspective, the NYSESLAT (the New York State English as a Second Language Aptitude Test). During the summer of 2006, the United States Department of Education, under the No Child Left Behind Law, found the New York State test to be unacceptable. They determined, then, that all English language learners who have attended school in the United States for one year or more would have to take the English Language Arts test given to all other students. Commissioner Mills responded with an appeal to the U.S. Department of Education, which was unsuccessful. I am part of a sub-committee of the Nassau County Council of School Superintendents that continued to ask the commissioner, and the Board of Regents, to react to this demand from the federal government in a matter that better fits our commitment to the children we serve. That conversation continues. However, for our district, this means that 23 children from grades three through six are taking an exam this week and next that, educationally, is probably inappropriate for them. We will certainly adhere to the required law. But, we look forward to a change in the assessment of these students to be developed by New York State, and accepted by the U.S. Department of Education.

The Math Clinics will begin this month for children in grades three through six, providing test-taking strategies in a few hours of instruction. The clinics are being offered before school, after school, and on Saturdays to help ensure the participation of as many students as possible. Test-taking is a skill.

Instruction for our teachers in the use of SMART Boards continued, as Hillside Grade School teacher Diane Bolmarcich, our Nassau TRACT Teacher Center facilitator, arranged for two afternoons of training on the use of these interactive white boards. She has a SMART Board in her classroom provided by the Nassau TRACT Teacher Center. In addition, a group of teachers and administrators, joined me in visiting another district to see SMART Board implementation. The paperwork for the grant from Assemblyman McKevitt was finalized, with our request for eight SMART Boards, two per school. We expect to receive final approval for the use of this funding within the month. We will then purchase the SMART Boards, and place them in the classrooms of teachers who have expressed an interest in being the pioneers in the use of this technology in their classrooms.

Our new interim director of technology, Rose Sava, is starting her work with us tomorrow. Our lunch program completed its third month, and we continue to have a consistent participation rate of about 50 percent, 48 percent for the month of December. January brings with it the first month that our Wellness Committee has provided direct input into the menu development. Cultural Arts programs in the schools bring to life, through the performing arts, areas of curriculum that our students are studying. As part of the district budget for this year, each school was allotted $7,500 for cultural arts. To augment the funding for future years, it is expedient to contract for the cultural arts programs through BOCES. Then, in the following year, we receive the state reimbursement of 53 percent, adding to the funds that we have available for these worthwhile programs. To participate in this BOCES program, we do pay a 16 percent administrative fee. The $7,500 becomes $6,800 to spend. To date, each of the schools has spent its district funding as follows: Garden City Park School - $1,950; Hillside Grade School - $4,425; Manor Oaks School - $3,105; and New Hyde Park Road School - $1,450. The PTA of Hillside Grade School is requesting permission to donate funding for a cultural arts program, which appears on this agenda, as there is insufficient funding remaining in the District allocation for the program. At last month's meeting the board approved the extension of an agreement with retired Assistant Superintendent for Business Bonnie Palker. Ms. Palker is now assisting us with the concluding paperwork for the bond approved by the community in 2003. She will continue that work with us at the rate of $100 per hour. She worked for the district after her retirement from January 2006 through December 2006 for a total of 74 hours.

Understanding school financing, state aid, and property tax relief is vital for all community members. The Nassau County Council of School Superintendents, Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association, and the Nassau Region PTA have joined together to sponsor a meeting where this will be discussed. This will take place on Friday, Feb. 9, from 9:30 a.m. until 11 a.m. in the East Meadow School District's Salisbury School. Last year we had a group attend that included board members, administrators, and a community member. Please contact my office to advise me if you plan to attend.

In his inaugural address, Governor Eliot Spitzer focused on several items of interest to public education saying, "We must provide our schools with the necessary investment, reform, and accountability to adapt to a new paradigm." Specifically, he called for:

• reform of the school funding formula

• dramatically increasing investment in education in the next four years

• making pre-kindergarten available to every 4-year-old within the next four years

• smaller class size

• increasing the length of the school day and school year

• more after-school programs

• requiring schools to use new money to "invest in programs that have been proven to work"

• providing every child with access to state-of-the-art Internet libraries

• raising the charter school cap

Additional details related to these and other items will be included in the Executive Budget, which Governor Spitzer says he will release on Jan. 31, 2007.

At our December 2006 board meeting, tax exemptions were approved by the board. A question was asked regarding the number of residents and businesses that receive the exemptions. Nassau County provided us with the following information:

• 373 - Low-income senior exemptions

• 4 - Limited-income disable residents

• 93 - Firefighters

The Budget preparation for the 2007-2008 school year has started, with administrators providing the projects, programs, and related costs. Community input is vital to this process. Two sessions have been scheduled for the community to provide the board and administration with areas of interest related to our school district's programs. These sessions will take place on Jan. 22, and Feb. 5, at 7:30 p.m. in the New Hyde Park Road School. In addition, the community is invited to email budget-related comments and questions to us at budgetqa@nhp-gcp.org. .