At the outset of the last Herricks School Board meeting, attorney David Goodsell, from New Hyde Park, issued the following statement:

"On June 30, 2007 my term as trustee of the Herricks School District will end. I have been reflecting on my term for the last several weeks and have been asked what are my future intentions. In thinking of what has gone on in the past, I remember the tumultuous times that existed when I first came on the board. Those times have now evolved into a much more civil discourse. During this time we have debated many weighty issues and made difficult decisions. We have done so, not always in a unanimous fashion, but in all cases, we have always done so in a thoughtful and intelligent manner, and I applaud my fellow board members for the work that has been done in that period of time.

"When we talk about education and talk about the high cost of education, the recurring theme is accountability, and here in the Herricks School District we have a great deal to be proud of because we do have achievement, not just by some students, but by all students. And the cost of achieving that these results has been moderate compared to others throughout the district. However, we face many great and difficult challenges ahead, including decaying facilities and ever-rising costs, just to name a few.

"I believe I can continue to assist in this regard. Therefore, I am seeking to be re-elected to the seat I presently hold in the year 2007. I look forward to speaking to the community, at greater lengths, to discuss the many difficult issues we have leading up to the May election."

The following students were named by assistant superintendent for instruction Dr. Deirdre Hayes, as finalists in the National Merit Scholarship competition:

Ashley Cheung

Mary Ibrahim

Justine Lee

James Mao

Anne Pak

Dr. Hayes also announced that the Herricks Middle School Math team won third place for Long Island at the '07 Math Counts Competition held at Hofstra University. Therefore, Dr. Hayes said, the Middle School team will go on to compete at a state level next month at Rensselaer University in Troy, New York.

Prior to the presentation of individual budgets by various departments Superintendent of Herricks Schools Dr. Jack Bierwirth delivered the following budget message:

Breakdown of the 5.71 percent of the 2007/2008 Budget Increase 2007-2008 Increase 2007-2008 Percent Budget Building Maintenance $75,000 0.09 percent Actuary and Auditors $41,100 0.05 percent Math Mandated Calculators $99,801 0.12 percent New Math Textbooks $39,000 0.05 percent Increase in Capital Projects $50,000 0.06 percent Medical/Health $475,045 0.58 percent Two Contingency Teacher Positions- Elementary Music Teacher $189,609 0.23 percent Contractual Salary Obligation $2,598,553 3.15 percent All Other* $1,145,652 1.39 percent Grand Total $4,713,760 5.71 percent *All other includes, but is not limited to: textbooks, technology, facilities, maintenance professional development, special education, equipment and transportation contracts.

The board started its budget review kicking off with the elementary school budgets. All principals including Nancy Lindenauer of Searingtown School, Edward Bellomo of Center Street School and Marjorie Richardson of Denton Avenue School were all on hand for the presentation.

Edward Bellomo first spoke about the process used to determine the elementary school budget. He said, "I want to first say, because I think it's really important, we take this process very seriously, because we know money is precious and for the most part the dollars are taxpayer dollars and we want to make sure we spend every dollar wisely. Most importantly, are our children and we want to make sure we do the best for our children and make the best expenditures for them given the money we have.

"The process is fairly similar for the three schools and when our committees come together in some cases we just work until the process of determining what is needed is ended. We are collecting data throughout the year as feedback in the current budget. We determine what is working and what's not working, what is falling apart, etc. In reality it's an ongoing process to determine how best to use the resources that we have.

"The focal point is instruction. It is our job to make sure we maintain high quality instruction for all the children - special education, ESL, general education. We just don't focus on reading math and social studies, while of course that is critical; we want to make sure we have arts and music balanced in as well. We want to be able to have high standards for all the children while dealing with the New York State standards that are placed on us in an ever-increasing manner each year.

"We have communication with the school community and we have site-based subcommittees, and each school does it just a little bit differently. At those meetings we look at the projections of how many sections on each grade we need and then we determine needs and how best to spend the money. And, I have to tell you, our faculty in each school is really wonderful. They consider one another. If there is a pressing issue for that year for one grade over another, the grades will give and take. They will say you can have this program for this year. They are really great.

"We then establish priorities and do the best we can with what we have. There are some basic questions we ask, and one is how do we continue to support the high-quality instruction that we provide for each and every student in the face of rising costs.

"How do we maintain a balance between the academics and the arts. To do this all the school administration leaders meet on a regular basis. We then determine what materials, etc., are needed.

"An important piece is always to provide adequate professional development to the faculty so that they never become stagnant and so in each budget there is money provided for that part of the overall education.

He said, "Technology is a big part of what is needed and everyone is striving to provide as many SmartBoards in each school as is possible.

"The students population in each school is as follows:

Center Street 599

Denton Avenue 585"

Denton Avenue Principal Marjorie Richardson took over, explaining the high cost of supplies for the grade schools, as well as for the technology visuals. She also explained the rising cost of copy paper and copier machines so necessary as teachers use them to make copies of work sheets, etc. She pointed out that all the expense is well worth it because the elementary education is the foundation that the student has to build his whole career on for the rest of his school years.

Technology Chairperson Don Barton distributed to the public a detailed list of what is proposed in the technology for the 2007-2008 budget. That list may be obtained by contacting the administration office at 248-3105. The list includes a BOCES FiberOptic Wide Area Network Service of $49,728. Computer equipment for the elementary schools with computer workstations to replace old systems in the amount of $62040, computer equipment for the Middle School in the amount of $36,775, with computer workstations in the amount of $5,170. Computer equipment for the High School to include computer workstations to replace old systems computers unit of $75, 482. The total breakdown of total requests over the 2006-2007 budget is $200,000. The funds will be used to acquire additional laptops, table PCs and SmartBoards to enhance student's educational experiences.

Leading Up to the Election of Trustees and Budget Vote

The Herricks School Board Trustees also handed out a timeline leading up to the election of trustees and to the budget vote to be held on Tuesday, May 15, 2007.

This schedule may also be obtained by contacting the central administration office at 248-3105. It starts on March 15 when the General Fund Budget is adopted and tallies every date that is important leading up to the vote on May 15.

The meeting finally ended and the next meeting will be held on Feb. 27 at 7:15 p.m. at the Herricks Community Center, 999 Herricks Road, New Hyde Park. The agenda will be a budget meeting of the Special Education Budget.