At the last meeting of the New Hyde Park/Garden City Park School Board, three trustees announced that they will not seek re-election to the school board this year. The trustees are Curtis Axelsen, who was appointed to replace the spot vacated by Martin Cernese; Florence Raihl and Frank Miranda.

Axelsen, announcing that he will not run, urged the residents of the district to "step up to the plate" and run for this important position. He agreed that a trustee has a "hard, thankless job, but it's so worth it because it's for the kids."

The other trustees agreed, stating that they are not running because after having served a number of years on the board, they both feel they must spend more time with their families.

The school board election will be held on May 15 at the Manor Oaks School, 1950 Hillside Avenue, New Hyde Park, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Petitions nominating candidates for the New Hyde Park/Garden City Park Board of Education must be filed with the clerk of the district no later than 30 days before the meeting at which the school board election will occur. The hours to submit petitions are between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Candidates for the office of a member of the board of education shall be nominated by a petition, directed to the clerk of the district, which is signed by at least 25 qualified voters of the district, or by two percent of the number of voters who voted in the previous annual election, whichever is greater. Petitions must list the address of each signer, and the name and residence of each candidate.

At this school board election, voters will not only vote for candidates running for the school board but they must also vote for the following:

• New Hyde Park/Garden City Park School budget of $29, 572, 435 or a projected 4.34 percent increase

• Sewanhaka Central High School District budget (figures not available at this time)

• Hillside Public Library (figures not available at this time)

• The EXCEL Program, The New Hyde Park/Garden City Park School District is seeking a vote on the ballot to participate in a program from New York State called the EXCEL program, which in reality, is a gift to the voters. The program, if approved by the voters, would provide the district with additional funding to improve buildings. The New Hyde Park/Garden City Park District qualifies for $548, 947. At the same time the district could take advantage of an opportunity to collect building aid in the amount of $294, 290. The total amount being $843,237, but only with voter approval. The bottom line is that the district will be borrowing the $843, 237 from itself. This would allow the funds to be made available without interest.

The district will also vote on the creation of a Capitol Reserve which can be used over the course of 15 years for the purpose of maintaining the district's buildings. The objective is to avoid the necessity of issuing any future bonds and to avoid the necessity of substantial increases in the budget. Any available funds at the end of each year may then be put into the Capitol Reserve. These funds may not be expended without another voter authorization at the time of project.

The adoption of the budget by the New Hyde Park/Garden City Park School Board will be on April 16 during the school board's regular meeting to be held at 8 p.m. at the Manor Oaks School.

The New Hyde Park/Garden City Park School District also voted, if the budget is approved, that all classes in the district, including kindergarten, will start at 8:30 a.m. Further, all students including those attending kindergarten, will have an opportunity to participate in music, art and gym. During the budget process there were several requests for Pre-K to be reinstated in the district. However, this request was not acted on due to two factors. One being the expense, the other a lack of space to house a Pre-K program.

The board approved a request from the Garden City Park VFW Post No. 120 for the New Hyde Park Road School and Garden City Park bands to march in the Memorial Parade on May 28 at 9 a.m. All students must have parental approval. In addition the board approved the use of the Garden City Park School grounds by the VFW for the ceremony at the end of the parade.

As mentioned before, the next meeting of the New Hyde Park/Garden City Park School Board will be held at 8 p.m. on April 16 at the Manor Oaks School, 1950 Hillside Avenue, New Hyde Park.