At the March meeting of the Island Trees Board of Education, the board passed several resolutions and heard reports from Superintendent Richard Segerdahl on the proposed summer programs and capital improvements proposed in the 1999-2000 budget.

One of the most anticipated resolutions passed by the board was the resolution to approve the calendar for the 1999-2000 school year. Many parents wanted to know for sure when school would start so they could plan their vacations. At the last school board meeting parents discussed their hopes that the district would open after Labor Day instead of before as they did in the 1998-99 school year.

Prior to passing the resolution, Segerdahl joked, "I know there are times to concede and this is one of them." The board approved the resolution to approve the calendar that would begin school on Sept. 8, 1999 and end the school year June 23, 2000. The calendar contains 181 pupil days and three conference days.

Another resolution passed at the meeting was to terminate the district's lease with South Shore Christian for the rent of the Geneva N. Gallow School and the Stephen E. Karopczyc School as of July 31, 2000. The lease goes until 2001 but is allowed to be terminated with at least a year's notice.

The district has decided to terminate the lease to make more rooms available for the district. The plan is for Island Trees to move the preschool classes that are currently over in the middle school to the Gallow School, where there are already two preschool classes so the whole preschool program will be in one building. This will open up those classrooms in the middle school, which are expected to be needed for the 2000-2001 school year when enrollment in the middle school is anticipated to be 920 students.

Segerdahl stated, "I have also been authorized, by the board, to explore the possibility of leasing both buildings [minus the six rooms needed for the preschool program] to another tenant, which could possibly bring the district in more revenue than we are now receiving from the South Shore Christian School."

The district is currently looking into a specific organization leasing the buildings and expects to be able to confirm those plans by the April school board meeting.

In regard to the termination of the lease with South Shore Christian Segerdahl stated, "I do believe that this is, in the big picture, in the best interests of the school district."

The board of education also approved the proposed 1999 summer programs which include; the YES Program for grades 1-6, SCOPE Summer Child Care, the Elementary Summer Music Program, 16 Sports camps, secondary summer school, driver education, an electronic music course for students in grades 9-12, and a Summer Science Research Program for grades 9-12.

The increasing demand for science programs in Island Trees came up several times in the meeting and was brought up again when Segerdahl gave his report on the proposed Capital Improvements in the 1999-2000 budget. One of the main projects proposed is a new science lab at the high school. This is the seventh new lab and Segerdahl stressed the importance of the students having the lab experience. Many students are taking more than the required number of science courses, sometimes taking five years of science. Segerdahl stated, "While that is all very good, we need to have the resources for them to have that experience." The new lab will cost $180,000.

Another project that the district hopes to undertake is the expanding of the high school band room. The band, next year, is estimated to have 150 students, and according to Segerdahl, that number will not fit in the current band room.

The plans for these projects are up in Albany and Segerdahl expressed the hope that will be approved soon so the district can have the projects done by September.

Segerdahl stated, "These are a very good investment, not just for the children that are there now, but for the children that are now in the middle and elementary schools so when they get up to the high school they will have that facility. The high school population, next year, will be about 660 students. The middle school, in one more year, will be 920, four more years after that, the high school will be over 900 students. So we have to plan. The last thing we want to do is to plan for this at the last minute. So this new science lab and expanding the band room will certainly help us to do that."

The board of education plans to adopt the 1999-2000 school budget at a board of education meeting on Tuesday, April 27. At the regular board of education meeting on April 28, Deputy Superintendent Peter Egan will present the 1999 Island Trees School Report Cards.