The Levittown Property Owners Association met on March 12, with Levittown Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Herman A. Sirois, as guest speaker. Treasurer Joe Towell chaired the meeting in the absence of President Jim Morrow.

Dr. Sirois opened his remarks by stating that he came not to discuss the budget which he would like to do at a future meeting, but to bring good news about the continuous progress Levittown students are making in their performance statistics.

The ongoing improvement of students can be explained by the district's emphasis in several areas, including: 1) accountability to taxpayers and students, 2) cost-effectiveness, 3) continuous progress in student performance, 4) setting high standards and aiming at excellence, Sirois said. Having been part of the Levittown school administration for 21 years and 16 of those as superintendent, Sirois said that he was particularly pleased to bring a positive report to residents and members of the LPOA.

Accountability includes community involvement, program reviews and audits, and compliance with state mandates. "All business is done in public, and we try to run the system less expensively when possible. Teacher licensing is also a factor."

In the area of cost-effectiveness, the district tries to balance achievement and cost, he said. He pointed out that "the 2001-2002 expenditures per pupil were in the lowest 25 percentile compared to the Nassau County average. The schools are immaculate even while hiring fewer maintenance people, transportation costs are kept down by maintaining our own fleet of buses, teacher/administrator ratios are high, costs are controlled by enrollment/facilities planning, with enrollment projections and capacity analysis considered."

As for continuous progress in student performance, Dr. Sirois stated this was especially good news as students "do better and better every year in Regents grades and in numbers taking Regents courses. In 1980, students enrolled in Regents courses and earning Regents diplomas were below the Nassau County average; in 2001, they were above. Future projections indicate our students will be among the top numbers in the county." "The highest standards are maintained," he said, "through continuous monitoring by periodic reviews of goals, and the goal is for all students to pass the state average." At present, he continued, 100 percent of the students are enrolled in some Regents-level courses, and the district offers some of the highest numbers of AP (Advanced Placement) courses." Also, according to Sirois, "college attendance rates are up; in 1980, the rates were below 30 percent, in 2001, they were above the Nassau County average."

The excellence and high standards are revealed in the previous comments, with the district striving for "cost and quality," Sirois said. He noted that "costs in Levittown are not too different from surrounding districts; they are all high in the northeast, but ours tend to be about average." Also, he added, "schools in Nassau County are reputed to be among the top in the world."

Questions were asked about busing, heavy back packs, enrollment increases. Dr. Sirois responded that busing costs are tied to the budget; students are given required homework three days a week to avoid having to carry heavy piles of books, and that even though enrollment has been increasing in elementary schools, the overall district enrollment is decreasing and will stabilize in about 10 years.

Sirois mentioned that he had written to Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi suggesting reassessing and legalizing two-family homes in the county to obtain additional revenue in taxes. The subject was not further discussed, but we are aware of the problems this would create!

The meeting ended with a round of applause for the upbeat and positive report delivered by Dr. Sirois at his second meeting with us this year.

The next meeting of the LPOA will be on Tuesday, April 9, at 7:30 p.m. in the Levittown Public Library.