The Levittown United Teachers (LUT) and the Board of Education have come to terms on a tentative contract agreement that ends a 14-month impasse.

School representatives said little about the deal at the Aug. 7 Board of Education meeting because the contract has not been officially signed. Both parties are expected to approve the deal during September meetings. "It's a fair contract," said Levittown School District Superintendent Dr. Herman Sirois. "There were no major changes. It's good for the district."

A sick leave abuse policy, which has been the sticking point of negotiations, was agreed upon as the sides approved a definition for the policy, Dr. Sirois said. A deal was struck shortly after. Board President Paul Granger would not discuss the sick leave policy but he called the contract agreement a "win-win situation."

"Everyone did a fine job," he said. "We have a fair contract and we kept taxpayers in mind. This is of mutual benefit to all parties."

The pact also gives teachers a "fair" salary increase, Dr. Sirois said. A representative from the LUT was unavailable for comment.

At the board meeting, trustees announced the school district set unofficial goals for the 2002-03 school year. The goals include continuous improvement in student achievement, encouragement of citizen involvement, monitoring of capital maintenance and a continuing effort to develop an alumni data bank.

A desire for continuous improvement in student achievement is reflected in the school district's mission statement: "Success for Every Student." Achievement goals are further defined by commencement goals set for each student. These goals include achieving mastery in all subjects, applying effective problem-solving strategies, communicating and working well with others, engaging in the challenges of lifelong learning and respecting oneself, others and the environment. "We need to look at what percentage of students are achieving mastery level on many state tests," said Dr. Sirois.

At the meeting, trustees also tabled a policy about student school attendance. Trustees wanted a committee to evaluate the policy further before voting on it for the future. Students can miss 27 days of school a year, but can miss more if they have "excused absences" that can be made up at a later date, said Trustee John Garvey. "We should be fighting to keep students in class," he said. "We're always concerned about how many days a teacher can miss. We have to be concerned about students also."

"We have no other policy to fall back on at this time," Dr. Sirois said. "(But) we can certainly consider changing the number of days."

During the public comment portion of the meeting, resident Joyce Schlener expressed concern about the baseball field on Gardiners Avenue. Baseballs hit out of the park damaging area properties, quality of life issues, trash problems and noise are a great concern, she said. "It's like Yankee Stadium," said Schlener. "Many people in the area are afraid of going in their backyards."

Dr. Sirois said the school district has attempted to solve the problem by only having younger children play on the field, decreasing the chances of stray fly balls. "I hope they prove to be better neighbors," he said.