At the first regular meeting of the Levittown Board of Education for the 2003-2004 school year, both administrators and the board agreed that the first week of school was a success, despite a few unavoidable problems.

"[The first week] went extremely well this year," said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Herman Sirois, adding that a few issues, such as class size and bus schedules, did come up, but that was a normal occurrence that could easily be resolved.

"There was a lot of construction going on this summer to make more rooms available to our students," the superintendent said. "Despite all that, the opening of school went very smoothly."

Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Robert L. Davis noted that over the summer, the district hired new staff members but some surprises always spring up and some positions were left unfilled by the start of the school year. He said that the district is making do with what they have and are working quickly to fill any vacant positions.

"By and large the start of the school year was a success," Davis said, extending compliments to administrators, teachers and staff. "All of central office visited all the schools. The teachers did a great job getting the rooms ready," he said, also complimenting administration at each school and the custodial staff.

Davis added that there were very few bus problems and that administrators were very happy with what they saw. Administrators noted that enrollment in the district is up a bit, although the number of students entering kindergarten has decreased. Dr. Sirois noted that while a few years ago there were over 600 children entering kindergarten in Levittown, the number now is about 500. However, the number of kindergartners entering the district still exceeds the number of high school seniors leaving.

In terms of construction, administrators and board members said they were very pleased with the work done at MacArthur High School, as construction was taking place all summer all the way through the first few days of September. Dr. Sirois noted that Lee Road and Summit Lane are experiencing ongoing construction and that additional rooms are being provided at Salk. He thanked the custodial and maintenance crews for their fine work.

Board member Gina Interdonato noted that several members of the board toured all of the schools a week before school started and they were amazed at the progress in construction. She said that she is hoping to arrange getting before-and-after shots of all the construction that was done in the school buildings to put in a newsletter to send to community residents.

"Residents should know where their tax dollars are going," Interdonato said. "[The work that has been done] is really amazing."

Board President James Moran agreed that the work done in the district's buildings is very impressive and complimented the construction companies. Board member John Garvey agreed, noting that work continued throughout the end of the summer, even on holidays.

"They were there Labor Day weekend, making sure that the work got done," Garvey said, adding that he even saw the company owner at the construction site at MacArthur making sure all the work was done prior to the start of the school year.

Also during the meeting, co-presidents of the Salk/MacArthur PTSA spoke to the board about a nurse position at the high school. They urged the board to make a half nurse position into a full-time one to provide the school with two full-time nurses on staff. It was noted that the school nurses are responsible for many things and many students, including over 200 students with special needs such as allergies to a variety of items, emotional problems and an array of special health needs. It was further noted that nurses are responsible for setting up athletic exams, scoliosis tests, administering eye and ear tests and any and all accident reports. They noted that without two full time nurses, an "unsafe and potentially dangerous situations exits."

Dr. Sirois said that the situation at the school will be evaluated immediately and appropriate action will be taken. Moran suggested that the board may want to look into the school nurse situation at all the buildings to make sure no potential risk is at stake to any students. Dr. Sirois said that, since the secondary schools are being hit with the increased enrollment, the nurse situation at all four secondary schools will be investigated.

In addition, residents expressed concern over the Girl Scouts at Northside being able to use the cafeteria in the school on certain days due to the room having to be cleaned after being used by student musicians. Scout leaders and parents asked the board if they could somehow make sure the facility could be available.

"The school district has, I think you know this by supporting the budget, a policy in making all school buildings and fields available to the whole community," Dr. Sirois said. The superintendent added that there is a greater demand every year for space in the district and in many cases does not have enough space to accommodate everybody, especially when it comes to athletic fields.

"We'll do whatever we can - we'll help you out however we can," Dr. Sirois said, adding that they will speak to the principal at Northside to see how they can accommodate everybody. "Sometimes, because of the needs of in-school programs, we can't always make guarantees, but we have to work something out. We don't want anybody feeling like they lost. We have a commitment to offer our services not just to our schools but to the community."