The Levittown Board of Education had their first meeting of the new year at Levittown Memorial Education Center on Jan. 11. It brought with it recognition of four district students and staff members for extraordinary accomplishments, as well as plans of drastic change for the coming year, and beyond.

The night started on a very joyful note, when MacArthur senior Karl Anderson was honored for winning the Nassau County Football Coaches Association Unsung Hero Award. Anderson has cerebral palsy and it's a chore for him to even walk, which makes his exploits on the field all the more impressive. "He did everything that everyone else did everyday at practice," MacArthur varsity football coach Bob Fehrenbach said of his inspiring player.

Next, the BOE paid tribute to Salk sixth grader Jaclyn Sullivan for winning the Angels in Action award. Jaclyn was selected out of 17,000 students and given a $1,500 scholarship for her achievements. Salk Principal Vera Mingovits said, "Jaclyn comes from a very committed family," as her sister Christine was also recently a semifinalist in the Intel Science Competition.

District staff members were awarded as well. Marjorie Bonney, a building monitor at Salk, was praised for her quick reactions in performing the Heimlich maneuver on a young boy during lunch recently. In addition, Salk teacher Catherine Alcuri was honored for winning the Teacher of the Year from NYS Chapter of the Council for Exceptional Children, for her great dedication to her Special Education students.

The night then took a sudden turn from a celebration of great feats, to a revelation of future plans in the district, including a change in graduation requirements over the next four years. Twenty five credits are currently needed for high school graduation in Levittown Schools. However, credits will be going up 1 per year, until 2009 when 28 will be needed.

Assistant Superintendent for Instruction, Robert L. Davis has worked hard on making these ideas a reality and said, "State graduation requirements don't challenge students anymore." In addition, further competence in Math and computers will be needed in order to graduate, as well as more research papers and a possible community service related senior project.

Secretary Gina Interdonato feels the increased education in computers is essential to students' futures and said, "When my daughter went to college, students were given laptops when they walked in the door, and a lot of them weren't computer savvy and basically were lost their first year."

More drastic change for the future was brought to the table with the discussion of the Field of Dreams project. Director of Physical Education and Athletics for Levittown School District Keith Snyder mentioned plans of building a $15 million athletic complex, at no tax cost to Levittown residents. This would be located at Levittown Memorial Education Center.

"It would include a turf field with seating for 1,000, with lights, a track and freestanding field house," Snyder said.

In regard to the hefty cost of the possible complex, Snyder also said, "It's really only $7.5 million as corporate sponsorships should cover half of it."

The board voted 6-0 to allow eight more individuals onto the Field of Dreams Committee.

Board Trustee Michael Moriarity added that more people would mean more resources, which would give the project a better chance of completion.

The controversial portion of the evening certainly took place as several unhappy Levittown residents took aim at BOE members for the speculation of building a service road on the corner of Old Jerusalem Road and Wantagh Avenue, to benefit the fire department and serve student parking. However, most stated the safety of student pedestrians will be compromised if this happens.

Superintendent Dr. Herman Sirois said he was very aware of the "emotional feelings" tied to the construction of the road, and will certainly address the matter.