Despite four budget planning sessions and the April 11 budget hearing to adopt the proposed 2006-07 budget, the Levittown Board of Education reviewed it one more time at their monthly meeting May 9 at Levittown Memorial Education Center.

Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance Jeffrey Carlson reviewed over the parameters for the proposed budget that will be voted on May 16 by Levittown residents. The main figures of note was the proposed total budget of $157.5 million which is a 3.9 percent increase over last year, then a 3.96 percent tax levy this year, which estimates for levies hovering above or around 6 percent over the next three years.

If the budget were not passed, and a contingency budget were used, there would be no difference in tax levy and total amount in the budget, but there would be no community use of school buildings, no new purchase of school buses and no new equipment purchases, unless it's needed for health and safety.

A topic that has been brought up on numerous occasions over the past couple months in relation to the budget, is the hiring of athletic trainers. During the Public be Heard session of board meetings, parents have brought up several instances where children were injured during competition and weren't properly tended to.

Board Vice President Diane Shapiro said that it needs to be addressed and factored into the budget if a trainer is to be hired. The district's Athletic Director Keith Snyder was absent from the May 9 Meeting but this issue will further be discussed at the May 23 Planning Session.

Then, the 2004-2005 State Report Card was analyzed by Assistant Superintendent Robert L. Davis. The figures were released in April and featured in Newsday. Davis compared Levittown Schools to other "similar schools" that the state dictates. When compared to districts such as Great Neck, Garden City, and Bethpage, Levittown generally is above the rest in Math and Science. English is the one area where the students are average.

Levittown is also proud of a 94-95 percent graduation rate, compared to a 77 percent statewide average. Also, 94 percent of students going on to two or four-year colleges, with about 60 percent taking the four-year route and 34 percent opting for two years.

In addition, MacArthur and Division Avenue High Schools were picked in the top 1,000 high schools in the nation by Newsweek magazine recently, putting them in the top 5 percent in the country. Board Secretary Gina Interdonato was pleased to hear of the students good work and said, "There's always so much negative publicity given when our students do poorly. It's important to let our residents know about the good things too."

More good things were presented to the board when teachers from the Claps Career and Technical Center presented students with their recognition from the SkillsUSA competition. SkillsUSA has 280,000 members nationwide and all Career and Technical students in Levittown are registered members for the program that has students compete on both a regional and statewide level in areas such as cosmetology, carpentry, engine servicing, criminal justice and much more.

Sixteen students from Nassau County were honored for top three finishes regionally, as three were awarded for statewide recognition. MacArthur students who were winners included Samantha Brady, Amanda Haas, Nicholas Monaco, and Lori Castilleneso, and Division Avenue recipients were Amanda Murray and Robert Velez.

After a night of rather uplifting news, Superintendent Dr. Herman Sirois announced that the school district has been exploring options to take if the pandemic of the Avian Flu ever hits the Levittown area.

"We need to move ahead with planning and need to make approval of certain purchases," Dr. Sirois said. "We can either stand still and take our chances, or take the appropriate measures to prepare."

A fictitious television movie on ABC on Tuesday night, May 9 has already seemed to raise some panic among the U.S. public, so some early planning to alleviate some worrying could only help.

The Levittown Board of Education will meet again for a regular meeting on Wednesday, June 14 at 8 p.m. For more information visit www.levittownschools.com.