The Levittown Board of Education held its first meeting of the 2006-2007 school year on Sept. 13 in the Board Room of Levittown Memorial Education Center.

According to the Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Victor Longaro the opening of school went very smoothly everywhere in the district, despite the normal transportation problems that are always ironed out in the first couple days.

As far as school attendance, each high school has approximately 70 more students this year, while the middle school and elementary levels are recording fewer students, which is a trend that will hit the high schools in two years. The good news is that district athletic directors are reporting record high participation in extra-curricular activities, according to Longaro.

As reported in the Sept. 8 issue of the Levittown Tribune, Dr. Herman Sirois formally declared that the board of education has decided to no longer pursue the idea of installing a pool on school district property, which set off rousing applause from the somewhat meager crowd.

Other news included the board's decision to go ahead with the Salk/MacArthur Traffic Study by swapping land with the fire department, which now requires the need for re-location of the tennis courts. The land swap would include the Levittown School District giving up 18,300 square feet of land in exchange for 12,900 square feet coming from the Wantagh Fire Department.

That begs the question, "Why would the school district give up 5,400 square feet of land that is used for educational purposes?" as asked by Wantagh resident and board meeting regular attendee Tracey Thomas.

The reason for all of this is to promote more safety for the children, while giving the Fire Department a better opportunity to respond quickly to fires, the board stated. "The land swap is going from one public entity to another," Board Vice President John Garvey said. "It doesn't change anything as far as taxes, and now the fire department trucks won't have to wait at a light."

But, don't expect to see any major progress in the foreseeable future, as state approval is still required which could turn a 3-6 month job into a year project. "It's hard to create an exact timetable, but I would say there will be no real progress until next September, which is not to say we can't do other small things in the meantime to alleviate the problem," Dr. Sirois said.

As for some good news, Dr. Sirois was proud to announce the presence of hand sanitizers in all district classrooms as part of Levittown's preparedness for fighting a potential spread of the Avian Flu. Schools will also be engaging in hygiene drills such as "learning how to blow into a Kleenex" which sounds humorous but could prove to be extremely beneficial, as health experts predict the flu could start spreading as early as this fall.

Dr. Sirois also emphasized that all parents be aware of the district policy for publicizing registered sex offenders who move into the Levittown District. In the coming week, a letter is going out to all homes stating that anyone can submit their e-mail addresses to be automatically notified when a sex offender moves into the district. Otherwise, concerned parents can log onto www.parentsformeganslaw.org to check the sex offender registry or sign up for e-mail notification.

The next Levittown Board of Education Meeting will be Wednesday, Oct. 11 at LMEC. For more information log on to www.levittownschools.com.