Wednesday, Sept. 5 was not just the first day of school for all 11 Levittown schools, but it also marked the first board of education meeting of the 2007-08 school year.

Between Superintendent Dr. Herman Sirois, the rest of his staff, and the board of education, all the schools were visited on the first day to make sure everything went off smoothly for Levittown's 61st year.

"Things went well," Dr. Sirois reported.

That would be with the exception of some confusion at Salk and MacArthur over the new bus pattern as buses now exit from the parking lot between the two schools, instead of from the Salk circle. According to new Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Debbie Rifkin, the light should stay green as long as the buses continue to follow each other.

Apparently on the first day some of the bus drivers were unaware of that, which caused an abnormally slow departure from the parking lot.

"We hope this bus situation irons itself out," Dr. Sirois said. "It usually does."

It was also unclear if parents were made aware of the new bus and pickup system at Salk and MacArthur. Previously, parents could pick up their children from school in between the two schools, but due to the new bus pattern that is no longer possible.

"I believe a notice was sent home to the parents of children at Salk, but I am not sure about MacArthur," Board of Education President Gina Interdonato said.

Supervisor for Building and Maintenance Joe Ewald said the rest of these issues should be ironed out over the first weekend of the school year on Sept. 8-9. This is something imperative, considering enrollment at MacArthur is now at an all-time high of 1,414.

As far as other pressing issues are concerned, the State Comptroller's Office will honor the request of Levittown for an audit of budget and finances to begin in the fall. This is after last month, when a potential $7 million gap was found in the school budget.

"We requested this to help verify what we found and restore the community's confidence in our finances," Dr. Sirois said.

Dr. Sirois said he remains confident that this was an isolated error, but this audit will reassure that. He also wanted to emphasize that making up for these budget gaps will not be done by taking away from Special Education programs, as had been rumored.

Another item discussed was the bond issue vote, which is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 15 for all district residents. This vote is to authorize the use of an EXCEL Aid Bond in the total amount of $7.3 million, for the purpose of completing capital projects. These capital projects include the installation of field turf and lights at both high school football fields.

In prior meetings it had been classified as free, but Dr. Sirois clarified and said, "This is not free, but it won't have any additional costs to the taxpayer."

Due to state law, there needs to be 45 days from the time of the initial advertisement of the vote, until the vote could actually occur which explains the reason for the delay of the vote until Nov. 15.

Board of education members met with New York State officials twice recently in regard to creating a child safety zone by Tally Lane, which is on the east side of the Southern State Parkway, on Wantagh Avenue, adjacent to the entrance ramp. Students frequently walk on the narrow road there to get to school, which creates major safety issues.

"When we met with the state officials, we found alcohol bottles, and hypodermic needles in the woods by the parkway," Board Trustee Michael Moriarty said. "Those findings certainly show the urgency of this situation."

The Levittown School District recently came to an agreement on a five-year contract with the Levittown United Teachers Union through the 2011-12 school year.

The graduations for both MacArthur and Division Avenue High Schools have been changed from Sunday, June 15, to Sunday, June 22, at Hofstra University.

Building and Maintenance Supervisor Joe Ewald is working on decreasing the amount of geese on school property.

"I have been looking for a deterrent for the geese, but no luck so far," he said.

Other districts such as Plainedge have used the Geese Busters system, which sets off fake geese into the air which is supposed to prevent the real ones from coming. That is a nine- to 12-week program that Levittown is looking into.

The next board of education meeting is scheduled on Wednesday, Oct. 10 at 8 p.m. at the Levittown Memorial Education Center. For more information log onto www.levittownschools.com.