I am a Mineola School District parent with three children attending school in our district and I felt strongly compelled to write this letter in response to Mr. Maher's letter of last week. Though I respect his right to his opinion, I was saddened by his comments.

Yes, I have had strong disagreements with our school board from time to time, but his comments about "rewarding the school board" with this bond are unwarranted. How does an unsalaried school board receive some mysterious reward from this bond? Do you have any idea the amount of work and time that these citizens have put in for this bond? As far as I know, they are not compensated. Yes, I agree, I also feel your frustration about the Willis Avenue School, but after attending board meetings, I sense that this community is evenly split about selling this building or keeping it. Certainly there are strong feelings on both sides of this issue but in the meantime, our current occupied buildings are in dire need of upgrading.

With regard to Mr. Maher's comments about the Herrick School District (i.e., they have an immigrant population and that district is doing better), one cannot compare the immigrant population in Herricks to the immigrant population in Mineola. Different immigrant groups place different values on the role of education in their lives. It is very challenging for educators to deal with a population where education is not always their top priority (many are struggling just to survive). Additionally, from what I know, many of the immigrants that have settled in the Herricks community have already learned English in their native country. Obviously, the language barrier is a greater challenge in Mineola and one that I see our district is stepping up to meet.

I also take exception to Mr. Maher's comments that our test scores continue to decline. In fact, our test scores have been improving every year and every year, more and more of our students are getting Regents diplomas and more are attending four-year colleges.

Mr. Maher also points out that a return to the three "R's" is the only thing that will improve our schools. Please Mr. Maher, tell me where on Long Island or anywhere for that matter, are there schools that are only concentrating on the three "R's" and getting the results that he is looking for? You talk about the Herricks School District - technology is of prime importance in that school district (and all others on Long Island). Whether we like it or not, the schools of the future will be different from the schools of yesterday and even today. We can see the advance of technology in the last five years alone! One may feel that their son or daughter will do well as an electrician, plumber or other craftsman and does not need to know so much about technology but virtually every industry has been and will continue to be revolutionized by technology. When our schools were first built, would we have said "no" to electricity in our buildings? That is akin to what we are saying when we are saying "no" to upgrading the technology in our schools. We must give our children the tools for the next century. Paper and pencil were once all that was needed to learn and although I am totally in favor of plain and simple rigor in mastering the basics, our children must be taught to be lifetime learners - not only how to access all this information but to use it. It has been predicted that our children will most certainly have more than one career in their lifetime, something that most of us have not had to face.

In addition, our schools are overcrowded. Mr. Maher, have you ever been in the middle school to see children sitting in classrooms that were once bathrooms? Have you seen them trying to learn a lesson in a hallway? Have you ever been to Cross Street? Have you ever sat in a site-based meeting and wrestled with a growing population, trying to figure out where we are going to put all these children who have so many different needs? I have and I can tell you that these are realities that when you must do major renovations in our community and your schools. It is by not investing in our schools that will amount to a depreciation in our property values!

Furthermore, I also have a sincere question that I cannot seem to find an answer to. Why is it that many citizens who are employed by the district are against this bond? I find it ironic - these are people who not only work in the schools, they have their children in the schools (and from what I can see, they are great kids doing well academically), yet they are the first to criticize. There seems to be an attitude of so many people that "the teachers and administrators make so much money that we are going to defeat this bond to teach them a lesson." Unfortunately, what we are doing by voting no on this bond is to punish our children and ultimately, ourselves.

Do I think that all provisions in this bond are perfect? Absolutely not. But I feel that I have to overlook some items in order to achieve the greater good - bringing the Mineola School District into the new millennium, giving our children the room and the technology they need in order to become productive citizens. I feel that the school board has been sincere in its efforts and has worked tirelessly to bring the best proposal possible. Is it perfect? No, However, with all the complaints that I have heard about this bond, I have never heard anyone come up with a better solution. It is easy to be part of the problem - it is much harder (yet much more fulfilling) to be part of the solution.

Chris Napolitano