It may be summer but the Mineola School District has no vacation. There is much to accomplish for a district and board of education that will operate the 2005-2006 school year with a contingency budget.

"I am concerned that some of us have mixed feelings about the success of the 2005-2006 school year. Obviously, the defeat of the educational plan and budget and the stress of the district attorney's investigation could leave us with a sense of uncertainty about what the future holds," wrote Superintendent of Schools Dr. Lorenzo Licopoli in a letter that can be found on the district's website, www.mineola.k12.ny.us.

The board of education and district must get to work on a number of issues. Here is a look at some of the tasks facing the Mineola School District:

Following the indictment of the former assistant superintendent for finance and operations, the public's trust in the school system may be lacking. One of the telling signs is that the public failed two referendums and a budget following the arrest. One of the referendums called for capital repairs with no cost to the taxpayers and it still failed.

At a board meeting early last month during which the board of education discussed cuts that were required as a result of adopting a contingency budget, Dr. Licopoli recommended a forensic audit be conducted of all district accounts by an independent auditor with no affiliation to the district. Although such an audit could be pricey, it may be worth it to give the public some piece of mind.

In addition, Dr. Licopoli recommended a school-community communications bridging committee. Such a committee could help school-community relations, but school district residents still want to know they are getting their money's worth when it comes to education.

Lately, it seems as though there is always some construction project going on in the district. During the summer, work will continue at Mineola Middle School. The goal, according to Dr. Licopoli, is to have the cafeteria, new offices and the library completed by December 2005. The district should make sure there is as little interference with classes as possible and the work gets done in a timely manner. The board tried to get a handle on catching up with capital repairs and preventive maintenance. However, twice referendums were turned down. The board must find a way to allocate money to pay for necessary capital repairs such as the windows at the high school. With the administrative reorganization plan, the position of assistant superintendent for finance and operations was eliminated. Dr. Licopoli said Dr. Lee Chapman, who was filling that position on an interim basis, will be used only as a consultant. As part of the reorganization plan, the superintendent of schools will direct all aspects of finance and operations. The district must prove it can operate its finances without an assistant superintendent for finance and operations.

In recent years, the district and board of education put forth budgets that had no impact on services. However, with the failing of the proposed 2005-2006 budget, the district's adopted contingency budget does impact programs and services. The district and board must work to make sure those cuts have the least amount of impact as possible.

One cut that shouldn't be taken lightly is the pre-kindergarten transportation mid-day to and from Willis Avenue. A plan must be developed for the school that constitutes safe pickup and drop-off for the pre-kindergarten students.

Another cut has been late buses. This could prove to be a hardship for students who stay after-school.

Cuts also were made in the area of athletics. Funding for intramural K-12 was cut as was summer school sports and the swim program as well as 7th grade middle school teams for boys soccer, girls soccer, girls volleyball, boys basketball, girls basketball, softball, baseball and girls lacrosse. In addition, the weight room at the high school may not be open as often because of the budget cuts. This could even impact varsity athletics.

The fear prior to the board voting to make the cuts is that once these programs were cut, they may not be put back into the budget. The board must prioritize and decided for the next proposed budget which programs the district absolutely needs. It's difficult to tell taxpayers of a district with one of the highest costs per pupil in Nassau County that it cannot have late buses or higher fees have to be paid for summer school.

In proposing the 2005-2006 budget, the superintendent touted the fact that over $3 million in expense side reductions were made to the budget. Indeed, the board and the superintendent have made an effort to reduce expenses in recent years. However, that apparently was not enough as the budget failed.

The board will put another budget before the voters next May for the 2006-2007 budget. It just may take a 0 percent increase budget to pass. Dr. Licopoli's recommendation of forming a subcommittee among qualified community people for the purpose of constructing a zero based budget development process for the 2006-2007 school year is a good idea. That committee will have its work cut out for them. But then again it seems that every aspect of the Mineola School District community has its work cut out.