Superintendent of Schools for the Mineola School District Dr. Larry Licopoli delivered the annual state-of-the-district report and in it, he made some recommendations with regard to finances and instruction.

"Since my arrival in August 2001, much of my superintendency has been devoted to the board's goal of correcting past practices and advancing a comprehensive school system committed to excellence and school improvement." Dr. Licopoli said. "The call from the community and board of education to raise standards, build a system of accountability, develop and implement sound curricular programs, develop our staff and improve student learning is appropriate and that call is being answered."

Dr. Licopoli went on to mention the arrest and indictment of former Assistant Superintendent for Business and Operations John Jackson for theft of district materials and labor. With Jackson having been sentenced, it is the district's hope that the chapter has been closed as the board moves forward with a $10 million bond referendum that district residents will vote on Feb. 28.

"In the past year, the board and administration have promised to expand the transparency and full disclosure of our finance and operations activities. Each and every aspect of our finance and operations department is being re-engineered," said Dr. Licopoli. "In finance and operations, there was an old way of doing things and now there is a new way of doing things."

Among the superintendent's recommendations to the board of education was restoring the posting of assistant superintendent for finance and operations. This was the position that Jackson held but was done away with as part of the 2005-2006 educational plan and budget. Since part of Jackson's punishment involved surrendering his admistrator's certification to the state, the district can now post for the position. It was recommended that the position be restored by the district's new external auditor Callaghan & Nawrocki.

In addition, Dr. Licopoli recommended to the board that the excess funds in the 2005-2006 budget be used to offset the prior year's negative fund balance as discovered in the external audit of the 2004-2005 budget and that the finance committee help build a five-year strategic financial plan that eliminates the negative fund balance and includes guidelines ensuring the fiancial stability of the Mineola School District and the building of the fund balance to 2 percent of the budget level.

Dr. Licopoli also addressed academics in his report. "There is ample evidence that student learning has improved to the extent that several areas of our overall performance are indistinguishable from neighboring school districts," he said. "With the full implementation of school improvement plans coupled with staff development, in-service training, instructional training and differentiated instruction and a new K-6 reading program, we are seeing a new level of instructional intervention for students in need. Reading and math, particularly at the middle school level, continue to stand out as areas that need to be improved. Furthermore, the performance gap between general education and ESL students and special education students, K-12, must decrease."

Dr. Licopoli requested that deputy superintendent Dr. Michael Nagler and Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Sherri Goffman lead a school committee with the purpose of identifying the most learning needs of students in order to increase the performance of all district students and in particular, ESL and special education students, leading to the creation of a district of readers.

Dr. Licopoli also recommended that the curriculum, instruction and assessment committee consider, propose and/or develop the following curriculum and instruction services: K-6 comprehensive math program; K-8 parents/student guidebooks enabling students to practice for state assessments.

"As we plan for the 2006-2007 school year, we expect all of the growing pains associated with being a district in transition to be behind us. From this point forward, there are no excuses for not meeting goals for operational and academic quality and performance," he said.