As parents of children who graduated from the East Williston School District we recognize, along with many others, that our district is at a critical juncture and overcrowding in our schools is a very real problem. Therefore, we were distressed to read in your newspaper the recent comments on this important issue by two candidates for our school board.

Candidate Zatlin characterizes efforts to devise a real solution to ensure quality education for our children as "... rushing to judgment ...", which "... will not help us for two or three more years ..." Is her solution to sit back and do nothing or to apply the Band-Aid approach to this major problem?

Likewise, candidate Fiorillo emphasizes "... a short term strategy ..." to address overcrowding. He offers no hint as to whether he supports a viable long-term plan that will benefit all our children, grades K-12, in the years to come.

It concerns us that two candidates who claim to understand our district and represent our community appear to be so out of touch with the one issue that concerns every parent. North Side School is currently at the bursting point, even before the state has mandated full-day kindergarten and without any consideration of pre-K. Willets Road School also is experiencing overcrowding and lacks facilities that a middle school should have. The Wheatley School is sorely in need of a new library/media center and other facility upgrades.

In order to maintain the benefits of an East Williston education for our communities' children and to guarantee they will continue to learn and grow in three distinct educational environments (elementary school, middle school and high school), our community must plan and invest now. That the results of this work may not be realized immediately is short-sighted and a poor excuse for inaction. This attitude demonstrates a real disregard for the public in failing to address what is the most important issue right now in our school community.