Four Elmont schools, Alden Terrace, Clara H. Carlson, Dutch Broadway and Gotham Avenue, were recently designated by the New York State Education Department as High Performing/Gap Closing Schools. In letters to the principals, Education Commissioner Richard P. Mills said, "You and your entire school community are to be commended for leading New York forward to accomplish our dual goals of increasing student achievement while closing the gap in student performance."

The Elmont schools were recognized for meeting all applicable State standards for English language arts and math during the 2003-04 school year and making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in English language arts, mathematics, science and graduation rate during both the 2002-03 and 2003-04 school years.

Eligibility for the designation as a High Performing/Gap Closing School includes continuous enrollment of a minimum of 30 students who represent at least two racial ethnic groups or who represent low-income, limited English proficient, or "students with disabilities" groups. The Elmont schools met both the designation criteria and the academic achievements, and were among only 28 percent of eligible elementary schools statewide to be named High Performing/Gap Closing Schools.

The commissioner concluded, "We at the department look forward to both learning from your achievement and supporting your continuing efforts toward even greater accomplishments."

He stated that schools meeting the goals in the 2004-05 school year will be invited to Albany to participate in a symposium on school success.

Legislation co-authored by Assemblymen Tom Alfano and Tom DiNapoli on school accountability was signed into law by Governor George Pataki.

The law is designed to increase oversight of statewide school districts to prevent future scandals from occurring. "New Yorkers invest billions of dollars each year to ensure a quality education for our children, and they have every right to expect that those dollars will be spent where they belong - in the classroom," Governor Pataki said. "The recent events in school districts on Long Island illustrate the need to strengthen fiscal oversight - including increased auditing, more reviews of fiscal data, school budget and capital project accountability reform, as well as whistleblower protection for school employees who report wrongdoing."

The School Fiscal Accountability legislation includes two separate bills. The first bill requires that school board members receive six hours of financial oversight training, while establishing an internal audit mechanism within each school district. In addition, the new law mandates a competitive Request for Proposal or RFP process for selecting independent auditors every five years. These external auditors would conduct independent audits annually. The bill also requires school boards to create audit committees to work with the auditors and school boards throughout the audit process and to develop a public formal response for the school board to issues raised in the audit.

The second bill requires that all school districts, boards of cooperative educational services (BOCES) and charter schools be audited by the State Comptroller at least once prior to 2010. Subsequent State audits would be determined according to a risk assessment established by the Comptroller. The Comptroller would report his findings to the Governor and Legislature in December of each year.

"These bills are examples of what we can accomplish when all parties work together," state comptroller Alan Hevesi said. "These new laws represent real reform and a significant step forward in improving school governance in New York State. I look forward to continuing to work with the Governor and Legislature to protect taxpayers and to help improve educational opportunities for all of New York's students."