I am writing in response to letters that have appeared over the past few weeks regarding the Mineola School Board’s reconfiguration plan, specifically the letter that was published last week.
First of all, it was stated that the majority of the district’s taxpayers are unhappy with the proposed plan.
However, it seems that the residents who have been vocal about their unhappiness are the majority of one particular community in the district, not the district as a whole.
While I will agree that the first bond vote that took place last October was overwhelmingly voted down, in my opinion this was because many residents were against the idea of change or the idea of paying for a bond.
If you compare the results of that bond vote to the vote that took place in February, you can see that although the bond was still voted down it was voted down by a much smaller margin.
By then, it seems, many residents took the time to attend board meetings and get the facts about the reconfiguration, and they realized that although it would mean change it would be change for the better. Residents were probably also more accepting of having only two schools close instead of the 3 that were originally proposed.
Those who voted it down for strictly economic reasons should be happy to know that the upcoming budget vote (which at a 2.37 percent increase is one of the lowest on Long Island) does not include a bond issue. The money needed for the expansion at Hampton Street School is already in the district’s possession.
It just needs to be moved from an undesignated fund to a capital improvement fund, but the only way this can happen is if the budget is approved. In addition, a small amount of money is needed for a library-media expansion project at Meadow Drive School. If the budget fails, all students in grades Pre-K to 2 will miss out on improvements to their buildings that could have been made at very little cost to taxpayers.
The contingency budget that would then likely be used would be exactly the same as the budget that we will be voting on next week, minus the funds for these projects, most of which simply need to be moved.
What I can’t understand is the complaint that the fifth graders will be attending the middle school and the eighth graders attending the high school. The board gave residents a chance to avoid these moves by expanding Jackson Avenue School to accommodate the district’s fifth graders.
This is exactly what we were voting on in the February bond vote. Those who now complain are those who voted down that bond! The 13-year-olds would not have to share space with the 18-year-olds had the bond passed.
As for the closing of Willis Avenue School, I believe that the majority of the current board members were not on the board when the “Mineola School Board told us we needed this school.”
Too bad that board didn’t approve a “state of the art facility” that could have accommodated the inevitable changes that the school district would go through. Forget about economics; even if the only changes to the district were demographic changes, Willis Avenue School would have eventually become impractical. Again, you can’t blame most of the current board members for having to close Willis Avenue School, since they were not on the board that approved the building of the school.
Finally, it is not the Cross Street lease that has “divided historically cooperative communities.” As has been mentioned in several previous letters, there is one community in particular that has caused this division.
The majority of the residents in that community are happy with the way things are, and I can’t say that I blame them considering that their children have several advantages over children in other schools in the district, most notable being class size.
However, the reconfiguration will allow all our children the equity in education that they deserve, and as an added bonus the closing of two schools plus the potential for rental income from these schools will keep our taxes down. Let’s keep the current board who has brought us to this point intact by re-electing Terence Hale and William Hornberger.
Catherine Randazzo
Mineola
