Friday, April 17, 2020
Vol. 80, No. 16
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School districts' budget votes, election pushed back to June
HELPING THE HEROES
BY RIKKI MASSAND
The Levittown schools have been supporting healthcare workers in several ways. Above, staff at Mather Hospital show off face masks made at Wisdom Lane School. See page 12.
Syosset Chamber to host virtual seminars for small businesses BY RIKKI MASSAND
In its efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Syosset Woodbury Chamber of Commerce strategized and partnered to present on-line Informational Seminars with area officials including County Legislator Joshua Lafazan, a Syosset native. On Monday,
April 6th, local experts presented valuable insights pertaining to the just released Small Business Administration programs. On Tuesday, April 7th , Lauren Linakis, Chamber member and business advisor from The Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Farmingdale State College, presented infor-
mation on the programs and resources local business can utilize to weather the storm of the current economic downturn. The Chamber Board authorized this presentation as soon as it could be held, not waiting until the regular monthly meeting date as the information was time-sensiSee page16
During a special virtual Town Hall event hosted on April 7 by the Jericho School District, residents were advised that the annual school board election and budget vote will not be held on its originally scheduled date of Tuesday May 19; New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that it will be some time after June 1. Once a new date has been established Jericho Public Schools will inform the community of it, including what changes to voting this year could be in effect as social distancing measures continue. Superintendent of Schools Hank Grishman explained that one potential date mentioned by the governor’s office was the third Tuesday of June (June 23). He said that discussion noted the potential to proceed without in-person voting as the district could send people applications for absentee ballots, which could be mailed back for residents to receive a ballot-by-mail. The ballots could be mailed out using Jericho Schools’ newsletter mailing list, and the cost of that could be “tens of thousands of dollars.” “How this unfolds will be a directive coming from Gov. Cuomo
so we would have no choice but to follow that to the letter of the law,” Grishman said. The school district’s attorney Chris Powers of Ingerman Smith has been directly involved in conversations with the governor’s office and the district, and during the April 7 virtual Town Hall he said the mail-in ballot idea had been mentioned for the last two weeks. School Board Trustee Barbara Krieger asked about the counting of mailed-in ballots, and who in Jericho Schools (staffing) would be charged with the task. District administrators say they’d be guessing without guidance from the state at the current time. “We do have sources in Albany that will inform us of exactly when the election would be, and this will be very cumbersome for district administration. Elections can be very sensitive as you have to watch out for fraud, obviously as we cherish the accuracy of our elections. The district must do what it’s told to do and follow 100%,” Powers said. Krieger commented that there is the possibility that more ballots would come in and the better response would be overflowing to See page16
This is a combined issue of several of Litmor Publishing's newspapers, bringing you news and information from eastern Nassau County.
Hicks. Schools deliver devices to students PAGE 8 Senior appointed to 3 service academies PAGE 4