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Friday, June 2, 2017
Vol. 77, No. 22
Voters return Cohen to School Board, add Levitan and Cheng
AUTHOR VISITS JERICHO
BY RIKKI N. MASSAND
Reserve. On May 16 the Syosset and Woodbury community voted by a margin of 2,526 “Yes” and 539 “No” to support the district’s proposed use of $7,727,990.00 from the previously established 2014 Construction Capital Reserve Fund for all of the following district-wide capital improvements during the next school year, starting this summer: fire alarm systems; removal and replacement
With a strong field of six candidates to select from in the 2017 school district election, voters reelected School Board President Michael Cohen and also chose newcomers Carol Cheng and Anna Levitan to serve on the nine member Board of Education. Dr. Cohen was the top vote getter in the district, receiving 2,003 votes, while Carol Cheng received 1,726 votes and Anna Levitan got 1,089 votes. They are set to join the board at the annual re-organization on Wednesday, July 5. Runners-up in the school board’s 2017 race included Dr. Mark Fierstein, president of the Hunting Hill Civic Association, whom a total 1,041 people voted for. His running mate Melissa Breitstein earned 1,007 votes, and finally Dr. Uzma Syed finished with 945. Ten write-in votes were also cast for ten different people. With the election and the May 11 “Know Your Candidate” event hosted by the League of Women Voters at South Woods Middle School creating a frenzy, Cheng took a few days to look back at the challenge of running for the board seat and a look ahead to the teamwork involved in her new role. With her run on a platform with School Board President Cohen, sent the following message to the Advance last week. “I can’t even express how honored I am to be elected to the Syosset school board. Our community expressed a collective confidence in our current board and administration. Approving a sensible budget by a wide margin helped remind us of just how well informed and supportive our residents are. More importantly, resounding approval of our infrastructure proposition demonstrates our residents’ belief in the goals of the board and administration regarding the future direction of our district,” she said. Regarding the election results, Cheng notes that this spring at local events and in his messages to the community, Dr. Cohen repeatedly stated that regardless of the outcome he knew that the community believed in what the current board has accomplished. “A review of our broad voter support throughout the district helps confirm his belief. I am most pleased that six candidates with varying viewpoints were able to par-
See page 12
See page 12
Fifth graders from the Cantiague, Jackson and Seaman elementary schools came to the Jericho Library on May 23rd to hear noted author Rita Williams-Garcia. Ms. Williams-Garcia won the Newbery Honor Award, the Coretta Scott King Author Award and the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction for her book One Crazy Summer which was read by all the students in attendance.
Syosset voters approve capital project spending BY RIKKI MASSAND
In the May 16 school district election, 2,277 Syosset voters approved the $223,702,174 budget for 2017-18 while 793 opposed it. Year over year it equates to a budget increase of 1.75 percent from $219,860,188 this school year. Voters approved Syosset Central School District’s tax levy of 2.12%, still below this year’s state-calculated tax cap of 2.24%. The levy’s increase of 2.12 percent marks a tax-base contribution boost from
$187,650,187 to $191,622,402. At the Monday, May 8 school board meeting Syosset Assistant Superintendent Dr. Patricia Rufo spoke about the plan to fund roof replacement projects at two elementary schools through transfers of unspent funds from the 2016-17 budget into the 2017-18 budget. But major initiatives for the district’s plan to transform its aging infrastructure and physical plant in the coming school year will be ballasted, as the district hoped, by the use of its Capital
Syosset Council of PTAs hosts Chef’s Night PAGE 10 Great turnout at for Race for Literacy PAGE 8