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Vol. II No. XLIV | www.StandardLI.com | News@standardli.com | Ph.# 516-341-0445
JAN. 27-FEB. 2, 2012
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YOUR FIVE TOWNS HOMETOWN PAPER
Five Towns Teachers Average $111,691 Annual Salary SOME TEACHERS ARE EARNING MORE THAN $160,000 A YEAR
DISTRICT 15 TO CUT TEACHERS, ONE H.S. PERIOD
By JONATHAN WALTER
Additional Reporting by Scott P. Moore
By Scott P. Moore
Standard Staff Reporter
In an effort to reduce costs and stave off a sharp reduction in government funding that will take a combined $4.3 million off of district revenue, Lawrence School District Superintendent Gary Schall will propose to the Board of Education several cost-cutting measures at the next organization’s next meeting in February. The proposed moves include the slashing of up to 12 teacher positions in the district, moving from contracted teachers to recent, local college graduates at
Kara, Nathaniel, David and Yakov from Cedarhurst pose in front of the Crushstation monster truck.
Photo by Jonathan Walter
Monster Truck Visit Rewards Local Kids’ Reading Effort Monster Jam came to Peninsula Library in Lawrence on Thursday as the owner of the lobster shaped, “Crushstation” monster truck stationed his gargantuan vehicle outside of the libary’s en-
Lawrence Superintendent Gary Schall.
Photo courtesy Lawrence UFSD. the Number Four School and the reduction of one class period at Lawrence High School. With federal and state government aid of over $1 million reduced from the budget, the school district is looking to cut expenses where it can while also looking to increase taxes two percent. Right now, the school district expects next school year’s expenses to increase by an estimated $2.05 million. The current school year’s budget for Lawrence is roughly $93.1 million.
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trance. The event was the prize won in a contest by Peninsula Library’s young readers, who read
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Do local teachers and administrators make too much money? It’s a tough question to answer as many locals don’t know how much work is being put in and how much that work is worth. However, a breakdown of salaries for teachers and administrators at local public schools can help. In response to public school budgets skyrocketing through the years, Governor Andrew Cuomo unveiled a two perecent maximum tax cap to prevent large increases from year to year, however, with budgets of over $103 million for HewlettWoodmere Union Free School District and over $93 million for the Lawrence Union Free School District, these large budgets are already a force to be reckoned with locally and over a third of those totals go toward teacher and administrator salaries. Lawrence School District 15 employed 334 teachers, which also includes district employed
psychologists, social workers and therapists, during the 20102011 school year, paying each an average of $109,774.82. A teacher with a bachelor’s degree and no prior experience entering the Lawrence district could be expected to be paid $51,432 a year while those with master’s degrees could expect a starting salary of $59,354. The highest paid teacher in the school district, Lawrence Middle School sixth grade teacher Susan Fineo, made $161,472 last year. (These salary figures do not include benefit packages.) Hewlett-Woodmere School District 14 employed 300 teachers during the same time period with the same classification during the 2010-2011 school year and salaries averaged 113,607.88. The highest paid teacher for Hewlett-Woodmere during that time period was Social Studies teacher Patricia Nardi, at $159,751. While some may view these salaries as being high, Karl Corn, a representative from the New York State Union of Teachers
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Man Busted with 40 Pounds of Pot; Lawrence Bank Robbed Tuesday BY Susan Varghese
Standard Associate Editor
A robbery at a Lawrence bank led a spate of crimes throughout The Five Towns this week, including a 40-pound drug bust. The Bank of America at Central and Washington Avenues in Lawrence was robbed on Tuesday, January 24. According to police, a white male around 5’6’ to 5’8’ tall, between the age of 45 to 50 years old and a me-
dium build entered the branch and gave a demand note to the teller. After taking an unspecified amount of money, he fled on foot northbound on Washington Avenue. There were no injuries reported. During the robbery, there were seven employees and three customers, police said. The suspect was wearing a black winter cap and a green GAP hooded sweatshirt. Detectives request anyone with information regarding the
crime to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS. All callers will be anonymous.
North Woodmere A Queens man was arrested after allegedly being found with over 40 pounds of marijuana in his possession in North Woodmere on Monday. Defendant, Duncan Jordan, 40, stopped a mail carrier in North Woodmere and told him that a package he was delivering to a home there was
for him. According to police, it was a premeditated pick-up. The scenario appears to be that the package was sent to a home with no intention of it reaching the actual homeowner; instead, it was likely tracked and intercepted by Jordan. The carrier gave him the package, and once the carrier realized Jordan wasn’t the actual home owner, police were alerted. Fourth Precinct officers
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Duncan Jordan, found with over 40 pounds of marijuana in North Woodmere.
Photo Courtesy of NCPD
Rockaway Turnpike: Our Area’s Big Box Shopping Hub By Scott P. Moore
Standard Staff Reporter
While most of The Five Towns is known for its chic shopping hot spots such as Central Avenue in Cedarhurst and Lawrence and Broadway in Hewlett and Woodmere, most of the big box stores and fast food joints have stayed to the west, closest to the area’s border with John F. Kennedy Airport along the ever unpopular Rockaway Turnpike. This unique area, which leaves many people and even Google Maps guessing whether it is North Woodmere, Woodmere, Lawrence, Cedarhurst, Inwood or even Queens, has everything from a hotel to home improvement and clothing stores to
Costco. Whatever the jurisdiction, Rockaway Turnpike is our area’s major commercial hub – you could spend your whole day shopping there, and not just because of the traffic.
The Five Towns Shopping Center The Five Towns Shopping Center, furthest to the northwest on the Nassau-Queens border, is home to a bunch of clothing stores, including the one of the only large discount retail stores in the area, Kmart. The expansive store is home to a diverse amount of clothing at competitive prices for men, women and children. Kmart also features many other goods, including sporting products,
jewelery, groceries, personal products and electronics. Only a few doors down from Kmart is another well-known outlet, The Children’s Place, which, as the name implies, features a great line of children’s fashions for the season. The shopping center is also home to discounter T.J. Maxx, which sells a tremendous amount of high-end clothing and accessories at discounted prices. Across from The Five
CONTINUED ON P. A2 The nearly one mile stretch of roadway of Rockaway Turnpike is densely packed with stores, eateries and places to check out.
Photo composite by Scott P. Moore.
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