_______ Malverne/West HeMpstead ______
HERALD Class of 2022 Graduation Inside $1.00
Vol. 29 No. 26
Socking it to them
Honoring the best in health care
Page 3
Pages 6-7
JUNE 23 - 29, 2022
Voters pass school budget By KylE CHiN kchin@liherald.com
Courtesy of ERASE Racism
Kayla GEorGE rECEiVES her scholarship accompanied by ERASE Racism president V. Elaine Gross, and Malverne superintendent Lorna Lewis.
Malverne high school seniors win anti-racism essay awards By KylE CHiN kchin@liherald.com
Two Malverne High School seniors know what it takes to combat racism, each winning a $500 scholarship from ERASE Racism for expressing their views in writing. Kayla George and Kareena Sukhnanan were among four student writers honored at Garden City Hotel on June 8. The students were tasked with relating a recent event or personal experience to the importance of raceconscious education. “The hate exuded by the bias against coarse-textured hair is something that should be acknowledged, taught, and combatted in schools,” George wrote. “The message of dis-
crimination against students of color in various schools is that black students are not and will never be good enough for this society.” This clarion call against racial bias won George a scholarship from ERASE Racism, an organization dedicated to fighting systemic injustice in housing and education. Reflecting on an issue personal to her, George wrote about the continued stigmas against natural black hair in schools and “professional” settings. She recounted instances from around the country in which students sporting dreadlocks or un-straightened hair were told that their hair was unacceptable for school programs and events. She said that such instances “set the belief that thick and Continued on page 28
West Hempstead voters needed two trips to the polls, but a new school board budget was adopted Tuesday night, with 1,239 in favor, and 1,065 against. No other school district rejected its initial budget on Long Island last month, leaving West Hempstead the only board that had to go back and give the budget another try. With the thumbs up from the community, the school board averted needing to fall back to a bare bones contingency budget. The new budget isn’t much different from the $71.4 million budget voters rejected in May. Yet, by cutting a few hundred thousand dollars from the bottom line, trustees were able to reduce the pending tax levy increase from 2.14 percent to 1.5 percent. Anxieties had continued to simmer among members of the West Hempstead Board of Education as they met for their final meeting ahead of the district’s budget revote being held on Tuesday, June 21. At the meeting Assistant Superintendent Joel Press had outlined the district’s revised budget at the meetingt. A tax levy increase of 2.14 percent was included in the first failed budget. The revised budget proposal saw the added tax levy decrease to 1.5 percent. If the budget had failed again,
an austerity budget would have been a tough pill to swallow, assistant superintendent Joel Press said. That could include being required to charge outside groups for use of school facilities, for example. “I would think that most of our organizations like the Chiefs and the Little Leagues, they’re really trying to keep costs minimal for parents,” board president Karen Brohm explained. “So if we have to charge them, then they have to raise the costs to parents, and then prevent children from being able to participate in those events.” Getting approval required campaigning beyond the board itself. Retired educator Barbara Hafner had organized outreach to get her neighbors to the polls. “First go round, we sent postcards,” she said ahead of Tuesday’s vote. “This time we’re making phone calls, so hopefully we’ll make a difference.” Outgoing board trustee Patricia Greaves had used her own farewell remarks to impress how important the budget decision was. “Please vote,” she said. “I’d hate for my tenure to end with this vote not being passed. This is our community. We have to invest in it. We invest in our home. We invest in our family. We have to invest in our school district. “And I say that with passion.”