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Election 2024
All budgets pass for Merrick schools In the elementary districts, North Merrick voters approved a $41 million budget, and MerTaxpayers in the Bellmore- rick voters approved a $63 milMerrick Central High School lion budget. Seats on the North Merrick District voted to approve a nearly $197.5 million budget for education board were uncontested. the 2024-25 academic year. Incumbents Kathy Moran This budget affects John F. Kennedy, Sanford H. Calhoun and Mary Keene were re-elected with 468 and 507 and Wellington C. votes, respectively. Mepham high In Merrick, schools, and Grand incumbents Nancy Avenue and MerKaplan, Linda Wilk rick Avenue middle and Butch Yamali schools. were re-elected to Next year’s the education spending plan was board. approved by 3,748 They ran on votes. platforms rooted in District administheir knowledge of t r at o r s s a i d t h e the district. goal of the budget They earned is to maintain cur1,283, 1,065 and 895 rent programs and votes, respectively. services, address “My knowledge, a n d i n c r e a s i n g BUTCH YAMAlI experience and need for student trustee, Merrick relationships support services, education board enable to me to promaintain and vide infor med upgrade infrastrucguidance to our ture, while continuing to provide safety and secu- educational leaders,” Kaplan said. rity for students and staff. “I am honored and dedicated “It’s important to do what we always do when we make to making the Merrick School our budget,” Mikaela Coni, the District even better,” Wilk said district’s assistant superinten- of her campaign. “I want to make sure that dent for business said, “and that’s make sure the decisions parents have a voice in the eduwe make now are sustainable cational decisions that affect our children,” Yamali said. for the future.”
By JoRDAN VAlloNE
jvallone@liherald.com
I
Courtesy Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District
Jayda Levine, third from left, a student at John F. Kennedy High School, received a Best Project award at the Long Island Youth Summit.
At Long Island Youth Summit, two Bellmore-Merrick students honored By JoSEPH D’AlESSANDRo jdalessandro@liherald.com
Jayda Levine and Haniyyah Myricks, two students from John F. Kennedy High School, have received the Best Project award at the Long Island Youth Summit, an annual contest that tests students intellectually and develops their leadership skills. The two students entered the contest, submitting projects through essays that analyze issues young people face today and longterm problems they will encounter in the future, including substance abuse, mental health, housing, and the ethics and social impact of new science and technology. They received certificates at a summit which place at St. Joseph’s University in Patchogue on April 12.
Seventeen other students from Kennedy, in the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District, ended up as finalists in the competition. “What this program and this competition does, it really enables students to think critically and it prompts them to come up with some solutions,” Gail Lamberta, St. Joseph’s associate dean for community development, said. “We try to hone in on what general social issues are there, and also kind of connected with the target population, which would be high school students.” The competition teaches students how to think critically, research solutions and present them to their peers, Lamberta said. Levine and Myricks were able to speak with peers, educators and experts about ContInued on Page 7
want to make sure that parents have a voice in the educational decisions that affect our children.