_________ Oceanside/island park ________
HERALD D’Ambrosio goes for the goal
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VoL. 59 No. 6
FEBRUARY 1 - 7, 2024
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o’Side kids put on big show
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Oceanside, I.P. schools face a loss of state aid By KEPHERD DANIEL kdaniel@liherald.com
Courtesy Gary Stevenson
The Commodore was a fixture on the water around Island Park for decades.
The Commodore’s legacy lives on
John Esposito scholarship fund focuses on I.P. 12th-graders who attend Long Beach High By KEPHERD DANIEL kdaniel@liherald.com
The legacy of a man whose generosity knew no bounds is setting sail in Island Park. Three years ago, John Esposito, a longtime Island Park resident, left a request in his will for his cousin — Lincoln Orens Middle School teacher and Island Park Kiwanis President Karen Davis — to start a scholarship fund for deserving kids in the village. But after Esposito died May 2021 at age 94, it turned out there was more to his request. After a year of probate on the will and two years of consultations with lawyers
and accountants, Davis and others are ready to begin awarding scholarships as part of the John Esposito Commodores Scholarship Foundation. The foundation will offer four $25,000 scholarships each year for the foreseeable future to Island Park residents who attend Long Beach High School. The money, from Esposito’s estate, has been invested to ensure its perpetuity. The foundation is a nonprofit managed by a board of directors, with Davis as its president. The board will review applications for the scholarships, and Davis encourages high school seniors to apply, with the help of their school guidance ConTInued on Page 10
Oceanside and Island Park school districts both would suffer a loss in state aid if the State Legislature goes along with Gov. Kathy Hochul’s executive budget proposal. The budget includes a rare reduction in aid to some individual school districts, including 10 districts in Nassau County. The governor is proposing an end to a “hold harmless” policy that guaranteed the districts would receive at least as much state aid as the previous year. Oceanside received a little more than $35,148,238 in state aid for the 2023-24 school year, and under Hochul’s budget plan, the district would lose a mere $787. Island Park received $3,641,540 in aid for the current school year, and the governor is projecting to cut $10,499 from that. T h e e xe c u t ive bu d g e t reflects a nearly $5 billion decline in federal aid as pandemic-driven support winds down. Federal funds usually account for 36 percent of the state’s budget. In addition, Oceanside and Island Park both received a
reduction in foundation aid from the prior year, marking a more substantial percentage cut, with just over a $484,000 l o s s fo r O c e a n s i d e a n d a $207,457 loss for Island Park. Foundation aid takes a district’s wealth and student needs into account, helping to create an equal distribution of state school funding. It is the primary source of funding for public schools to distribute state funding to schools based on student need and school district wealth. “The Board of Education and administration are currently analyzing the governor’s proposed budget and examining its potential impact on our district,” Island Park Schools Superintendent Vincent Rand a z z o s a i d . “A s we m ove through the process of developing our district’s proposed budget for the 2024-25 school year, we will keep community residents updated and look forward to their participation throughout the process.” The governor and state legislators are now expected to discuss the proposals and changes as part of the budget negotiations, with a budget to be adopted by April 1. Jerel ConTInued on Page 13