Valley Stream Herald 04-14-2022

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______________ VALLEY STREAM _____________

2022 HIGH SCHO OL S P O RT S P R E V I E W April 14, 2022

When Property Taxes Go High We Go Low

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Climbing out of a fiscal hole Village approves a budget, holding tax rise below state cap current budget, for the fiscal year ending next month, the village increased the tax levy by 4.5 perThe Village of Valley Stream cent, which also exceeded the adopted its budget for the fiscal state cap. year beginning June 1 on MonThat spending plan took aim day. The board unanimously at easing financial issues detailed passed the resolution at the close by State Comptroller Thomas of the budget hearDiNapoli, and at ing, which allowed recouping revenue residents to ask queslost because of last tions and voice their year’s pandemicconcerns before the related closures. In a vote. fiscal monitoring The new spending report last April, plan will increase DiNapoli categorized taxes by roughly $60 the village as a to $65 for the average municipality under homeowner, accord“significant fiscal ing to Village Treastress.” surer Michael Fox. At the time, the This year’s tax village had a projectlevy of roughly $33.1 AmIl VIRANI ed operating deficit million is 2.04 per- resident of $2.2 million. Since cent larger than in then, however, its the current budget, and did not finances have been looking up, as require the board to pass a sepa- improvements in budgeting have rate measure to override New steadily chipped away at the defiYork state’s 2 percent property- cit. Valley Stream was removed tax cap. Fox said that when from DiNapoli’s fiscal stress list accounting for changes in as of last May 31, according to assessed value and payments in Fox, and expects to stay off the lieu of taxes, the village stays list in the coming fiscal year. nearly $67,000 under the tax cap. The village still has a deficit of In 2016, facing a shortfall of roughly $1.2 million in its unas$2.5 million, the board voted to signed fund balance, reflecting pierce the tax cap, and boosted the tax levy by 6.8 percent. In the Continued on page 14

By JUAN lASSo jlasso@liherald.com

Herald file photo

THe AmeRICAN CIVIl Liberties Union is currently in discussions with District 24 to ensure that its sex and health education curriculum guarantees students’ right to comprehensive sex ed.

The state of sex ed. in Dist. 24 Advocates and experts offer alternatives By JUAN lASSo jlasso@liherald.com

As children enter adolescence, they are likely to experience a cocktail of emotions associated with puberty. Full of questions about their bodies, relationships and social pressure, they naturally seek advice in school as well as at home. While many sex education programs have provided students with a safe and informative space in which to learn, some critics contend that comprehensive, scientifically upto-date, LBTQ+ inclusive programs are lacking, and kids

are suffering for it. A coalition of parents and civil advocacy and LBTQ+ groups are pushing for a major revision of the current sex education curriculum in Valley Stream District 24 and other schools across Long Island. Others, however, have expressed doubts about making major overhauls to the program, arguing that some topics related to gender and sexual orientation should be kept out of school. The State Department of Education does not require sex education curriculum for schools at any grade level, but

does mandate a “satisfactory program in health education,” according to District 24 Superintendent Dr. Don Sturz. The state offers few guidelines or parameters for what that program should or should not include, other than instruction on the misuse of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, and on acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS, Sturz said. Fifth- and sixth-graders in District 24 are shown a roughly hour-long video addressing “puberty and the associated physiological changes they Continued on page 14

W

e’re crediting the arsonist for not burning down the whole house.


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