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HERALD Firefighters help with airlift rescue
Fighting mental health stigma
Bill focuses on boating safety
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Vol. 34 No. 28
JUlY 6 - 12, 2023
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Residents grumble over water rate hike By cAroliNe KellY Intern
Courtesy Christopher Griffith
ASSemBlYwomAN michAelle SolAgeS, with microphone, joined community advocates in Valley Stream to call on the state Department of Public Service to deny Liberty Utilities’ petition to increase New York’s water rates.
Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages, along with several community advocates gathered in Valley Stream to urge the state Department of Public Service to deny Liberty Utilities’ petition for a 35 percent increase of New York’s water rate. Representation from the Long Island Progressive Coalition, the Nassau County Working Families Party, AARP, and Valley Stream community members attended a June 29 rally to show their disapContinued on page 16
Joseph Pompilio, paragon of academic progress, retires By JUAN lASSo jlasso@liherald.com
In Valley Stream Central High School’s nearly centurylong history, few educators occupy the same epic status in their school as Principal Joseph Pompilio did in his. In a district where a culture of high expectations and exacting standards for its students is deeply ingrained, colleagues say few principals understood how to compel students and staff to believe in this vision better than Pompilio. His storied run as principal came to an end with his announcement of his retirement. Candace Hugee will suc-
ceed him for the upcoming school year. Some might be surprised to learn that Pompilio, a resident of Huntington, wasn’t raised in Valley Stream. Yet he has become so connected with the school and the community that his presence has become a fixture of village life. Even Mayor Ed Fare christened him an “honorary Valley Stream resident” in 2017. As principal, he watched thousands of students stride across the graduation stage over the years to receive their diplomas. He developed countless bonds and refined or expanded a variety of programs and tradi-
tions at Central. In a school with roughly 90 percent students of color, Pompilio — fair-skinned, sporting a charming white handle-bar mustache, with pronounced cheekbones framing a jovial grin in almost every photo — doesn’t exactly resemble most of the young people under his care. Yet through the years, families embraced him. Amid periods of dramatic demographic change at the school, few better understood the challenges of an increasingly diverse student body and the involved effort needed to close the achievement gaps between white students and their nonwhite classmates.
“In my experience, once you put expectations out there, no matter what race these kids are, they do respond,” Pompilio told Newsday in 2012. “I think our teachers work very hard, and we constantly strive to motivate and challenge these kids. We’re not a wealthy district, but the teachers here come early and stay late. These kids want to be here even
after the bell rings at the end of the day.” Few trusted more strongly, more completely in the capacity of students to rise to an academic challenge than Pompilio. Alongside his staff, he regularly communicated those expectations to students and the importance of positive achievement Continued on page 16