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SAS Real Estate celebrates
Wantagh baseball in the playoffs
Legislation to benefit vets
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VOL. 69 NO. 25
JUNE 17 - 23, 2021
School districts look to clarify mask policies
A SIGN OUTSIDE a home on Willow Street in Wantagh. Polls were open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday at the three elementary schools.
by the [Department of Health] to continue to mandate the use of masks indoors in all school After a year of taking precau- buildings,” Wantagh School Distions like mask wearing and trict Superintendent John social distancing, many were McNamara said. “However, the surprised to learn that fully vac- use of masks outdoors on school cinated people, according to the grounds is no longer mandated. Centers for Disease As a result, students Control and Prevenand staff will not be tion, could leave required to wear masks at home in masks outdoors at most cases. all district schools.” Amid the news McNamara added last month, along that as the weather with the widened elicontinues to warm, gibility of the Pfizer frequent outdoor Covid-19 vaccine for mask breaks and the children as young as use of outdoor spac12, parents began es for instruction asking about the polwill be encouraged. icies of their chil“Thank you for your CHRISTOPHER dren’s schools. But continued patience students, with the CARINI and support as we last day of school Councilman, work through the approaching, cannot Town of Hempstead final days of this ditch masks just yet. challenging school Though school year,” he wrote to districts can lift the state Office district parents, faculty and stuof Children and Family Servic- dents. es’ and Department of Health’s In the Seaford School District, requirement of mask use out- Superintendent Dr. Adele V. Pecdoors, students over age 5 must ora told district families and faccontinue to wear masks indoors. ulty that the district would fol“As you may be aware, Gover- low guidance set by the state. nor Cuomo made an announce- “Effective immediately, students ment . . . that all school districts will be able to remove their in New York state are required CONTINUED ON PAGE 11
By JENNIFER CORR jcorr@liherald.com Kate Nalepinski/Herald
Community approves school district budget in revote By KATE NALEPINSKI knalepinski@liherald.com
The Wantagh Union Free School District’s $82.7 million 2021-22 spending plan overwhelmingly passed Tuesday. Roughly 2,950 residents, or about 70 percent of total voters, cast “yes” ballots, while 1,213 residents, or 30 percent, voted to reject the budget. The Board of Education unanimously approved the spending plan during a virtual session Tuesday at around 9:30 p.m. after results were tallied. Following the defeat of the
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proposed budget May 18, board members sought feedback from the community on how to modify it, and reduced expenditures by $1.1 million. The approved plan increases spending by 1.88 percent and taxes by 1.96 percent. Residents voted at Forest Lake, Mandalay and Wantagh elementary schools. Linda O’Halloran, chief polls inspector at Wantagh Elementary, said there was a “steady turnout.” Jay Lupetin, 70, of Wantagh, cast his ballot at Wantagh Elementary. Lupetin,
whose children attended school in the district, said he was surprised the budget failed last month. He said he had the students in mind when he voted “yes” on the revised spending plan. “As a retired [Bellmore] teacher, I know how important it is for the budget to pass,” he said. Had the proposal been rejected again, the district would have had to operate under a contingency budget, which would have frozen taxes and limited district spending, according to state law.
A Special Thank You To Our Class of 2021 Graduating Class List Sponsors: Village Auto Sacred Heart Academy Print Promowear Big Bob’s Storage
T
he time has long passed to end the mask mandates in our school.