District Notebook: Budget Update, Crossing Guard Survey

The East Meadow Board of Education held a work session on Thursday, Mar. 17. Here is a summary of some of the issues discussed during the meeting:

Considering Crossing Guards for Certain Roadways

Concern has arose from some local parents about the safety of their children crossing Merrick Avenue and Bellmore Avenue, specifically near Luddington Road, to attend . These students are not provided bus services to the school and the parents are claiming that it is unsafe for them to walk on these routes.

“One of the parents had some concerns over the transportation issues that we have had where some of the parents thought they should have it based on where they live,” Superintendent Louis DeAngelo said during the meeting at the on Thursday.

Approximately 180 signatures were collected by these parents urging the district to provide transportation for the affected students. However, rather than changing the transportation rules, the district wants to look into getting crossing guards for the streets involved, DeAngelo explained.

The district is going to be requesting a survey with the Nassau County Police to see how many cars go by these specific areas and what the level of pedestrian traffic is on any given day. They have also been in contact with Norma Gonsalves' (R-East Meadow) office since they have also received many letters regarding this situation as well.

“Of course we care about student safety,” DeAngelo added.

Budget Update

Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance Robert P. Gorman explained that every year before the budget is formally adopted, the district brings in an auditor to check the fund balances to make sure everything is running smoothly.

“What they advised us is that the fund balance will remain unchanged through the year-end,” Gorman continued. “However, they suspect that the cash flows may be erratic – so state aid, maybe even our taxes, may not come in a timely manner or in the amounts we anticipated prior.”

He suggested that, similarly to last year, they set up a resolution to restore money to the restricted reserves the district holds. Gorman also talked about putting the necessary paperwork in place to make sure funding was available if state aid faltered. This would save time in the future and is considered a prudent step for the board to take. Though it essentially only reappropriates the funding and doesn’t change the bottom line, it would benefit the district.

“You don’t know what the state has the potential to do and we still have to make our payroll,” Gorman said. “It is something to think about.”

Furthermore, there is a new law that would enable the district to possibly tap into one of the restricted reserve funds if need be.

“These are reserves, that up to now, we have not been able to use,” DeAngelo said. “Because of what is going on in the State of New York, they are talking about unrestricting the reserves for districts that have something in there and not in the unrestricted.”

Recent Crime Activity in the District

Two recent situations regarding theft and vandalism were addressed. The first incident occurred at during the rehearsals for the spring musical “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown.” According to DeAngelo, students went out to dinner and left their belongings unattended. Somebody stole items from the students' backpacks and purses, including cell phones. They were able to find the people who took the items and they will be making restitution.

The second incident happened on the field at during the February break, when someone graffitied obscene language pertaining to the school’s athletic director and the principal on two storage units. They also lifted the school’s dugout up off of the ground.

“We learned who it was,” DeAngelo said. “They will be making restitution and writing apologies to everyone.”

He emphasized that in both cases they were able to identify the people responsible, talk to them about their actions and have them make amends for the damages incurred.

District Will Present Budget at PTA Meetings

The central administration from the East Meadow School District will be presenting the adopted budget at several PTA meetings in April and May. This will be a chance for community residents and members of the respective PTAs to learn more about the presented plan, as well as discuss its points. There will also be presentations made to the faculty and the