Local School District Budget And Election Results
Below are the results of the local school district budget and school board election votes:
Elmont School District
Yes: 1,226*
No: 937
Floral Park-Bellerose School District
Yes: 1,346*
No: 1,299
FPBSD School Budget Shot Down Despite 1,346 To 1,299 Win
Failure to get super-majority tanks both FPBSD and Elmont budgets
Despite the fact that more than 96 percent of New York State school budgets passed on May 15, voters in both the Floral-Park Bellerose (FPBSD) and Elmont (ESD) school districts declined to throw enough support behind both proposals. And while the final tally was 1,346 in favor versus 1,299 opposed for FPBSD and Elmont had a similarly positive 1,266-937 split, both school districts failed to garner the 60 percent supermajority vote needed for their budgets to pass as mandated by the New York State Department of Education. In addition, voters failed to pass the FPBSD bus transportation initiative that proposed to spend $70,000 to provide busing for students in grade five and six who live a half-mile or more from their school instead of the current one-mile limit. It failed with 1,016 residents approving versus 1,427 rejecting.
Lifetime Stewart Manor Resident Shares Memories Of Fallen War Hero
Among the memorials is a plaque that honors former Stewart Manor resident Lt. Thomas Lyons McVeigh, Marine Corps, who perished during the Korean War. The Floral Park Dispatch recently had the opportunity to catch up with lifetime Stewart Manor resident Barbara McVeigh, sister-in-law of Lt. McVeigh. McVeigh’s late husband, Brian, also served with the Marines in the Korean War.
Piano Playing Prodigal Son Returns Home
L.I. native John Tesh set to bring Big Band to Westbury
The quintessential example of being able to take the boy out of his hometown but not the hometown out of the boy, John Tesh once again returns to the area in support of his latest musical project. On Saturday, May 12, he will be playing the NYCB Theatre at Westbury in support of his latest album, Big Band.
A former Garden City resident, Tesh has always carried a special place in his heart for the village despite the fact that his family moved out following his graduation from high school in 1970. Those formative years living on Seabury Road inspired him to not only lend his hometown’s name to the title track of his 1989 album, but do the same when he founded a recording imprint in 2000. When asked about this inspiration while preparing for the upcoming tour at his Los Angeles home, Tesh came up with an interesting rationale.
Stewart Manor Residents Frown On Proposed School Budget
Elmont School District taxpayers could see a 6.9 percent increase
Residents attending the Stewart Manor Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday, May 1, gave a resounding thumbs-down to the 2012-13 proposed budget for the Elmont Union Free School District. The proposed $78.56 million budget marks a 2.8 percent increase from 2011-12 and would yield a 6.87 percent tax levy jump over last year. The majority of village residents live within the Elmont district, but many homes on Fernwood Terrace are zoned for Garden City public schools.
Residents present at the May 1 meeting questioned why Elmont’s proposed increase is so much higher than the other 56 districts in Nassau County, with the exception of neighboring Floral Park-Bellerose, which is proposing a budget that would increase taxes by 6.58 percent. Residents also expressed concern that the nearly 6.9 percent increase exceeds the state’s 2 percent cap on property tax increases.
Ex-Sewanhaka Educator Made BSD Superintendent
Richard S. Rozakis starts July 1
When Garden City resident Richard S. Rozakis was recently approved to the appointment of superintendent of schools for the Babylon School District, it was the culmination of a 29-year climb up the ladder in the field of education. After starting out as a social studies teacher in the Sewanhaka Central school district, Rozakis’ career path took him through stops as an assistant principal at New Hyde Park Memorial High School, a principal at Glen Head’s North Shore High School and his current job as assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction in the Bellmore-Merrick Central High school district. It’s a journey he felt drawn to dating back to his time growing up in Elmont.
Pete Fornatale Signs Off
“There goes the last DJ/Who plays what he wants to play/And says what he wants to say, hey hey hey...” – Tom Petty “The Last DJ”
On April 26, a seminal voice that was an integral part of the local airwaves was silenced when Port Washington’s hometown hero Pete Fornatale died from a stroke at the age of 66. Part of the class of free-form rock DJs whose ranks included Dennis Elsas, Vince Scelsa and Carole Miller along with late lamented names like WNEW-FM icons Scott Muni, Fornatale mentor Rosko and Alison Steele, the former high school teacher was part of a vanguard of FM broadcasters who counterbalanced the condescending and infantilized manner in which the dominant AM stations of the ’60s and early’70s treated rock ’n’ roll. And while corporate radio monoliths eventually wrapped their rapacious tentacles around any semblance of creativity by way of narrow formatting, skeletal playlists and jocks who were essentially scripted if not automated, Fornatale was one of the dwindling group of Don Quixotes titling at the Clear Channel windmills of the world.
Hance Family Foundation Holds 5K Run, Family Fun Day
Third annual community celebration to help raise funds for children’s educational initiatives
It’s the most talked about day of the year in Floral Park and on Saturday, May 19, thousands of Long Islanders will be participating in the Hance Family Foundation’s 3rd Annual 5K Run/Walk, in conjunction with the Floral Park Youth Council, and Family Fun Day to support children’s endeavors across Long Island and the greater New York area.A nonprofit organization, the Hance Family Foundation (HFF) was founded by Warren and Jackie Hance of Floral Park to honor the memories of their three daughters, Emma, 8, Alyson, 7, and Kate, 5, who died in a tragic car accident on the Taconic Parkway, on July 26, 2009.
Forecast Looks Good For Stewart Manor’s Fiscal 2012-13
Board approves proposed budget, holds tax increase to less than 1 percent
Against the backdrop of a rocky global economy, Stewart Manor appears poised for a smooth transition into the 2012-13 fiscal year. Indeed, Mayor James Kelly and the board of trustees approved the proposed 2012-13 budget, which will yield an increase of less than 1 percent in the real property tax levy, at a public hearing held on Tuesday, April 10.“I think our budget looks good,” said Deputy Mayor Robert Fabio. “We didn’t have to borrow from fund balance, take on additional debt to fund operations, reduce village services or lay off employees to keep the increase at less than 1 percent,” he added. This is in contrast to neighboring villages, which have had to cut overtime for village employees, deny new hires and propose selling off village assets, such as vehicles.
Floral Park Fire Chief Passes Baton To Successor
Mayor Tweedy swears in new chief, assistant chiefs
At the Floral Park Board of Trustees meeting held on Tuesday, April 17, the Floral Park Fire Department underwent a changing of the guards. Upon former Chief of Department John Kelleher’s resignation speech, Mayor Thomas Tweedy swore in Chief of Department Vincent Modica, 1st Assistant Chief Louis D’Amore, 2nd Assistant Chief Daniel Bennett, 3rd Assistant Chief Brian Naughton and 4th Assistant Chief John Florio.
