Minutes
Monday, March 13, 2006
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church 7:30 PM
Present: Leslie Whitely, Helen Kotzky, Liz Bouza, Frank Bouza, Ted Holmes, Larry Fischer, Lorri Prince, Kurt Schmeller, John DeMarino, Don Scarl
Kurt Schmeller and Larry Fischer will run for Glen Cove School Board in May.
Helen Kotzky will invite Glen Cove Mayor Ralph Suozzi to speak at the Coalition meeting on 17 April 2006. If he cannot attend that night, she will try to change the meeting date to one he can attend.
Leslie Whitely will set a date for the Realtors’ breakfast for the high school and invite Superintendent Aronstein to address the Realtors.
Leslie Whitely will try to schedule the Coalition Spring Brunch at Steamboat Landing on Saturday, 29 April 2006. If Steamboat is not available, she will try The Hideaway.
Shari Camhi has applied to the National Junior Honor Society to start a chapter at the Glen Cove Middle School.
John DeMarino attended a meeting of the Glen Cove Chamber of Commerce. Several Chamber members had negative comments about the schools and several said that there is almost no contact between the schools and the Chamber. John has arranged that Superintendent Aronstein address the Chamber at one of their meetings.
Kurt Schmeller pointed out that although the school district is on an austerity budget, parents may feel that everything is normal and that it is not necessary to vote for the budget on May 16th. In fact, the austerity budget restricts the district from certain expenses, such as all capital improvements and equipment purchases. As a result the buildings are deteriorating further and it is difficult to have them repaired. No equipment can be bought and the computers are getting more and more obsolete every year.
Leslie Whitely said that when talking with other Realtors they say that customers often say that they do not want to move to Glen Cove because the schools are not good. The breakfast meetings in the Glen Cove schools help show Realtors that the schools are good.
The problem is not that the schools are not good; the problem is that Glen Cove has many students living in poverty and students in poverty have many problems, including not scoring well on standardized tests. The Glen Cove teachers do well in teaching these students, but many of the students never recover from their early years in poverty.
John DeMarino said that some people who vote against the budget say that teachers’ salaries are too high. In fact, Glen Cove has one of the lowest average teachers’ salaries in Nassau County.
Frank Bouza said that La Fuerza Unida has for several years been teaching English as a Second Language courses in an after-school program in the schools and there are now about 150 students who attend. The program is supported by a Federal grant and is important to the Hispanic students.
Ted Holmes suggested that we ask taxpayers what their worries are, try to lessen those worries, and try to persuade them that the schools are good and that they should vote yes on the budget.
Leslie Whitely suggested that the Coalition prepare a welcome packet that Realtors can give to new residents who move into Glen Cove.