Local officials were treated to a most informative evening last Wednesday, as they listened to a very thorough update on the state of our schools as well as a very comprehensive report on curriculum. Great Neck Public Schools Board of Education President Lawrence Gross and Terry Horowitz, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, addressed the Great Neck Village Officials Association meeting, both managing to touch on all aspects of the school district, both offering a very positive, upbeat picture.
Mr. Gross, a long-time member of the school board, spoke of how "a lot of the life of the community revolves around the schools ... because education is so highly valued in Great Neck." And, he noted, "that's what brought me here."
Mr. Gross then told of the "acrimony" and the "controversies" surrounding the school district when he first moved here in 1974. He very proudly reported on the "stability, the professionalism and the calm that now lets the schools do what they do best, with the support of the community."
When schools opened last month, there were 6,189 students enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade. In 1990, Mr. Gross reported, there were only 5,311 students. Along with increasing enrollment, he stated, has also come "changing needs."
Mr. Gross also reported that the school district has about 7,600 students who choose to go to private school, mostly to parochial schools, and, by law, the district must provide services such as transportation, books, special education and medical services. The district also provides "support" to private schools in the form of working with those schools and the parents. "Every child in Great Neck is a child in Great Neck," Mr. Gross stated.
Turning to the budget, Mr. Gross reported that this year's budget is $152 million, up a little over 6 percent from last year, with the great majority of the budget, 74 percent, going for instruction. He explained that much of the increases are due to state and federal mandates, over which the school district has no control --- medical insurance, retirement costs, inflation, and, this year, huge gasoline and heating costs.
The district's Adult Program has 15,000 enrollments, which includes 8,000 to 9,000 registrants. Mr. Gross said that the out-of-district enrollees actually bring money to the district through grants.
"We are very careful with the services we provide," Mr. Gross stated. "We have an educational system that runs, financially, like a business." He went on to explain how the financial scandals in the Roslyn School District has hurt other districts, Great Neck included. Mr. Gross said that, in Great Neck, they really had no concerns regarding their own finances, but still brought in an outside auditor to work for the board of education, to do an internal financial controls audit and an audit of administrative and board expenses over the last five years.
"We got a very clean bill of health," Mr. Gross reported, and said that they are now working on recommendations that came out of the audit. "We want to maintain the respect and support of the community," he emphasized.
Mr. Gross then touched on other financial issues, such as reducing costs of bond issues and working with state law regulations to a bond issue related to energy and related savings projects.
"We have enormous power (on the board of education), with the most important job choosing people (to head the district)," Mr. Gross said, in closing. He told of the two-year search, now most successful, to find a new superintendent of schools. And he further explained how the district had waited for a new superintendent, to hire two new assistant superintendents.
Terry Horowitz, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, was hired by the school district last January and began in March. "I couldn't be happier," Ms. Horowitz told her audience, as she said that to people outside the district. "Great Neck is wonderful ... what everyone else would like to be."
Ms. Horowitz said that her "dream is to really make a difference here." She was quick to point out that she has, and will continue to "roll up my sleeves" and get to work. And, although she has not even been here a year, she was delighted to report that she already knows quite a lot of people in the district and in Great Neck.
She reported that the district has 70 more students than last year, with 234 enrolling between June and September. "Demographics say that the population is beginning to level off," Ms. Horowitz said, adding, "we see no space problems" (in the schools).
She went on to speak about the "diversity of needs" in the district and how they must always be addressing needs and new mandates. And the mandates, Ms. Horowitz said, require school districts to be much more accountable. She explained that, with "No Child Left Behind," every subset over 30 must be measured, with a result of more testing added. The positive side, she said, is "if we use the data to help classroom instruction ... to do a better job to help children reach their potential."
Ms. Horowitz went on to explain that all students now need a Regents diploma to graduate. "The standards keep going up and we must meet them, we must constantly look to improve to meet individual needs," she said. She also noted that she has done assessment training, in order to be certain that the Great Neck children "are prepared."
Ms. Horowitz also spoke about the New York State math standards and the new math curriculum, which actually goes back to a curriculum similar to years ago.
Continuing, she stated that the children in Great Neck schools "continue to do very, very well, both the general population and the subsets." She explained that other districts, such as Jericho and Commack, do not have the diverse population that Great Neck includes, yet the children here "do as well or better" than these other students.
Ms. Horowitz explained that the school district constantly "responds to local needs." As an example, she told how Chinese language is being added at South Middle next year (it is already in the South High curriculum) because of the large Chinese population on the south side of the peninsula and also because other students now want to learn the language.
Addressing the "special needs" population, which also can include gifted children who need more enrichment, Ms. Horowitz said that now the trend is moving away from sending special needs students out-of-district. She explained how the district wants all of the children to be "integrated" and how federal mandates support this. "They are doing very well," she said. "We have raised our expectations to see that they reach their potentials." And Ms. Horowitz spoke about the district's collaborative classes, where students of all abilities are in one class, along with specific support for the special needs students. She gave the example of a blind child who is included in mainstream education class and is doing beautifully.
Ms. Horowitz said that the district is now serving so many different needs, including addressing newer needs such as the education of children with autism and those with Aspberger's Syndrome. As well, differentiation in the schools also means allowing advanced students to accelerate and attend special enrichment classes. And with small class size maintained in Great Neck, the district is able to meet each child's needs.
As the presentation wound down, and local officials broached a few issues, Mr. Gross stated that "the quality of education in Great Neck is as good or better today than anytime in the past." He spoke of the Great Neck Public Schools as being "a lighthouse district" and he discussed the district's constant efforts to bring pressure to bear on specific issues and board of education lobbying efforts.
When Rafe Lieber, director of legislative affairs for the Town of North Hempstead, asked how local government can partner with the schools and help the district, Mr. Gross noted that "grass roots connections are important" and that Town Supervisor Jon Kaiman is already involved --- "he's been here." Mr. Gross stated that the school district does want to become more involved, and he touched on some discussion regarding local emergency preparedness. "We're all in this together and the kids are our kids," he said.
When Ed Causin, former Great Neck Estates mayor, spoke of his Great Neck high school class reunion, he told how well-prepared he and his classmates had been as they entered college, how "way ahead" they were academically. This view was quickly echoed by both Mr. Gross and Ms. Horowitz, who proudly reported that today's Great Neck graduates are also extremely well-prepared for college, often entering with a wealth of advanced placement courses.
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