Among the endless pre-Shavuos to do list, Hewlett-Woodmere residents had one more important item: VOTE. Stephanie Gould, vice president of the board, and Harold Kislik won their uncontested campaign for reelection to their school board seats. The proposed budget of over $100,000,000 was open for the majority to decide.

The passing of this budget can be seen as part of a Long-Island wide sweep as 113 budgets were passed in the last two weeks. Yet, a closer look at the numbers tells a different tale. Some budgets passed by almost double the amount of votes. The Hewlett-Woodmere district’s school budget passed by a margin of 580 votes (1,793 pass, 1,213 fail). If the election date had been moved to the previous week to accommodate the religious needs of the community, as had been done in the Lawrence-District 15 elections, the results may have been dramatically different. Only time will tell if the Hewlett-Woodmere community will mobilize itself in a fashion similar to the Lawrence district to fight for fiscal responsibility while maintaining academic excellence.

A presentation from the current board shows that the 2.86 percent budget increase and 4.32 percent increased tax levy are necessary due to a veritable perfect storm of conditions: decreased federal and state funds, increased health care costs and teacher salaries, and increased special education costs. The presentation makes clear that these costs are steadily rising and compounded by the fact that they serve public and private school sectors. They predict these costs will rise by approximately $755,000 to a total of approximately $18,000,000. Not included on the public presentation, but available elsewhere on the Hewlett-Woodmere website, is the salary, benefit, and total remuneration information for the Superintendant of the schools and three assistant superintendents of the schools—estimated at over $1,000,000.

Proposition 2 for the reserve technology fund passed by approximately 700 votes. Superintendant Les M. Omotani, PhD states, “[This fund] will permit us to prepare our students to meet the challenges they will face as they truly live and work in a global community that is driven by technological advancement.”

The Hewlett-Woodmere website describes its mission as “provid[ing] every student with a comprehensive education, rich in the 4 A's—Academics, the Arts, Activities, and Athletics. It is our philosophy that Today's Learners really are Tomorrow's Leaders.” For the sake of the already overburdened taxpayers of the district, let’s hope that the future leaders will be able to meet these high goals while also sticking closely to the bottom line.