From OPP Civic Association
On May 5, the Oakwood-Princeton Park Civic Association held its annual general membership meeting. In attendance were Jericho Schools Superintendent Henry Grishman and Assistant Superintendent Victor Manuel. Grishman spoke about the upcoming school budget vote on May 20. He announced that the school district is proposing a budget for the 2014-2015 school year with no tax levy increase.
In addition to the budget being on the ballot, Manuel spoke about the ballot proposal to utilize $3.8 million in reserves from a tax certiorari reserve fund to renovate the Middle School/High School auditorium and perform security upgrades throughout the District. The reserve fund was originally set up when Nassau County passed a law that attempted to shift the repayment of real estate tax refunds to school districts. That law has since been declared unconstitutional by the New York State Court of Appeals and the reserve fund must be expunged according to the District’s auditors. The auditorium is in disrepair, antiquated and has asbestos floor tiles and ceiling material that is in need of being removed.
This year, the election of two school board trustees are on the ballot. Three people are running for the two seats. They are Gina Levy, Claire Hochheiser and Barbara Krieger. Those candidates attended the General Membership meeting. That portion of the meeting was moderated by John Pi and Rand Rosenbaum. The candidates each made opening remarks and then answered questions from OPP residents in attendance. The issue of the Common Core curriculum was discussed. After the meeting, the Board of Directors determined that it would not endorse any particular candidate(s) but would encourage the community to vote for the candidates of their choice. OPPCA President, Joe Lorintz, who is also a school board trustee, did not participate in the endorsement vote.
Absentee ballot applications are available on the School District website, www.JerichoSchools.org, for anyone needing an absentee ballot.
The meeting concluded with a report on membership, beautification efforts, safety and traffic concerns and the sidewalk replacement project. Several suggestions have been made regarding the need to enhance resident participation in the association. To that end, welcome baskets to new residents with free trial memberships to the Association, enhanced social media and technological outreach and a community event were all discussed. Possible donations from commercial property neighbors to beautify our communal signs was discussed as was the Association’s efforts to get red light cameras and yellow traffic light borders on North Broadway traffic lights. The Association has also sent out a new sidewalk replacement survey and is awaiting residents’ responses.
Should any OPP resident wish to contact the Association, please email us at OPPCA@aol.com.
