As of Friday, the Home School Associations (HSAs) and the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) encompassing all seven schools in the Port Washington district had voted to support the $69.9 million bond to repair, build and revitalize the district’s schools.
The solidarity comes about one month before the bond is scheduled to be voted on by district residents.
The showing by the HSAs and PTA indicates members’ “belief in the necessity of the projects” that the bond would be used for, said Stephanie Silverstein, co-president of the Port Washington Parents’ Council, the umbrella organization for all HSA
and PTA organizations within the Port Washington school district.
“Our children and our community deserve schools that provide a secure environment and the educational facilities they need to succeed,” Silverstein said. “Many classrooms, bathrooms, locker rooms and auditoriums are in desperate need of renovation and upgrading. Elementary schools are busting at the seams with hardly any, and in some cases no, additional classrooms to accommodate this growth. Expansion is required.”
There is also demand by school and community organizations for access to auditoriums and athletic fields, which outpaces supply, Silverstein said. “Additionally, the teaching of science has changed significantly and the district must upgrade and add science labs so our children are prepared for Regents, AP and new STEM curriculum, so as to be competitive for jobs.”
But not all are supporters of the bond, which will be voted on March 10.
“Everything they want to do with the bond can be done with our annual budgets, especially when you take into account the significant pension cost reductions we are seeing,” said Frank Russo, president of the Port Washington Educational Assembly. “Additionally, the school board
is grossly misleading homeowners
as to the full cost of the bond.”
The board is “not telling homeowners that without the bond, we would see in seven years a tax reduction of $550 a year for the average homeowner for 13 years,” Russo said.
That’s because current bonds that are taxed at $550 a year per average homeowner will be paid off in seven years, according to Russo.
The scenario would mean that what is contained in the bond, like refurbishing science labs and redoing music rooms, would not be done.
And, “I don’t believe that is
the right answer for the future and
vision of education in Port Washington,” said Alan Baer, school board trustee and head of the board’s bond committee.
