The Great Neck School District’s Board of Education recently devoted a portion of it public action meeting to revising two important school policies—the Policy for Scholarship Aid for Summer Programs and the Policy for Equal Opportunity. Both policy revisions were adopted, following the school board guidelines of at least three public readings for any policy revision, for any new policy and for any policy that is to be deleted. Thee April 21, school board public action meeting included the third reading for both policies.
The newly adopted revision for the Policy on Scholarship Aid for Summer Programs adds certification by the Nassau County Department of Social Services as another method to objectively assess eligibility for these programs. In the Great Neck School District, summer scholarship aid is available for resident children who attend summer programs provided by the Great Neck Public Schools. Children will be eligible for summer scholarships based on a review of income, verified by IRS tax transcripts according to a schedule developed by the school district, or certification by the Nassau County Department of Social Services. Based on the submission of all of this required information by the required deadline, a determination will be made regarding eligibility for scholarship aid.
The newly revised Policy on Equal Opportunity addresses the reality that the list of classes protected from discrimination continues to expand, In order to be inclusive of all new additions to this list, language has been added to indicate that the school district will not discriminate on the basis of any criteria. In addition, the policy now references that there are other school district compliance officers who are identified in corresponding school district policies. Basically, this policy affirms that discrimination, in any form to any degree, and towards any individual or group, “subverts the allowed aims of a free and democratic society.” The policy reads that the school board states that there shall not be any discrimination on the basis of any arbitrary criteria (which includes age, ancestry, color, disability, ethnic group, gender, genetic predisposition, marital status, national origin, parental status, race, religion, religious practice, ses, sexual orientation or weight).
The next public action meeting of the school board is Monday, June 1, at Great Neck South High School, immediately following the 7:30 p.m. UPTC reports.
