The Manhasset Board of Education heard a presentation by architect John Grillo on the district building condition survey that identified $41 million in areas for improvement at its Thursday, Feb. 12, meeting.
The Manhasset Secondary School’s needed improvements totaled $19 million; Munsey Park Elementary School, $16 million; Shelter Rock Elementary School, $6 million; and the administration building, $48,000.
The survey is a state Department of Education requirement that must be completed every five years, in which a licensed architect completes a 129-question survey to produce a detailed inventory of every building component.
Grillo said this is his fifth building condition survey for Manhasset.
Trustee Maria Pescatore asked what his highest priorities were.
“You saw these buildings,” said Pescatore. “They’re aged.”
“I would do ventilation, security…handicap accessibility, and building shell,” Grillo said.
He also said that at Shelter Rock, he thought the ceilings “are priority one.”
“The next thing we’re doing in terms of security is hardening all of the vision in the doors,” Grillo said. “Just to slow an intruder down.”
The state passed a law last year requiring school districts to develop a plan to install air conditioning units in every school room.
Grillo said the cost for Shelter Rock would be $3-6 million. Munsey Park would be $6 to 10 million, and the secondary school would be $10-15 million.
Assistant Superintendent for Business and Operations Gerard Antoine discussed tax cap calculations.
Antoine said 3.44% would be the allowable tax increase for the 2026-27 budget, amounting to $106,388,224.
This year’s budget was $115,043,231, so if the board approved a budget equal to its allowable tax levy, it would amount to a little over $8.5 million in savings.
“We are effectively breaking even,” board President Ted Post said. “With our contractual obligations to our staff, with healthcare and retirement benefits, and with just general inflation.”
“This looks like a large number,” Post said. “But that is consumed very quickly by the cost of living.”
Antoine also projected the district’s projected fund balance.
Antoine predicted the district would have $673,878 in extra revenue and $389,261 less in expected expenditures, totaling over $1 million for the estimated fund balance at the end of the school year.
Antoine emphasized that the expected surplus was under 1% of the budget, but said, “The good thing is that we will have it because not everybody has a fund balance.”
“We can use some of this money to put in our capital reserve,” Antoine said, and the funds could cover some of the projects highlighted in the building condition survey.
During the public comments section, Mary MacLean, the mother of two students in the district, expressed disappointment that the board asked the state for permission to waive breakfast program requirements for its schools.
“Your own meeting minutes clearly explained that Munsey Park Elementary School did not qualify for an exemption based on the state’s definition,” MacLean said.
According to the minutes from the board’s Jul. 14, 2025, meeting, “The results received this year revealed a 41% response rate at Munsey Park with 75% of those responding indicating a lack of interest.”
“For the State to grant a waiver for the program, a response rate of at least 33%, with 80% of those children indicating a lack of interest in the breakfast program, is necessary for the State to grant a waiver to the District,” the minutes say.
“I found this disheartening,” she said. “Not only as a working mom with children who would personally benefit from this program, but if I’m being very honest, I felt like our elected board of education members were ignoring Munsey Park parent voices.”
MacLean also said she spoke with someone at the state’s office of children’s nutrition, who told her the board never actually sought an exemption from the state.
MacLean also said the breakfast survey’s structure was flawed. The state requires a one-question survey, and she objected to the district’s use of “paragraphs of introductory leading texts” before the question.
“We still need more time,” Post said in response. “I’m not gonna duck you.”
The board also recognized the students and teachers behind the school’s literary magazine, The Phoenix, which earned an “Excellent” rating in the 2025 National Council of Teachers of English Recognizing Excellence in Art and Literary Magazines program.
Brendan McGowan, the district director of English Language Arts, congratulated the magazine’s club advisors, Candice Kennedy-Pelfry and Robert Novak.
“Your commitment to fostering authentic student voice, high standards of writing, and a true spirit of collaboration is evident on every page.”
The board unanimously increased the amount the district treasurer could expense without the assistant superintendent’s signature from $2,000 to $25,000.
The board also unanimously approved an increase in meal allowances for employees at conferences from $10 to $15 for breakfast, $15 to $20 for lunch, and $25 to $30 for dinner.
The board also had several first readings for policy changes—one that would allow students to have overnight trips outside of the United States, dependent on guardian approval, another that would make it mandatory for a teacher to consult with the school nurse if they were giving out food in class, and one that clarifies language around AI usage for assignments.
The Tower Foundation will also hold its annual dinner dance on March 7 at 7:30 p.m., with the theme Ibiza After Dark.
The next board meeting will be held on Thursday, March 19, at 7 p.m.
