The New Hyde Park-Garden City Park school board heard extensive public concern over class size at its Monday, March 9, meeting.
Parents presented statistics on the benefits of small class sizes in early education and said the district’s savings could be used to hire more teachers to reduce the burden on current classrooms. A parent said petitions with hundreds of parent and community member signatures have circulated.
“I don’t want anyone in the community to think that anyone here on the board is not all for class sizes, but it’s not an easy decision,” board president Jennifer Kerrane said. She emphasized that “200 signatures or 500 signatures do not make a difference. We’re working on it, we promise we’re working on it.”
She said the decision to decrease class sizes is not easy.
Melissa Meineke, a parent and former teacher, raised concerns about the problems posed by larger class sizes.
“Kids in larger groups naturally congregate more, there are more behavior problems, and it’s harder to manage the class. Even the best teachers have management problems,” she said. “Teachers have more papers to grade, so they get assignments back later and have less detailed feedback.”
Kerryann Stagnitta, another parent, said the overcrowded fifth-grade social-emotional learning classroom is embarrassing.
“You can’t say social emotional learning is a top priority while your actions tell a completely different story,” she said. She cited transfer students, adding that mid-year transfers raise additional concerns about class sizes.
“If your class is at the cap, we’re not going to put a student in your class in March when you’re already full,” Kerrane said. “We’re working on redoing our class size caps. We are together on this, and we are working on it.”
The board voted on numerous resolutions during its meeting.
Trustees voted unanimously to appoint Meghann Tedesco as the principal of Hillside Grade School. Current Principal Beth Fox-Torreano has retired.
“Thank goodness we have a very able, caring and well-centered person who will be stepping into her shoes,” Superintendent Jennifer Morrison-Raptis said. “Thank you very much, Meghann.”
Tedesco starts officially on July 1.
The board voted to approve Morrison-Raptis as the district’s purchasing agent, effective Feb. 9, 2026.
