Friday, May 16, 2025
Vol. 85, No. 20
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TIM LAU AND IRA GROSS ARE YOUR T RUSTED LOC AL REAL ESTATE ADVISORS. CONTACT US TODAY. Ira Gr os s As so cia te Re al Es tat e Br ok er Go ld Cir cle of Ex ce lle nc e c.5 16 .31 3.7 28 2 ira gro ss @d an iel ga le. co m Tim La u 劉 家 銘 Re al Es tat e Sa les pe Go ld Cir cle of Ex rso n ce lle nc e c.5 16 .98 4.8 50 4 tim lau @d an iel ga le. co m
Town of Oyster Bay honors head of JCCs
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In honor of proclaiming May as Jewish American Heritage Month, Oyster Bay Town Supervisor and his colleagues on the Town Board recognized CEO of both the Mid-Island and the Suffolk Y JCC Rick Lewis, of Plainview, for his years of dedicated service and leadership to the community.
Through Rick’s direction, the Mid-Island Y JCC provides a full range of meaningful programs for everyone from toddlers to adults, to seniors, and those with disabilities. Supervisor Saladino stated, “Jewish American Heritage Month originated in 1980, and here in our Town this proud
heritage is carried forward by exceptional leaders like Rick Lewis. He is a selfless leader who lifts people up and builds bridges to bring people together. His concerns center around helping all people and meeting the diverse needs of our community.”
The Syosset Advance Published every Friday by Litmor Publishing Corp. Periodical Postage paid at Hicksville, N.Y. 11801 Telephone 931-0012 - USPS 3467-68 Postmaster: Send Address Change to: The Syosset Advance, 821 Franklin Ave., Suite 208 Garden City, N.Y. 11530 • Meg Norris, Publisher
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District budget includes new buses, facility upgrades BY RIKKI MASSAND
The Oyster Bay Town Board honored CEO of both the Mid-Island and the Suffolk Y JCC Rick Lewis, of Plainview, for his years of dedicated service and leadership to the community.
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Voters in the Syosset Central School District will head to the polls on Tuesday, May 20, to vote on the proposed 2025–26 school budget, following a public hearing held during the Board of Education meeting on May 12 at South Woods Middle School. Assistant Superintendent for Business Dr. Patricia Rufo presented the $295,822,420 proposed budget, fulfilling the state’s requirement for a public budget hearing. The current year’s budget is $284,744,550. This week’s hearing followed three detailed presentations that began in February.“We’ve had a decade of enrollment growth - about a 16% increase in enrollment and this is a trend that we know is somewhat unique to Syosset. So we continue to face the pressures of that in terms of our instructional resources as well as our facilities, and 2025-’26 present challenges in terms of our escalations in transportation costs and inflation,” Dr. Rufo said. While Syosset’s enrollment has increased, student enrollment countywide has declined by 4% over the past decade. The proposed budget supports
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about 7,200 students across 10 public schools. Dr. Rufo noted Syosset was recently ranked the second-best school district in New York State by Niche. com. As presented, Syosset Schools’ regular and special educational programs ($4,492,489 higher than the 2024-’25 budget) and related benefits ($1,793,254 higher) account for about 60% of the increase in the coming school year’s budget (year-overyear). Other student services account for another, smaller proportion of the increase – $743,377 more than the current fiscal year. Dr. Rufo said contracted transportation and buses account for about $2.467 million of the increase; liability insurance with some inflationary costs and more forces that are “outside of the district’s control” represent $308,905 in increases for the district’s total budget increase, which is $10,077,870. “Some of the challenges we’ve been discussing for several months include escalating health insurance costs. We continue to manage inflation both in the supplies that we See page 15
POB Chamber holds Spring Fest PAGE 4 Teachers, admins granted tenure PAGE 15