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HERALD HES hosts NYC STEM night
HAFTR H.S. goes ‘Into the Woods’
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VoL. 103 No. 14
APRIL 2 - 8, 2026
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All the news of the Five Towns
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Eyeing stability, Atlantic Beach offers a budget to settle five of the items of litigation this year.” Those included legal entanT h e v i l l a g e o f A t l a n t i c glements over the Libbey propBeach’s tentative 2026-27 bud- erty, the Chabad of the Beaches get, totaling $5.1 million, building and the Sunny Atlantic and Shores includes a modest Atlantic Beach but notable shift for clubs — all of residents: a reducwhich were settled tion in the property before the budget tax levy, along with was prepared. a broader effort by “We’re able to village officials to clear the debt, and stabilize finances we’ve got great visiafter years of rising bility on what the costs and legal chalsettlements are and lenges. the ability to manUnder the proage down our legal posed spending costs,” Frohlinger plan, the property added. “As we have tax levy would less litigation, we account for roughly have less legal 85 percent of village costs, and that’s revenue, down from been a huge part of 87 percent in the the budget.” current fiscal year. BARRY By settling the The reduction, offi- FRoHLINgER legal disputes rathcials said, is part of Mayor, er than continuing an effort to ease the Atlantic Beach prolonged court batburden on taxpaytles, the village has ers while improving curbed escalating legal fees, the village’s financial footing. “We had to look at our which have been a major budassets, our liabilities, our reve- getary strain in recent years. “We’ve been able to bump up nue and our appropriations,” Mayor Barry Frohlinger said. revenue not coming from the “ T h e f o u n d a t i o n o f t h e residents but from commercial decrease was the ability for us CONTINUED ON PAgE 17
By MELISSA BERMAN
mberman@liherald.com
N
Courtesy Hewlett-Woodmere School District
Administrators from the Hewlett-Woodmere School District and Woodmere Middle School accepted a grant from the New York Islanders’ Power Play for Education program at UBS Arena. The money will fund improvements in the school’s Outdoor Environmental Center.
Woodmere Middle School is awarded a $10,000 grant By AIDAN WARSHAVSKY awarshavsky@liherald.com
For students in the Hewlett-Woodmere school district, the Outdoor Environmental Center at Woodmere Middle School provides a positive learning environment regardless of the subject. John Andruzcewicz, the middle school principal, wants the center to continue to grow, so he helped secure a $10,000 grant from the New York Islanders’ Power Play for Education program. The program awards $10,000 to each of 10 schools at the team’s home games at UBS Arena in Elmont. Schools submit proposals for projects, programs or equipment that would enhance learning opportunities for its students. Andruzcewicz, who has been in the dis-
trict for two years, saw a social media post advertising the program and decided to apply. “The environmental center isn’t just a hub for our students,” he said. “It serves Hewlett Elementary and Ogden Elementary students as well.” The center, which opened in the middle school’s inner courtyard in 2015, introduces students to science and interdisciplinary studies. It has two learning spaces where teachers can host groups of any size, a number of planting beds and a climate-controlled greenhouse for growing plants. There are also a fish and turtle pond and a bird and butterfly garden populated with native Long Island plant species. Students in grades three through eight conduct experiments, learn about native speCONTINUED ON PAgE 24
ot only are we budgeting this decrease in property tax, but we’re budgeting a huge investment into the village.