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Feting Hewlett’s Riley Weiss Page 3 VoL. 103 No. 17

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Brandeis students mark Yom HaShoah By MELISSA BERMAN mberman@liherald.com

Melissa Berman/Herald

Eighth-graders at Brandeis Hebrew Academy in Lawrence held a Yom HaShoah program on April 13, paying tribute to the 6 million Jewish lives lost in the Holocaust. The students sang songs in Hebrew, talked about what the holiday means and explained the need to remember what happened.

Eighth-graders at Brandeis Hebrew Academy in Lawrence brought history to life with haunting clarity last week, transforming their annual Yom HaShoah program into a powerful tribute to the lives lost and the responsibility of the next generation to remember. Observed each year as Israel’s day of Holocaust remembrance, Yom HaShoah commemorates the 6 million Jews systematically murdered by the Nazis during World War II, while also honoring the surConTinuEd on pAgE 9

Hewlett-Woodmere announces 2026-27 school budget By AIDAN WARSHAVSKY awarshavsky@liherald.com

Hewlett-Woodmere School District Board of Education trustees voted unanimously to adopt a proposed budget of just over $149.95 million for the 2026-27 school year, a 4.8 percent increase over the current spending plan. The public vote on the proposed school district and Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library budgets, as well as the election of two Board of Education trustees, is scheduled for May 19, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., at the Woodmere Education Center.

The budget — Proposition 1 on the ballot — includes $4.2 million in capital reinvestments for building and facility improvements across the district. This encompasses HVAC system upgrades, athletic field renovations, the replacement of Hewlett Elementary School’s exterior doors, floor repairs at Franklin Early Childhood Center and Hewlett High School, and repaving and maintenance of the Hewlett High parking lot on East Rockaway Road. Mandated contractual costs for the district, such as special education; employee benefits; transportation; Board of Cooperative Educational Services, or

BOCES; and insurance also factor into the spending increase. The budget also includes a 2.61 percent increase in the tax levy, the total amount the district needs to collect in taxes to fund its planned spending. The hike is below the state tax cap, but up from this year’s 1.75 percent increase. At a March 1 budget draft meeting, the district initially projected next year’s tax levy increase at 3.04 percent, with nearly $2.84 million dedicated to district improvements. Through extensive work spearheaded by Superintendent Dina Anzalone and Richard Snyder, assistant superintendent of

business operations, the district increased funding for improvements while reducing the tax levy. “We were able to identify $1.8 million that had previously been voter-approved and reauthorize it,” Anzalone said. “This is at no additional cost to the taxpayer.” Asked why the money had

not been used sooner, Snyder, who joined the district in March, and has two decades of experience working with school finances, said, “It’s going to sound self-serving, but you have to hire experienced administrators that know where to look. If you end the year with a surplus, you never ConTinuEd on pAgE 13