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UNIONDALE _____________
HERALD BEACON
Vol. 76 No. 17
Phonics fun fashion show
America’s next favorite student
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APRIl 23 - 29, 2026
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Students heat up in LIJVS kitchen By STACY DRIKS sdriks@liherald.com
Andrew Kempski/Herald
Academy Charter School students and the faculty of LIJ Valley Stream got together after the competition. Students explored career paths in healthcare through Northwell Health’s MedVoyage program, which provides hands-on training and exposure to hospital operations.
Forty students from Uniondale’s Academy Charter School returned to Long Island Jewish Valley Stream for another installment of the MedVoyage program, taking part in a hands-on cooking competition inside the hospital’s Food and Nutrition Services department. The program, now in its third year and led by Northwell Health’s Center for Learning and Innovation, has expanded to partner with Academy Charter School, Mineola High School and Bethpage High CoNtINued oN pAge 10
School board adopts $296M budget, seeking tax override vote By STACY DRIKS sdriks@liherald.com
The Uniondale school district unanimously adopted a $296 million budget for the 202627 school year at the Board of Education meeting last week, approving a spending plan that includes a property-tax hike that exceeds the state’s limit in order to avoid cuts in staff, programs and services. Superintendent Monique Darrisaw-Akil said the district would pierce the state-mandated tax-increase cap, citing limited increases in state aid and rising costs. As a result, the spending plan will need the
support of at least 60 percent of district voters to pass next month. The district is slated to receive only about 1 percent more state aid next school year, which Darrisaw-Akil described as insufficient to meet student needs. “We know that that level of funding is woefully inadequate to meet the needs of our students, and to maintain the high-quality programs,” she said. Over the past four years, the district’s tax levy increases have averaged about 2.4 percent, but the relatively small 2 percent hike proposed for 202627 — which administrators esti-
mate will cost the average homeowner about $121 more in property taxes per year — will be greater than the state’s allowable increase. “It’s really important to note that while [the 2 percent increase] does exceed the taxcalculated negative cap,” Darrisaw-Akil said, “this 2 percent assessment is lower than the increase we implemented last year.” Mary Martinez-Lagnado the district’s assistant superintendent for business affairs, explained that the district’s tax cap for the coming year is calculated at negative 0.4 percent, largely due to changes in the
state formula, including lower allowable expenses than previous years. That effectively makes it impossible for the district to raise taxes at all without supermajority voter approval. Olga Hernandez, of Hempstead, questioned both the tax cap override and whether increased spending will translate into improved services.
She said she was not convinced that money earmarked for special education is being used effectively, and wanted more transparency. “Special-education students are really not receiving the services that they deserve,” Hernandez said, noting that the proposed spending plan allocates roughly $38.7 million to CoNtINued oN pAge 9