Serving Williston Park, East Williston, Mineola, Albertson and Searingtown
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Friday, December 21, 2018
Vol. 67, No. 51
NEW YEAR’S DINING GUIDE
MINEOLA EYES FULL-DAY PRE-K
REASSESSMENT HEARING DRAWS A CROWD
PAGES 31-34, 39-42
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PAGE 6
E.W. ed board, village set date for fence talks
GIFT OF GIVING
Counsel representing both groups will discuss proposed project plans BY J E D HENDRIXSON Counsel representing the East Williston school district and the Village of East Williston will meet early next month to further discuss the erection of a retaining wall and fence at the North Side School. Debate over the erection of the fence has been ongoing at meetings of the district’s Board of Education and the village’s Board of Trustees for months. Though a specific date was not provided,!Assistant Superintendent for Business Diane Castonguay said the meeting is scheduled for the first week of January. Efforts to reach the school district clerk and village attorney for confirmation of the meeting date were unavailing. At its meeting Monday night, the East Williston Board of Education invited district architect John Grillo of JAG Architects to present the plans for the three-foot-tall brick retaining wall at the front of
the school and a six-foot-tall black estate fence surrounding the school property. Grillo responded to 12 issues regarding the fence raised in a series of letters that the village sent the Board of Education. The brick retaining wall proposed for the front of the school was recommended by the county Department of Homeland Security in case any drivers lose control and end up on the front lawn of the school, Grillo said. The district clarified that the wall would not completely wrap around the school, Grillo said. Twenty-foot-wide rolling access gates will be located at the south and west portions of the fence for vehicles like rideable lawnmowers and firetrucks, Grillo said. The regular access gates for students, faculty and staff will be closed! only during school hours for safety purposes, Mark Kamberg, president of the Board of Education, said. Continued on Page 58
PHOTO COURTESY OF STEPHEN CIPOT
Staff Sgt. Yosandy Vega and her son Maximus Miles with Santa Claus at Fort Bragg. Miles got to choose a toy from those delivered by Nassau County Firefighters Operation Wounded Warrior. See story on page 3.
Herricks teachers press ed board on contract BY J E D HENDRIXSON
For the second time this month, members of the Herricks Teachers’ Association filled the It appears that the “sea of room at the board’s meeting last blue” flowing into the Herricks Thursday night to protest the Board of Education meetings status of the teachers’ contract is not going anywhere anytime negotiations. The teachers association has been working withsoon.
out a contract since June 30. Board Vice President Brian Hassan read a statement on the negotiations in the stead of President Juleigh Chin, who had prior obligations, as did Trustee Nancy Feinstein. Continued on Page 59
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