In Mr. Russo's recent letter concerning the School Budget, he writes: "The budget only passed because of the margin provided by an estimated 400 to 600 voters cast by school district employees and their families. The rest of the community, with a poor 15 percent turnout, voted against the budget."

First, it surprises me to learn that voters' rolls are reviewed to determine who are school district employees (and their families) and who are not. I hope there are no Winters who work for the school district because I might be mistaken for being a family member. But, even if these 400 to 600 voters were school district employees, this would be irrelevant to the fact that the budget was passed by a majority of voting Port Washington residents. As far as I know, the only qualification to vote for a school budget is residency in the district.

Secondly, Mr. Russo assumes that a 15 percent turnout is poor and doesn't represent the intentions of the other 85 percent of Port residents. He believes that "Many voters are discouraged from voting because they know defeated budgets are put up for another vote." Yet, he ignores the fact that when a budget is defeated, it is reviewed and typically reduced, which has happened before and in several other school districts. Therefore, we can just as well believe that the other 85 percent agreed with the school budget. If they hadn't, they would have voted against it hoping to at least reduce the budget.

I, for one, am not a school district employee, am not related to any school district employees (that I know of), and I voted for the budget. Now, hopefully, the district will at least be able to afford additional teachers at Daly for my three daughters and the rapidly expanding student population.

Greg Winter