As everyone knows it has been a particularly difficult year for the Roslyn School District. However today we are in a far better place than we were less than one year ago. The school board has been overhauled with the election of hard-working, intelligent people who have taken on a difficult task and helped move the district in a positive direction. It is clear that a great deal of waste and ineffective use of dollars has already been eliminated.

Now it is time to prepare and pass a new budget for next year, and the only buzz heard around town is about programs and services, which will be cut, in order to "satisfy the taxpayers of Roslyn." I don't understand this thinking and am miffed as to why the new members of the Roslyn School Board assume that the only "good" budget is a smaller one where programs and services will be cut.

Many of us voted for these school board members because we wanted to promote both academic excellence and fiscal responsibility. We want them to do what is "right" for the school children and taxpayers of Roslyn. However for some reason, this board has determined that their "mandate" is now to cut the school budget which effectively means less programs and services

The reputation of a school district is a very fluid thing. Surely it suffered in some way when it became clear that the past administration was using school funds for their own benefit. However the academic reputation of Roslyn was intact, since people were smart enough to realize these were the actions of a small group of people and in effect this was still a great place to have their kids educated.

What will happen to the reputation of Roslyn if we become known as a place where programs and services are being cut, and where innovative new educational concepts have no chance of being implemented, for fiscal reasons? I think everyone knows the answer to that.

Quite frankly too many people are stereotyping. It is whispered that the "older" residents of Roslyn will not support any budget that is the same as 2004-05 or is increased. While some vocal residents manage to show up at every meeting to talk about cuts, this should not be interpreted as the majority opinion.

Many of these same residents who complain vociferously about taxes, should take stock as to why their real estate values have been increasing 10-20 percent per year. People with young children want to come live in Roslyn, because of the sterling academic reputation of the school district. I believe the majority of "older" residents realize the importance of having the same high quality education for our kids as they did for theirs.

Our new superintendent, Mr. Helme has already had his proposed budget "rebuffed" by the board as being too robust. His budget proposal is a professional assessment of how to maintain the academic integrity of Roslyn for the forthcoming year.

I strongly encourage the new board members to reconsider the concept of "the only good budget is a smaller budget." What most of us continue to want is academic excellence with fiscal responsibility. If this board can demonstrate that, I'm all for maintaining or improving the academic excellence of Roslyn. In such a case, I would vote for a higher budget and I believe the majority of Roslyn taxpayers would do the same.

It is a knee-jerk reaction for the board to misinterpret anger over the administration scandal to mean that Roslyn taxpayers won't support a strong "education budget." I implore this board to stop thinking about satisfying one group or another and to do what they have been truly elected to do---make the best decisions for the "long-term" high quality education of Roslyn children.

Cliff Goldman