Dr. Lorna R. Lewis, Superintendent, East Williston School District

Springtime reminds us of the special upcoming events and activities in our schools and classrooms. It is a time of year when student performances abound. I hope the community will accept our invitation to join us at an athletic event, art show, spring concert, North Side Open House, or our off Broadway musical productions of Fiddler on the Roof performed by the young thesbians at The Wheatley School and Guys and Dolls performed by the young thesbians at Willets Road School. All events are posted on the district's website, www.ewsdonline.org, and senior citizens may attend all performances at no cost.

If you pass by The Wheatley School, you will notice the construction of the Brandon Lustig Memorial Field, a baseball field being built and named in honor of Brandon S. Lustig, a Wheatley senior and four-year member of the Wheatley baseball program, who met a tragic and untimely death in an automobile accident this past December. The field is being constructed through the generous donations of members of our community and the Lustig family.

Completion of the field in time for the first home game of the Wheatley Varsity Baseball season reveals a great deal about the generosity of spirit that defines this community.

During budget discussions in the month of March, the administrative team shared their educational plans for the 2008-09 school year. These plans were developed through thoughtful deliberations with our staff, with specific concern for sustaining the quality of our programs and educational experiences which the community has come to expect from our district. The plans, reflected in the proposed budget, (i) maintain the momentum of the technology initiative started this school year, (ii) introduce some new initiatives that meet state mandates at the elementary and middle levels and (iii) enhance our course offerings at Wheatley.

Like so many districts on Long Island, we have had to plan a budget with diminishing support in state aid and increasing costs. The majority of the budget-to-budget increase is driven by factors beyond our control such as rising energy costs, unfunded mandates and contractual obligations. We believe the proposed budget achieves a good balance between an educationally sound curriculum and a fiscally prudent budget. I invite the community to attend upcoming budget presentations. For a list of budget presentations, please see the district website at www.ewsdonline.org.