There were a number of significant occurrences at the Jericho School board meeting last Thursday night beyond the discussion of students driving and closed campus following the tragic accident which happened the prior week. Most important was the reversal of the mandate to reduce clubs. We congratulate the board for reconsidering the issue in light of the outrage the community expressed at the meeting. The use of $75,000 out of the approximately $2 million fund balance (reserves in the budget) will ensure that the quality of education and opportunity for all is maintained. We hope that this is a turning point and that the board will continue to be responsive and discuss issues in public session, since under the Sunshine Law all discussions about clubs should have been conducted in public as it was a budget issue and there were no confidential or personnel issues involved.

We also congratulate the district on the outstanding ratings given by the auditors. In light of the scandal in Roslyn, however, we would caution that all this means is that the proper procedures are being followed, not that all of the expenses were appropriate, which can only be tracked with a forensic audit. For instance, if an employee took a non-employee to a conference but used the name of an employee on the expense report, the auditors would not have known, nor would they know if an employee paid $500 for a hotel room when much cheaper accommodations were available. We as taxpayers need to continue to be vigilant and ask questions so that a Roslyn can never occur here.

Further we would like to congratulate the parents and students who came and spoke. Although there were comments concerning the "courage" that those who spoke displayed, we hope that no one was truly afraid to voice their opinion. We must ensure that our students are not attacked or humiliated or forced to be apologetic about voicing their opinions. Neither administrators nor teachers should demand apologies from students for speaking out. Aren't we trying to create critical thinkers who will stand up for what they believe in, without fear? Isn't that what a democratic society tries to imbue in its people?

Let us all have our voices heard.

Saundra Gumerove Bernstein

Jeff Bernstein