At a PTA-sponsored candidates forum May 2 at the school district office, each of five candidates for two trustee seats on the Baldwin Board of Education attempted to persuade voters that he or she was the best choice. more

Although the State Senate and Assembly passed the remaining portions of the 2012-13 state budget on March 30, and although that budget restored more than a half-million dollars to the Baldwin School District, district officials say that the money will not appreciably affect the budget proposal Baldwin’s Board of Education approved weeks ago. more

The Baldwin Board of Education voted unanimously last week to adopt a draft of the 2012-13 budget, which totals just under $119.5 million. The budget represents a reduction of $494,000 from the current spending plan. more

One week after the Baldwin Board of Education’s Facilities Review Task Force recommended the closure of two of the district’s elementary schools, Superintendent Dr. James Mapes weighed in with his recommendations to the board. They included closing the Shubert and Milburn schools and halving Baldwin’s kindergarten program, among other belt-tightening measures. more

It was standing room only at the School-to-Careers breakfast at the Baldwin Senior High School library last month. Staff and faculty of the Baldwin’s Union Free School District networked with local business leaders and Baldwin students over coffee at a breakfast marking the official program kickoff for the 2011-2012 academic year. BHS assistant principal Rich Miskiewicz opened the event, introducing the School-to-Careers program as one that “ensures our economic future by providing career training in order to retain Long Island talent and provide a valuable service for our students here in Baldwin.” more

By 12:45 a.m. on Dec. 15, a resigned, almost conciliatory atmosphere pervaded the gymnasium at Lenox Elementary. Two of the last commentators of the evening commended the school board on its hard work, but voiced their concerns about the board’s accounting transparency and the timing of its announcements. The 50 or 60 remaining residents shuffled out tired but better informed, and there was a sense of accomplishment as participants packed away their papers. more

Laura Williams will become the newest member of the Baldwin Board of Education in early July, replacing incumbent Anne Hannon, whom Williams defeated in the May 17 election. A mother of two daughters who attend Plaza School — Claire, 11, and Julie, 5 — and a third, Molly, who is 3, Williams is a former education reporter for the Daily News and the New York Post, and edited the Baldwin and Oceanside Heralds in 1998-99. She has lived in Baldwin since 1997. more

With three bright, capable people running for one seat on the Board of Education, we almost wish this were a school board expansion rather than an election. But our choice is the incumbent trustee, Anne Hannon. more

The financial challenges facing Baldwin schools in the next few years are imposing, to say the least. The budget proposal offered by the Board of Education is the best way to approach a situation fraught with pitfalls. We urge voters to approve it next Tuesday. more

The three candidates vying for a single open seat on the Baldwin school board at a PTA sponsored candidate forum May 4 were cordial, clever and well prepared. The forum, held at the district office on Hastings Street, was energetically moderated by Marion Fleming, a volunteer from a non-Baldwin chapter of the League of Women Voters, and was structured to include opening and closing statements from each candidate as well as questions from the audience. The questions, delivered on index cards to Fleming, were addressed to each candidate in turn, and the 40 or so community members who came up with them also heard remarks from Carl Williams, an unopposed candidate for library board. “No matter what the results of this election are, we’re lucky to have three such capable candidates for school board,” said one observer of the proceedings, and indeed the evening had a spirit of community rather than contention. more