Island Park students make their choice

High school selection evens out in fifth year

Posted

As Long Beach High School’s first class of Island Park students prepare to graduate in June, a new group of graduating middle school students have chosen where their buses will take them in the fall.

Thirty-five students will attend West Hempstead High School next year, while 34 will be heading south to Long Beach. Additionally, seven students have registered for private schools, and two are moving out of Island Park.

“The kids are more aware of the process, and the principals and guidance counselors have done a great job of communicating with the parents,” said Island Park Superintendent Dr. Rosmarie Bovino.

Though West Hempstead High, which Island Park students have attended since 1969, received most of the students when Long Beach first became an option in 2007-08, the gap between the two has narrowed since then.

Before they began enrolling at West Hempstead, Island Park students had attended Oceanside High School, though the districts had a falling out in 1968 over who would get the tax revenue from the Barrett Power Plant.

According to Oceanside Superintendent Dr. Herb Brown, Island Park ended up receiving the tax revenue from the plant, and Oceanside stopped taking Island Park students.

In 2009, 61 students chose to attend West Hempstead High School, while 23 opted for Long Beach. Since then, more have been attracted to Long Beach: 43 students chose to attend LBHS in 2010, and 32 chose WHHS. Last year, the breakdown was 30-27 in Long Beach’s favor.

“It’s been pretty even,” Bovino said. “It pretty accurately reflects that the high school choice is working well and is meeting the needs of the community.”

Bovino said she sends out letters to neighboring school districts every five years, when contracts are up for renewal, asking if any would be willing to accept their high school students. Long Beach responded five years ago, saying that it was interested in enrolling Island Park students.

LBHS’s Island Park contingent accounts for only a small percentage of the total enrollment, which is more than 1,300 students. At WHHS, in contrast, Island Park students make up more than a fifth of the student body of more than 800. There are now 164 Island Park students enrolled at West Hempstead.

Page 1 / 2