Malverne taxpayers approve two school propositions

    Taxpayers in the Malverne school district voted last week in favor of two money-spending propositions put forth by the Board of Education in July.
    Some 650 voters headed to the polls on Aug. 12 to vote on whether the district should be authorized to spend $535,000 to purchase school buses and a property adjacent to the Davison Avenue Elementary School in Lynbrook. The first proposition, to purchase buses, passed 424 to 216, and the second 388 to 240.
    In response to requests from the parents of private school students who live in the Malverne school district, the board changed its school bus policy earlier this year to include late-bus service for private-school students who live in district and participate in after-school programs.
    School officials said the three buses, which cost about $110,000 each, will help the district save $3.5 million over the next 10 years.
    Board members proposed the purchase of the $205,000 property next door to the Davison Avenue school in order to ensure that the district would be able to expand the building in the coming years. School officials plan to potentially add a wing to the school building, which is will begin hosting the third and fourth grades in the fall, and fifth graders starting in 2011-2012.