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Fair Mayor, high schools chief say let's work together
Valley Stream’s village and Central High School District already have numerous partnerships. But officials from both are looking to do even more together.
Village Mayor Ed Fare took office on April 4. High school Superintendent Dr. Bill Heidenreich was promoted to the district’s top spot on July 1. Both say that being new to their positions was the perfect opportunity to look at and build on ways the village and school district work together.
Already, the village and high school district partner for the annual Tuesday night Community Band concerts and Thursday night District Symphony Orchestra performances. The Community Band has been a cooperative effort for 59 years.
The high school district provides a stipend for the conductors, band and orchestra managers, an organist and support staff. The village provides the venue, as concerts are held at the John Smith Bandshell on the Village Green. It’s recreation staff helps with the setup and cleanup for each concert and Public Safety staff are provided for security.
“It’s an institution,” Heidenreich said of the summer concerts. “This is one of the things that really makes the community a special place.”
The high school district provides student music groups at some village functions such as the annual Christmas tree lighting and Memorial Day service. Central High School’s athletic teams use the village’s Firemen’s Field as its home field for football, soccer, lacrosse and baseball.
This year, when Central High School District officials decided to no longer fund the summer recreation program, the village stepped in. Already offering its own football, lacrosse, soccer and baseball and softball clinics at Firemen’s Field, the village added basketball, volleyball and wrestling to be housed at Memorial Junior High School.
Village Clerk Bob Barra said that while Valley Stream has a lot of parkland, the village lacks indoors facilities to host those types of sports programs.
