Vote ‘yes’ on Bellmore-Merrick school budget

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In an unprecedented year, the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District showed exactly why its student body continues to be among the highest performing on Long Island. The consistent practice of putting students first was more than clear throughout the most unusual time in the district’s history, and that will evidently proceed into the 2021-22 school year.

The district will present residents with a $170 million spending plan on May 18, which will come with the lowest tax levy increase — the amount that will be collected from those residents — in the past 10 years of the district’s budgets.

With more than $2 million in federal funding coming to the district, BMCHSD will have some of its Covid-19 expenditures reimbursed while also maintaining and providing new opportunities for students to succeed. 

The Herald encourages voters to support their school district this Tuesday by voting “yes.”

Among the most impressive initiatives is the district’s one-to-one Chromebook plan, which will provide staff members and students in grades seven to 12 with Chromebook laptops, further bringing the district as a whole into the digital age.

Other improvements and additions can be seen in the languages department, which will expand Chinese language instruction to the 12th grade, and a renovation of the cosmetology room, also known as the Student Salon, in Sanford H. Calhoun High School.

On June 30, Michael Harrington, the current assistant superintendent for curriculum, will also take the reins from Superintendent John DeTommaso, who will retire after many years in the district. DeTommaso is an unforgettably compassionate leader, and the Herald has full confidence that Harrington will continue the student-centric approach of his predecessor and further the district’s already high level of success.