Last year at this time, Nyack PIE suggested that our school board elections need to become “a forum for change and for intelligent discussion about how our schools ought to work.”

While we can’t say there’s been a lot of progress in that direction, this year’s choice of candidates amounts to a clear referendum on which direction our district should be going.

While PIE will not endorse candidates, we feel it is important for voters to know that of the five people running, two have no children in public school, and one has to our knowledge never attended a school board meeting. That leaves the two incumbents, PIERRE DAVIS and MARY WALLACE who actually understand and care about education. We’re sure voters will decide wisely.

Nyack needs to pass a budget. The people who work in the school system have to have some sense that the community supports public education. The school board and Superintendent Zampolin, by bringing in a budget with a 0% tax increase, have made a YES vote easy.

Having said that, voters should understand that 95% of this budget is business-as-usual. Most of the money (2/3rds) goes to salaries and benefits. Add the cost of operating the buildings, transportation, and paying the debt on construction bonds, and very little money is left over for innovation or improvement.

Voting YES on this year’s budget means adding about:

$235,000 in new computers, badly needed in Middle and High School

$100,000 for retirement incentives which should help bring fresh, young teachers to the district

$180,000 for curriculum and staff development combined

That may sound like a lot of money but, remember, it’s in a $41 million budget where a half a million dollars goes to sports alone.

Now, what do our children need that isn’t in the budget?

First and foremost, exciting, hands-on education. For a tiny amount, less than $3,000, PIE has seeded a number of model projects over the school year [see reverse]. Whether it’s a day in a colonial home, a visit to see bald eagles, second graders sewing quilts, or nearly 200 elementary school children learning a foreign language, these models have drawn in both kids and adults who too often find school uninspiring. Programs like these need to be budgeted into the regular school day.

Despite improvements, Nyack still doesn’t teach how to look at the world from different points of view. It will take a small but important monetary investment to help kids understand the perspective of women’s rights, Haitian history, deaf culture, etc.

Our student counseling is insufficient. Especially in the middle school, children are passing from home rooms to free-ranging environments. We need family outreach workers and teacher/mentors so kids don’t get lost in the system.

If you stop and think, you probably have your own list of ways to make Nyack schools better. Jot them down and send them to PIE; we’ll try to publish your suggestions. It’s a start to making next year’s budget reflect all the childrens’ needs. Meanwhile, vote YES on June 10. We can’t afford not to.

PIE survives off the kindness of strangers (and friends). Your tax-deductible contribution will keep programs like these alive. Give if you got: Nyack PIE Box 167 Nyack, NY 10960

With songs and storytelling and a mad rush for books to take home for keeps, PIE’s Saturday Morning Reading Circle closed the spring session. But we expect many of these Nyack district elementary school children -- and some others -- to be with us next fall.

For eight weeks, parents and siblings of participants, PIE volunteers, and a paid staff of certified teachers gathered to read books, play word games, and write stories at the Nyack library. A grant from the Nyack Foundation for Education and supplemental funds from PIE paid for staff, materials, and a driver who transported some of the children in the Village of Nyack van. Walter Woodhouse, the district’s Coordinator for English and Social Studies, recommended our program to the classroom teachers in grades 1-6. Thanks to his efforts, we developed our roster for two back-to-back sessions, with about fifteen students in each.

Second grade teacher Debbie Larison and sixth grade teacher Judy Dawson Smith returned to the program they helped PIE establish last year. Early on, teachers Joan Golden and Donna Bird gave a workshop for adult volunteers on strategies for helping young readers. Thanks to a donation arranged by Laurie Dretchen of Scholastic Books, the children had a large and rich selection of books to read and borrow each week. Plus, children made forays into other areas of the library: some got new library cards, all got plenty of one-on-one attention and the message from caring adults that reading is important.