The Kings Park Chamber of Commerce held their annual scholarship luncheon at Anna Maria's Restaurant on Wednesday afternoon.  Kings Park High School seniors Emily Kiernan and Stephen Goepfert, were this year's recipients of the  Kings Park Chamber of Commerce Scholarship Awards. The chamber's original award was set at $500 for each recipient . This year, thanks to the generosity of Greg and Victoria Rahn of Kings Park Physical Therapy the amount was doubled and each recipient received $1,000.

     Emily will be attending Stonehill College in Massachusetts majoring in English and Stephen will be attending George Washington University in Washington D.C., majoring in Political Science. Both were filled with excitement and were looking forward to graduation and their college years.

    Kings Park has long been compared with high-wealth and high-performing districts on Long Island and Westchester when it comes to test scores and college entrance rates.  However, the success of the Kings Park district doesn’t emanate from layers of elite programs, the highest paid teaching staff or bureaucratic fluff found in similar districts.  Long before the American economy took a nosedive and the terrorist attacks and threats bled our municipalities dry, Kings Park has been doing more with less. 
    One of the smaller districts in Western Suffolk, Kings Park has historically provided a fine education to the children of its community.   Known as a great place to raise a family, new families flock by the dozens to set up camp and utilize the renowned district.   Few can argue that the real-estate market has been favorable Island wide over the last several years; however, most Kings Park homes have doubled their values in the same time frame.  Why has Kings Park become one of the hottest neighborhoods on the entire North Shore?  Terribly beau colic with its beaches, river and woods, the Kings Park is a beautiful place to live, however, the school district is undoubtedly Kings Park’s most desirable asset.  The Kings Park school district is driving the Kings Park real-estate market.  
     Why is the Kings Park School district so successful?   Why does Kings Park defy the standard formula necessary for high performing schools like more money per pupil, higher paid staffs and rich layers of luxury programs and administrators?  It does so because a really good education rises from a myriad of factors.  A good education is defined by so much more than test scores.  A good education presents itself when certain variables are in place such as families that value education, a supportive community, a good Board of Education, a good team of educators and Administrators and good overall moral within the infrastructure of the district. 
    The entire Kings Park community is dedicated to the welfare of its children.    Civic leaders and groups such as The Sons of Italy, The Ancient Order of Hybernians, The Chamber of Commerce and The Fire Department have been enormously and graciously supportive of the school district.   This doesn’t happen in all communities.
     My work as a professional journalist with an “education beat” on LI takes me up close and personal with numerous Superintendents, BOE, educators and PTA Presidents from Manhasset to Montauk.  I am well versed in education matters and have a unique vantage point regarding the school budget situation at hand. I can honestly say that Kings Park stands alone and above its counterparts in many respects.  The free flow of information between board members, administrators, parents and community members is unprecedented.  Our leaders are all enormously approachable and available to the public.   This doesn’t happen in all school districts.  
     However, the single most impressive thing about the Kings Park BOE is their sincere concern for the older members of the community.  At the forefront of the district’s economic decisions, the BOE values their senior citizens and they don’t want to tax them out of the community.  Integrity presents itself with honesty and decorum in the countless hours the BOE dedicates to the children and the taxpayers of the community.  
     If you throw large amounts of money into the Kings Park district it would undoubtedly invite educational goodies that would enhance all aspects of education.   But that hasn’t been done in Kings Park and it isn’t being done now.  The economic discretion of this BOE and the last few that preceded it is admirable in many respects.  Despite it’s frugality, the district still attracts educators from all over the state to observe their block scheduling, their mentoring programs and other innovative educational approaches.  A cut above the rest, taxpayers get more bang for their buck in Kings Park.  Other districts could learn a lot from their unique formula for success.
     The Kings Park School District Budget is up for a revote on June 17^th after being narrowly defeated along with almost four-dozen Long Island school districts back in May.   Although the BOE worked for months to create a lean budget, they heard the cries of the voters and validated them by going back to the drawing board.  An enormously difficult task, they have cut the budget by $800,000.   The new budget represents a 6.08% increase over last years budget and an estimated 6.91% tax rate increase from the 2003-2004 budget.  However, if this budget were to fail, a mandated Austerity budget would prevail with a 3.25% increase over last year’s budget.  Unfortunately it still means an increase in taxes, however, the detriment is a decrease in programs.  Since the budget is void of fat to begin with and mandated costs consume most of it, Austerity would mean loss of programs such as music and sports and increases in class sizes with strong possibility of job losses. 
     We are all in this together, as these are precarious times both economically and politically.   Many factors have caused the Kings Park and dozens of LI budgets to go down.  However, Kings Park School District unique in that it has been doing more with less long before the present economic strain.    June 17^th will bring Kings Park voters out to the polls once again and I am confident that the town will pull together, because a vote for the budget is more than a vote for education; it’s a vote for the Kings Park community –a community where kids and seniors are valued. 

   Results for the Kings Park Central School District
2004-2005 Budget