Malverne schools eye Lynbrook property

The Malverne Board of Education will ask voters on Aug. 12 for permission to spend about $535,000 from reserve funds to purchase three school buses and buy property near the Davison Avenue Elementary School in Lynbrook.

During last month’s meeting, the board agreed to seek taxpayers’ permission to purchase a $205,000 property at 15 Davison Ave. in Lynbrook, citing its proximity to the Davison Avenue school and its relatively low asking price, and the district’s plans to eventually expand the elementary school building. School Superintendent Dr. James Hunderfund said the new property would be used to expand the schoolyard as an outdoor playground for recreation and physical education.

It could potentially be used to add a new wing to the building, which, following this summer’s school reorganization, will host grades three and four. And the district may need to create additional classrooms for the fifth- graders it plans to move into the Davison Avenue school building in 2011-12. “So, it makes a lot of sense to purchase this property,” said Hunderfund.

The district had considered purchasing a second adjacent property on Davison Avenue, which would allow for both schoolyard and building expansions, but decided its asking price was too high.

A new bus policy, adopted during the board’s June 15 meeting, mandates that the district provide late-bus service to all high school students who already receive busing. To qualify for busing, students must live in the district, but travel to a school farther than three miles from and within 15 miles of their residences.

As it stands, the only Malverne school district students who qualify for busing are those who attend one of four local private or parochial schools — Chaminade, Holy Trinity, Kellenberg Memorial and Sacred Heart Academy. “Our is district is so small, nobody in the [public] high school gets busing,” said Spiro Colaitis, district supervisor for facilities and support personnel.