Uniondale board highlights successes, points toward future

After what officials described as a highly successful school year, the Uniondale Board of Education reorganized last week, and discussed summer programs and plans for the 2024-25 academic year.

At the July 2 meeting at Walnut Street Elementary School, Mary Bediako was re-elected as board president, a position she has held for the past two years. A retired educator, she taught math before becoming  a school administrator. Bediako has lived in Uniondale for 39 years.

“We completed 2023-24 with a bang,” she said. “Let’s start the new one with a greater one so that this next year will be even better than the last one.”

Natalie Longsworth was re-elected as board vice president. She has been a labor and employment professional for New York City since 2004, and she lives in Hempstead Village, where she volunteers for the Fire Department and advocates for the underserved and underrepresented.

“I’m just looking forward to working collaboratively with our team to ensure the continued success and viability of our district,” Longsworth said.

Charmise Desiré was sworn in for her third term on the school board. Earlier this year, she began her first term as the Nassau County representative for the New York State School Boards Association. Desiré remains an active member of the Uniondale community, where she has lived since 2000.

“There are challenges here and there that none of us can typically avoid in life, but the key thing, I think, is to join forces, buckle down, and just get stuff done rather than staying stuck in things,” she said.

Also reappointed to the board were Susan Camille Trenkle, as district clerk, Clarence Little, as district treasurer, Paul Meittinis, as deputy treasurer, Maribel Hernandez, as purchasing agent, and Lenore Pringle, as deputy purchasing agent.

Superintendent Monique Darrisaw-Akil presented a report on the successes of the just-completed academic  year.

“Before we get to planning and thinking about what’s next, I think it’s a great opportunity for us to reflect on what has already happened,” she said.

According to the district’s preliminary data, the 2023-24 graduation rate prior to summer school graduations was over 88 percent, nearly 4 percentage points higher than the previous year’s 84.8, percent, which included summer graduations. The graduation rate for students for whom English is a second language was 54 percent this year, up 12 percentage points from last year. Uniondale High School presented 512 students with diplomas on June 29.

The State Education Department granted Regents waivers as a relief measure for those who had their learning impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, but Akil said last year was the final academic year the waivers were offered.

Because of that, this year’s elevated graduation rate is based solely on course credit accumulation and the passing of the required minimum of five Regents exams, Akil said.

“We definitely want to recognize our high school administrative team, our counselors and our teachers, and of course our students for putting the work in,” she said.

Additionally, participation rates and grades have increased across the board this past school year. There has been an overall increase in attendance and a decline in chronic absenteeism, according to Akil, and more students have been attending school programs, such as Project Excel, the grant-funded elementary afterschool program.

There have also been higher test scores in Algebra 1, a high school level math course taken in middle school, and Algebra 2, a challenging high school math course, she noted.

Akil said, the district has been vocal about its goal of increased Advanced Placement participation rates. This school year, 521 students took at least one AP class, a jump from compared to last year’s 339 students.

“I think that the board should be very proud of the work that’s been happening in the school district, but also for the bold vision they have set,” Akil said.

Looking ahead to the 2024-25 school year, Akil said she is looking forward to all the new opportunities the district is offering, including an AP preparation summer course with peer tutoring, new administrators, and an expansion of the autism program with new classes being offered.

“We talk about equity, and all means all,” she said.