Everyone has the right to express his or her opinion; however, as the superintendent of the Port Washington School District, it is my responsibility to correct any misrepresentation or misinformation about our school district with the facts.
Our students regularly participate in several highly competitive science competitions, including the Siemens Competition in math, science and technology.
While we did not have a semifinalist last year, we did have two semifinalists in 2014, which is a remarkable feat.
Last year, the district proudly produced two Intel semifinalists and has produced semifinalists each year since 2006, again an outstanding accomplishment.
The district also had two students compete in the prestigious Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, with one student achieving finalist status.
Last year, one of our students was recognized and published in The Journal of Membrane Science for her work on “Electrospun Polystyrene Nanofibrous Membranes for Direct Contact Membrane Distillation.”
As a community, we can take great pride in these achievements, which were celebrated at public meetings and in our high school.
Our science and technology curriculum focuses on and emphasizes the principles of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
Coding is being introduced, and robotics is taught within our technology curriculum and supported further through our after-school robotics club.
We are starting the nationally recognized STEM program, Project Lead the Way, as one of our newest elementary curriculum initiatives.
This year, thanks to our community’s support, our high school will be adding a new course titled Introduction to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) to our existing courses related to engineering: Principles of Engineering, Advanced Principles of Engineering, Introduction to Engineering Science Honors, Robotics I and 2, and 3-0 Design and Printing.
The Port Washington School District has always educated the whole child and supports athletics as well as the arts.
As the ninth largest school district in Nassau County, we provide 81 interscholastic athletic opportunities to more than I,110 student-athletes at both Carrie Palmer Weber Middle School and Paul D. Schreiber High School.
From 2008 through 2015, every high school varsity team was named a New York State Scholar-Athlete Team, earning Paul D. Schreiber High School a “School of Distinction “ honor from the New York State Public High School Athletic Association.
We are proud of our high-achieving scholar-athletes.
For the 2015-16 school year, the cost to run the varsity, junior varsity and middle school football programs was $87,557, which is significantly less than the $500,000 inaccurately reported.
The budget remains the same for the 20 16-17 school year and includes transportation costs, officiating costs, coaching salaries, supplies, reconditioning and recertification of equipment, BOCES Section VIII fees, supervision at games and awards.
Player safety is always our top priority.
After our three appeals to Section VIII — the governing body for public school sports — to move our team’s placement to a different conference were denied, the Board of Education and administration were faced with four choices: stay in Conference I another year, eliminate the entire football program, end the varsity football program, or play an independent varsity schedule that provides a competitive but level playing field.
After discussing our options with our Board of Education, coaches (not including Coach Hovorka, who was hi red in late July), parents and players, we believe the decision to participate in an independent varsity schedule was the right decision for our student-athletes and school district.
As we approach the start of another successful school year, I invite all community residents to support our athletes by attending our athletic events and joining in our annual homecoming festivities, which arc so integral to our annual Pride in Port celebration, on Sept. 24.
Anyone wishing to read the facts about our school district can visit our website at www.portnet.org.
Kathleen A. Mooney, Ed.D.
Port Washington School District Superintendent
Readers Write: Port schools thrive, sports play a role
