Dr. Kenneth Bossert, Mrs. Mammolito, Mr. Scarola, Dr. Siddiqui, Mr. Tomeo, Mrs. Weiss:

We, the undersigned taxpayers, parents, and community members of the Elwood Union Free School District (“Elwood”), hereby formally request that Elwood complete the application process necessary to access the NYSED grant monies that have been allocated for the implementation of a Universal Pre-K (“UPK”) program for the 2022-2023 school year, in accordance with the provisions set forth in Section 3602-E of the New York State Education Law.  We further request that Elwood complete such a process for all future school years for which such grant monies are available.

A UPK program will provide academic, social, and developmental benefits for our youngest community members, while simultaneously benefitting working parents and taxpayers. A UPK program will also render Elwood more competitive with neighboring districts that have already implemented such programs including, but not limited to, the Harborfields Central School District, Northport-East Northport Union Free School District, Huntington Union Free School District, South Huntington Union Free School District, Commack School District, and Half Hollow Hills Central School District, further benefiting Elwood taxpayers and residents. 

We recognize that Elwood’s long-standing Elwood/Harley Care program has proved highly successful despite having limited spacing. We hope that by expanding early childhood education within the Elwood School District, through these grant monies, that we can continue to provide an outstanding educational experience for our families. 

For the above reasons, we implore district administration to complete the application process necessary to access any and all NYSED grant monies that have been consistently and specifically allocated for the implementation of a UPK program.