Exciting match between the New Hyde Park Cheetahs and the Locust Valley Fearless Falcons.

The Cheetahs started off to a slow start on this very early Saturday morning, though shortly sprung into action as they stepped up their game taking multiple shots on goal hitting crossbars and goalposts.

Samantha Bravo had many beautiful shots, Kassidy Keefe made amazing sideline runs and passes to center of the goal box and Andrea Waldron showed good control and passing of the ball.

Sabrina Rodrigues aggressively stayed on top her game taking terrific shots on goal as she held position well. Daniela O’Modie as midfielder, broke up plays and went to the ball to clear down the field.

Olivia Lappin, Kaitlyn Louie and Paulina Papadoniou on the defense marked their opponents closely, keeping them wide out to the sidelines.

Irene Krische in goal with endless amazing saves and rapid punts down the line.

Lauren Hessler in mid-field played very well coming off an injury. Kristina Horan and Julia Feldman focused & strong on the offense.

For most of the match, the game stayed at 0-0, until NHP Cheetah Samantha Bravo received a free direct kick just outside the penalty box and kicked a great high ball to the left side of the goal where the Falcon goaltender had no chance at saving the shot.

Amazing goal Samantha!

With less than two minutes remaining though, the Falcons were able to capitalize on a free kick themselves in the box to tie the match.

It was an exciting, thrilling game.

The Cheetahs played a great game.

Thank you to our Coaches, Mike, Gabe, Peter and Efi for your endless effort and to our friends and family for cheering the Cheetahs on.

Feel better Channing Woo.

In what turned out to be a very exciting game, the New Hyde Park Lady Pumas squared off against the always tough Division N1 Northshore squad in Round 1 of the Waldbaums Long Island Cup.

NHP dominated the first half and built a 3-0 lead off superb passing, converting a corner kick, a deflection off a free kick, and a super pass off a hard charge up the middle out of the defensive third.

Northshore came out flying in the second half and made things very interesting, scoring twice in the first 10 minutes.

Weathering the storm, the Lady Pumas controlled the final 15 minutes, could have scored two or three more goals, and came away with a much-deserved and hard-fought 3-2 victory.

The NHP attack was led by Katie Krems (super dribbling, an assist on a corner kick, two goals), Izzy Glennon (beautiful karate kick goal off the corner kick, and an assist on her direct kick that Kaite deflected in), Theodora Papadoniou (super energy, high shot just over the goal, excellent crosses), Cara Becker (hard charging on goal), Kira Crehan (an almost goal, nice pressure, and nice trapping), Sophia

Leeds (nice crosses and nice throwins), Clare Iriate (super passing and foot work).

The defense, which did a super job of switching off in the first half, was led by Mackenzie Griffin (super traps and great run on goal in the firs half), Casey Sanders (excellent throw-ins, nice clears and great run up field and assist on goal No. 3), Stephanie Karczedwski (great switchig and clears up the sideline), Eleni Spiratos (great in your face D, hard charging traps and clears), and Isabel Ugolini (great passing out of the back, and super in your-face D). In goal was Ellie Eisenberg who did a super job blocking and diving on loose balls – and getting to everythng that she should have (and then some), plus super punts.

Casey Conners and Edna Dudek – we missed you

The high school winter sports season is in the book (almost) and the fine folks of the Herricks Schools Athletic Booster Association led by president Bill Clark once again paid tribute to each team at what has become traditional end-of-season receptions complete with dinner, awards and slide show presentation.

Master of ceremonies James Petricca, the district director of athletics, (the only administrator in evidence) got things rolling in fine fashion.

The following teams were awarded New York State Scholar Athlete Team distinctions: boys’ basketball, girls’ basketball, boys’ swimming, and boys’ winter track. More than a nice touch, this is official recognition of the integral symbiosis of athletic and intellectual challenge and growth coming from the New York State Public High School Athletic Association.

A number of Herricks athletes have received awards from outside agencies this past season.

Three Highlanders received all-county awards; Alison Ricchiuti (so – girls’ basketball), Kevin Ling (jr – boys’ swimming), and Ryan Singh (sr – wrestling). Ling was Nassau County’s 100m breast stroke Champion, and Singh was Nassau County’s 112 lb. champion, and champion of champions. Kim Givelechian (jr – girls’ basketball) received all-class honors.

All-Conference honors in boys’ basketball went to Jack Kim (sr), George Malonoukas (jr), and Andrew Fellus (so). Girls’ basketball all-conference honors went to seniors Michelle Weinman and Alissa Kokinakis.

Boys’ winter track all-conference honors went to conference champions Jack McGuire (jr) and Patrick McGuire (sr).

In wrestling all-conference honors went to; Solomon Aziz (fr), Thomas Dunn (sr), Andrew Farrell (so), Christopher Farrell (sr), Thomas Gonzalez (sr), Daniel Grandelli (sr), Matthew Grandelli (fr), Corey Iuculano (so), Eric Kautz (sr), Michael Lopez (so), Carlos Rodriguez (sr), Anthony Rosa (jr), Kevin Ryersen (sr), William Rynne (jr), Ryan Singh (sr), John Temperino (so), and Michael Vespe (so). Both Singh (112 lbs.) and Rosa (189 lbs.) won conference championships.

In addition to these awards, individuals from each team were honored with Herricks Coaches Recognition awards.

These awards were presented to: senior Daniel Tadros (boys’ winter track), Ashu Jawal (girls’ winter track manager), senior Darren Kang (boys’ swimming), senior Zach Aziz (boys’ basketball), frosh Barbara Nictas (girls’ basketball), and junior Sabrina Osieczkowski (cheering).

The wrestling team will present their Coaches Recognition Award and numerous other awards and distinctions at their 35th Annual Herricks Wrestling Team Awards Dinner scheduled to be held at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday April 13t at the Davenport Press Restaurant in Mineola.

This premier jacket-and-tie affair features high school and middle school wrestlers, their families, friends and a number of Herricks wrestling alumni.

So the entries in the book are not quite complete yet, and before we turn the page to the spring sports season, we wish to thank the custodial staff, grounds crew, athletic department, coaches, and especially those dedicated folks in the Athletic Booster Association for their efforts on behalf of Herricks student-athletes enabling those youngsters to have the opportunity to rise above the mundane.

The Town of North Hempstead has launched a virtual exercise program, enabled by Skype technology, to enable elderly residents who are unable to attend exercise classes outside their homes to engage in yoga classes via computer, and eventually interact with each other in support groups as well.

As part of its Project Independence initiative to make it possible for the elderly to maintain their own households, the town has equipped computers in six households in New Hyde Park, Great Neck, Manhasset and Port Washington with Skype cameras so individuals and couples can interact with a yoga instructor at a remote location on a weekly basis.

They can go through an hour-long yoga regimen in step with the instructor, Mike Mancini, being to see and hear him as he can see them and field questions from them as they proceed through the non-stressful exercise regimen.

“It could be for reasons of health or the weather, but these people have been confined to their homes,” said Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman. “It really is going to be fun. And everything can do what they can.”

The objective, Kaiman said, is “to create a program to work with our seniors when it might not be convenient to leave their houses.”

That’s consistent with the goals of Project Independence, which seeks to provide senior citizens in the town with services such as cleaning their houses or funding upgrades such as retrofitting bathtubs with railings or escalator seats for stairways. Elderly citizens also can call taxis at reduced rates to transport them to pharmacies to pick up medications and supermarkets to do essential food shopping.

By installing the Skype technology on home computers, there is virtually no limit to the kinds of programs Project Independence can create for senior citizens to participate in from their own homes.

Evelyn Roth, the town’s commissioner of the department of services for the aging, said she foresee extending use of the technology to set up groups for bereavement support or socialization, for example, enabling seniors to watch movies together and discuss them afterward.

“There’s no end to what we can do,” Roth said.

Her immediate objective is to expand the new virtual exercise pilot program to more households throughout the town to a group of 10 households and more beyond that, spreading the word about it through advisories to seniors already participating in Project Independence and staff members in its satellite offices.

“It’s aimed at people who can’t participate in more strenuous classes at the center anymore,” Roth said.

With enhanced Skype technology, Mancini will be able to view multiple screens of people following his moves, so he can tell whether they’re executing the exercises he’s showing them correctly, Roth said.

The virtual exercise program is a boon to participants like Sheldon and Hazel Pachtman, who are involved in the pilot phase.

“I thought it was very good. It gave me something to look forward to,” Sheldon Pachtman said after the first session.

Pachtman said he had previously tried to participate in classes at an indoor facility in Clinton G. Martin Park, but found it too difficult

“This is a lot easier and I can talk to him when he does it,” he said of his interaction with the instructor in the virtual exercise session. “I was able to follow him completely. Whatever he did, I did it also.”

“Urinetown,” a former Broadway hit about a futuristic Gotham where people must pay to pee, is enjoying a local revival at Herricks High School.

It’s replete with dark blue jokes carrying double meanings – not the sort of thing one usually sees on a high school stage.

But John McNeur, music and performing arts director for the Herricks district, said Herricks maintains a tradition of staging the unexpected.

“I think that Herricks High School has a tradition of doing things like Sondheim and other musicals that are not always done on the high school stage,” he said.

McNeur sees “Urinetown,” with its plot line of a people’s revolt against the Urine Good Company profiting from all that pee, as a timely piece of theater.

“The humor is a little dark, but it is very funny especially given the things going on in the Middle East, with the masses revolting. It’s kind of poignant,” McNeur said.

The characters are intentionally framed as caricatures in this send-up on social standards and the form of musical theater itself. It is a play that pokes fun at itself as it presents a critique of the capitalistic imperative that recalls the acerbic words of Mack the Knife in “Three-Penny Opera” by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill: “What is killing a man compared to hiring a man?”

McNeur said “Three-Penny Opera” is on his wish list of future shows. In “Urinetown,” characters are killed as routinely as they’re employed and the talented cast of young actors bringing the play to life appreciate what they’re doing.

McNeur said the original plan was to produce “Rent,” but he thought the drug use depicted in that show wouldn’t be appropriate for a high school show. Apart from content, the final choice was based on the abilities of the high school’s singers, he said.

Director Tommie Gibbons, who said he suggested and fought for the school to produce “Urinetown,” is a veteran choreographer of student productions in the 1990s.

“Kids like to do a show that’s edgy,” Gibbons said. “And the writing is so good.”

In recent years, Herricks productions have included “Into the Woods” and “West Side Story,” certainly an edgy musical when it made its Broadway debut and still a relevant piece of social commentary today.

“The music’s great. It’s also a fun satire on big business and poor neighborhoods,” said senior Douglas Fabian, who plays Bobby Strong, a character who goes from underling to hero in the course of the play.

It seems that almost everyone in Urinetown is working for Urine Good Company and its hyper-corporate CEO Caldwell B. Cladwell, the biggest bad guy among many, regulating the right to micturate or, in the case of the bad guy cops, banishing people who don’t use the public toilets to the dreaded realm of Urinetown.

Strong finally musters up the courage to start permitting people in the city slum where he’s stationed to pee for free. That eventually gets him tossed off the top of a building. But his act of defiance sparks an uprising of the underclasses, and he makes a ghostly reappearance in “Tell Her I Love Her,” a song that is simultaneously poignant and funny.

That two-way intention typifies this play in which the narrator, Officer Lockstock explains the need for just enough, but not too much exposition, in a play that is self-referential, along with its myriad references to lots of other things.

“Every line is a pun, every line has allusions to high school musicals,” sophomore John Brautigam, aka Officer Lockstock, said.

For all its humorous allusions and the intentionally buffoonish onstage antics, there is a clear morale to the story.

“It also shows it’s important to stand up for what you believe in,” said senior Michelle Goldrich, who plays Penelope Pennywise, one of Cladwell’s minions and gets to sing the seminal number, “It’s a privilege to pee.”

Or as the cast sings in the “Urinetown” tune: “It’s the oldest story-Masses are oppressed; Faces, clothes, and bladders All distressed. Rich folks get the good life, Poor folks get the woe. In the end, it’s nothing you don’t know.”

But it’s something the cast of the play at Herricks is hoping the community is willing to be reminded of first-hand when the production goes up this weekend and the weekend after in the high school’s auditorium.

“We don’t do the typical Saturday night shows,” said Brautigam.

Gibbons said he also chose the show because of the ensemble effort that enervates virtually every scene.

“It’s a very active ensemble story and I love the show. I think it’s a hysterically funny show,” he said.

But in the Brechtian tradition, it’s hysterically funny with caustic undertones, including a reference to the 19th century English social theorist Thomas Malthus, who posited that population growth would eventually outstrip the agricultural production needed to support it. “Urinetown” lyricist Greg Koltis, who also wrote the play’s script, was interjecting a timely message in between the laughs he was trying to evoke.

In a recent rehearsal, the Herricks cast appeared poised to make it all come together at the high school auditorium in performances on Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and a matinee on Sunday at 2 p.m. Two more performances are slated for April 1 and 2 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for senior citizens and students.

Two men stole Blackberry phones and money during a robbery in Garden City Park last Friday night, Nassau County Police Department detectives said.

Two men entered the S Wireless store at 2299 Jericho Turnpike in Garden City Park and attempted to make a credit card purchase without providing the clerk with proper identification. One of the men became verbally abusive and punched the clerk in the stomach while the other man took approximately 20 Blackberry phones from a display case and $80 in cash from an area near the register, detectives said.

The two suspects then fled the store, joining two other people outside the store, all of whom were then seen getting into a newer model four-door sedan with two wide, white-racing stripes on the roof and the trunk of the vehicle. They vehicle left the scene headed westbound on Jericho Turnpike. No injuries were reported at the scene.

The first suspect is described as a white male about 20 or 22 years old with short spiked hair and thin goatee. The other suspect is described as a white male wearing black jeans, a white T-shirt and boots. The two subjects waiting outside were described as white males.

Detectives are asking anyone with information about this crime to contact the Nassau County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS. All calls are confidential and all callers will remain anonymous.

As the Sewanhaka School Board continued to wrestle with the 2011-2012 budget, members of the Sewanhaka School Employees Association turned out in force at Tuesday night’s board meeting to express their dismay at working without a contract for their employee unit since July 1.

Addressing the board during the public portion of the meeting, employees association president Carole Katz said that half of the 125 secretarial employees who make up the unit live in the school district and many are primary wage-earners.

“Many of us are the bread-winners in our families,” she said. “Quite a few of us are holding second jobs.”

She took issue with the school district’s plan to require all secretaries in the district to use their thumbprints on readers yet to be installed to enter and leave district buildings. She said the workers find the idea of doing so “demoralizing, degrading and insulting.”

Katz told the school board the secretarial workers had turned out in force “to appeal to our sense of decency.”

Katz returned to her seat as her fellow workers rose to applaud after she finished her remarks.

After the meeting, Sewanhaka Superintendent of School Warren Meierdiercks said the board is hoping to resolve the contract in a meeting with a labor mediator reviewing the case on April 6.

“The board is looking forward to the report from the mediator,” Meierdiercks said.

Outside the meeting room, Katz said the bargaining unit for the secretaries has had several meetings with school board representatives over the past several months. She said a primary sticking point is that the school district wants the secretaries to increase their contribution to their health-care coverage.

“They want to take everything back from us,” Katz said.

Katz said the cost of New York State Health Insurance Plan premiums rose by 14 percent in January.

“It’s like a double whammy,” she said.

The average annual salary among the secretarial workers in the district is in the mid- to low-$40,000 range, according to Katz.

The board reported no changes in the proposed district budget for 2011-12 of $166.6 million, which represents a 6.6 percent increase over the current budget and would boost the tax levy by 8.7 percent to more than $131 million.

One resident made an appeal to the board to maintain the existing athletics budget, saying, “Please keep our kids off the streets.”

“Everything is under review,” Meierdiercks said, adding that the board is “trying to maintain all academic and athletic programs. It’s a very difficult budget season and there are no guarantees.”

After the meeting, Meierdiercks said the board is still waiting for a response from representatives of the 612 district teachers on the board’s request that the terms of the final year of the teachers’ current contract be revisited and revised. He said the board is expecting a response in time to finalize the details of next year’s budget by March 31. The final year of that contract would give the teachers a 2.9 salary increase.

“We’re looking for them to give us a concession,” Meierdiercks said, declining to specify the form of that concession.

At last week’s budget session, Meierdiercks said that the board had cut 15 full-time and part-time teaching positions in the current district budget for a savings of $1 million. That was part of a $2.73 million reduction of cuts that he said would not be restored, $338,303 to the athletics program that combined teams districtwide, $320,000 in evening school programs, $311,000 in the summer school program and $236,000 in building budgets.

On a separate issue, residents at Tuesday night’s meeting questioned locating all students in the English as a Second Language program in H. Frank Carey High School, which the 183 district students in the program attend.

Cami Spillane, who said she has three children attending the high school, said she didn’t think the school board had considered issues raised at a meeting with parents of children at the school.

Board member Lorraine Ferrigno said she disagreed, noting that the board had held a meeting on the issue. Board vice president David Fowler said he had personally toured the high school and found no evidence of overcrowding in the school.

Apart from the overcrowding issue, one parent complained that her daughter had been harassed by Spanish-speaking boys in the school.

“There is a culture clash,” she said.

“If there’s harassment, we’ll address it,” Meierdiercks said, adding that parents should report such incidents.

“Why do we have to take them in? There is a whole barrier. It’s got nothing to do with prejudice,” said resident Dana Deleo.

Valerie Angelillo, principal at H. Frank Carey, said that ESL students take courses at different levels of proficiency and it would be difficult for the district to coordinate their ESL classes with other courses if they attended different schools.

The state Department of Transportation has rejected a request by Village of North Hills Mayor Marvin Natiss’ request for a stop sign at the exit ramp of the Northern State Parkway at Shelter Rock Road, claiming that it would be “inappropriate” to replace the existing yield sign, Natiss reported at the village board of trustees meeting on Thursday.

“It sounds to me like we’re fighting a real uphill battle,” Natiss said. “They’ve indicated that even though I have an ongoing monthly request for a stop sign investigation, they’ve identified only 32 accidents occurring in that specific area.”

The mayor said he believes a stop sign would greatly reduce the number of accidents at that intersection and was disappointed in the DOT’s decision.

In a letter to Natiss, DOT Regional Traffic Engineer Frank Pearson said his department had reviewed information from the state Department of Motor Vehicles and police reports, identifying the 32 accidents occurring near the area of Shelter Rock Road and the Northern State Parkway and I-495.

But, Pearson said, the data was not enough to implement a stop sign.

“The analysis did not show a pattern of accidents that would necessitate changing the existing ‘Yield’ ramp control to a ‘Stop’ control,” he wrote.

Pearson said a stop sign would cause more congestion and result in more rear-enders.

“A ‘Stop’ control on the ramp would result in additional congestion and accidents, especially the rear-end type on both the ramp and the eastbound lanes of Northern Parkway,” he said in the letter.

Natiss said police reported two more accidents since the report was made, bringing the total to the area to 34.

“I will send them another letter every month,” Natiss said. “There’s nothing more I can do.”

The mayor said he believes that state DOT Commissioner Joan McDonald is responsible for the rejection.

“It looks to me that the commissioner doesn’t see our way so maybe we’ll have to wait until there’s a new commissioner,” Natiss said.

The Village of New Hyde Park will be eligible for funds from Federal Emergency Management Agency that will likely cover most of the clean-up expenses the village incurred during the post-Christmas blizzard of 2010.

“We were told FEMA will cover the costs we show them for the 48-hour period on December 26 through 27. It’s a lot of paperwork and submitting of forms, but it’s worth it,” Deputy Village Treasurer Eileen Reguseo said at Tuesday night’s village board meeting.

The estimated cost to clean up in the aftermath of that two-foot snowfall was $16,900.

“FEMA will reimburse the village for costs related to the wear and tear of village trucks, money used to replenish supplies, and also labor costs during the two-day blizzard,” said Deputy Mayor Robert Lofaro. “Fences at the LIRR station were also damaged during the blizzard, and FEMA agreed to help pay for those repairs as well.”

The Long Island Rail Road fences were damaged by a private firm that piled snow against them with their own snow plows.

“We still have to check over the fence area to assess the damage,” said senior building official Tom Gannon

“I don’t mind when it’s federal money paying for it,” Lofaro replied, smiling.

The village was informed by Nassau County that they may be eligible for federal aid, Reguseo said.

Reguseo and Gannon attended an “organizational” meeting with FEMA over two weeks ago, confirming the announcement.

Reguseo and Gannon will be meeting with FEMA officials on March 24 to determine what the next steps will be taken in the FEMA assessment.

At the meeting, Village Trustee Donald Barbieri announced plans for the Jericho Road project will be given to the department of transportation on March 27.

Plans for the Jericho Road project have been ongoing for the past 18 months as the village and the DOT go over the specifics. During the last year New Hyde Park held multiple meetings for public input on the project and now the village is looking to finalize plans.

Village officials have also been consulting with representatives of the New Hyde Park Fire Department about planned “bulbout” curbs and medians that could impede fire truck access to certain streets that intersect Jericho Turnpike.

“We’re looking to get the DOT to sign off on the plans,” Barbieri said. “I’m optimistic about this. We expect there may be a little tweaking to the plans, but we would like the DOT to hurry up and approve this already.”

If Catherine Hillmann’s new job as New Hyde Park’s new village clerk and treasurer seems to have a familiar ring, it should.

She is following in the footsteps of her mother.

Her mother, Maryellen Hillmann, is village clerk in Hempstead and actually tipped her daughter off for the first municipal office she held.

Hillmann, 28, had graduated from Dowling College in Oakdale in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in marketing business administration. Her intention at that time was to find a job in purchasing in the corporate sector and she spent her first year after completing her studies at Dowling working for Bruckner Supply in Port Washington.

Then her mother heard about a position open in Oyster Bay Cove for a deputy clerk treasurer. Hillmann applied, was hired and stayed in that job for three years.

“I just took it for the time being and wound up getting into it. I just kind of fell into this,” she said.

Her next position was also as a deputy clerk, this time in Williston Park.

The opening in New Hyde Park that became available when Patrick Farrell became village administrator in neighboring Floral Park, presented an opportunity to Hillmann to move up.

So Hillman applied.

After a hiring process that last several weeks, Village of New Hyde Park Mayor Daniel Petruccio introduced Hillmann at Tuesday night’s board meeting as the new village clerk and treasurer.

Hillmann had actually already been on the job a couple of days at the time of the introduction and said she liked what she saw of her new working environment.

“I think it’s a very nice place to work. Everybody here has been very nice in helping get acclimated. I’m hoping that it will be a nice fit, which I think it will be,” Hillmann said.

Hillmann said she’s enjoying her current career track and said she enjoys working on municipal budgets “until it gets heated.”

And she exudes confidence about the task at hand.

“I’m good at it. It’s always something different,” she said.

Municipal service runs in Hillmann’s family beyond her mother. Two of her brothers are policeman in New York City and a third brother is a city fireman

“We’re all civil service,” she said.

And her mother is pleased with her career choice.

“I guess she’s just happy that I have a full-time job with benefits and I’m not employed,” Hillmann said.

A Seaford resident, Hillmann said she enjoys running and working out in the gym in her spare time. She said she also enjoys reading mystery novels, a pastime that may come in handy for someone who sorts out the financial intricacies of municipal budgets.

With school budgets strained to the breaking point, school district administrators and residents in the New Hyde Park area are expressing concerns about the incidence of illegal rentals that are frequently fueled by people attracted to area schools.

“There is a finite amount of money that it costs to educate a child,” said Marianna Wohlgemuth, president of the Lakeville Estates Civic Association. “We have to educate our children, but the parents should pay their fair share.”

Officials and residents say the Herricks, New Hyde Park-Garden City Park and Sewanhaka school districts are being targeted by people illegally renting basement space in houses or a single family renting a house and inviting other people to share the living space. In some cases, no proper leases exist.

The illegal renters, officials and residents say, enroll their children into area schools but don’t pay property taxes to support the schools their children are attending.

Wohlgemuth said the Town of North Hempstead, which ultimately bears the responsibility for sorting out illegals rental situations, isn’t doing enough to prevent them or remedy circumstances where they occur.

“My perception is that it’s weak,” Wohlgemuth said of the town’s initiatives to deal with illicit rentals. “It’s not enough.”

But Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman said the town administration proactively responds to every reported instance of a possible illegal rental. But, Kaiman said, the process sometimes requires months of investigation and court action to resolve a specific situation.

“We have an attractive place to live so people are going to scam to live here,” Kaiman said. “We are doing our part and where somebody decides to cheat, we act.”

Kaiman points to the town’s cooperative effort with the Herricks School District as an example of a successful program it has established to combat the problem.

The program with Herricks started in the middle of 2010, according to Town of North Hempstead Councilman Thomas Dwyer. He said who said the program was kick-started by Herricks Superintendent of Schools John Bierwirth, who wanted suspect rentals in district investigated.

“This was really a concentrated effort,” Dwyer said, explaining that the school district administration alerts the town’s legal and building department to rental situations it deems suspicious.

Over the past year, Dwyer said the town has reviewed 100 rentals to determine whether they complied with legal standards. During that time, 25 summonses have been written and 31 living situations have been brought into compliance with the law, or the landlords have made filings for rental registrations.

Of 76 cases investigated by the town within Herricks district, 56 investigations have been completed to date, said Dwyer, with eight cases currently under investigation and nine remaining to be examined. In three cases, the town discovered duplicate leases.

“We’re always trying to think of ideas and be innovative in how we approach this. It’s a very sensitive issue and we don’t want to attack this in a way that innocent people are hurt,” Dwyer said.

Bierwirth said the town has been “extraordinarily attentive” in dealing with suspect rentals uncovered most frequently by the district administration staff.

“I think in terms of identifying illegal rentals, it’s been exceedingly effective,” Bierwirth said. “It has rarely resulted in someone leaving the house and, therefore, the school district .”

The legal process of resolving illicit rental situations is typically time-consuming, he said.

“To the extent that there’s been slow downs, it’s because once it goes to the court process, it can take quite awhile,” Bierwirth said.

Dwyer said the problem is complicated by the custom in some cultures of extended families living together, a practice that may be foreign to some residents, but is a protected practice under federal law.

“Culturally, in Indian families, senior family members live with a son or daughter,” said Jonai Singh, president of the Herricks Council of PTAs.

“It is also quite common for two brothers and their families to live together.”

Singh noted that the same practice is common among Chinese families. She said that residents’ complaints are often based on misperceptions , and she said traditional Asian living customs are “something this community has to come to recognize.”

Asian students currently represent more than half of the student population in the schools throughout the Herricks district, with families frequently drawn to live here specifically because of the Herricks district’s strong reputation.

Singh noted that PTA members have been active in working with the district administration to stem the tide of illegal rentals.

“Those things are unacceptable. I’m a taxpayer here too. It is important to bring clarity,” Singh said. “At the end of the day, it takes everyone to step up.”

The district is being conscientious, according to Singh, who noted that the geographic spread of the district, which encompasses New Hyde Park, Garden City Park, Searingtown, Albertson and part of Williston Park, makes the problem more difficult for the town to address.

“In today’s economic times, people are forced to move in with relatives. Other times, it might be because of the quality of the school district,” said Robert Katulak, New Hyde Park-Garden City Park Superintendent of Schools.

Katulak said the district is vigilant in addressing suspicious rental situations.

“Nobody gets a free ride,” he said, noting that the school board isn’t usually inclined to permit families to pay tuition for students who should not be attending district schools because of the resulting strain on the system.

Joseph Wendling, a former New York City Police detective employed by the district on a per diem basis to investigate rental irregularities, said it’s difficult to sort them out. Suspected offenders know the legal guidelines and maintain only one kitchen facility and mask signs of using basement space and he said he currently knows of five district residences housing multiple families.

“It can’t be remedied,” Wendling said, pointing to one suspect house in an informal tour of the district. “You can put as many people in that house as you want.”

Wendling works by following real estate listings, checking on recent property sales and tracking changes of address. Improper school attendance is sometimes facilitated by people who permit others who may live in Queens to use their district address.

“There are a lot of families who want their kids to go to our schools,” said Michael DeMartino, principal of New Hyde Park Memorial High School.

Proximity of the area school districts to the city line make their facilities attractive targets for people who simply can’t get the same quality of education in Queens, DeMartino said.

DeMartino said that like other schools in the Sewanhaka district, New Hyde Park Memorial maintains stringent standards for registration, including forms requiring notarization and documentation to verify students’ identification and residence.

But, he noted, people still find ways to short circuit the system and persistent vigilance seems to be the only reliable remedy.

The high school winter sports season is in the book (almost) and the fine folks of the Herricks Schools Athletic Booster Association led by president Bill Clark once again paid tribute to each team at what has become traditional end-of-season receptions complete with dinner, awards and slide show presentation.

Master of ceremonies James Petricca, the district director of athletics, (the only administrator in evidence) got things rolling in fine fashion.

The following teams were awarded New York State Scholar Athlete Team distinctions: boys’ basketball, girls’ basketball, boys’ swimming, and boys’ winter track. More than a nice touch, this is official recognition of the integral symbiosis of athletic and intellectual challenge and growth coming from the New York State Public High School Athletic Association.

A number of Herricks athletes have received awards from outside agencies this past season.

Three Highlanders received all-county awards; Alison Ricchiuti (so – girls’ basketball), Kevin Ling (jr – boys’ swimming), and Ryan Singh (sr – wrestling). Ling was Nassau County’s 100m breast stroke Champion, and Singh was Nassau County’s 112 lb. champion, and champion of champions. Kim Givelechian (jr – girls’ basketball) received all-class honors.

All-Conference honors in boys’ basketball went to Jack Kim (sr), George Malonoukas (jr), and Andrew Fellus (so). Girls’ basketball all-conference honors went to seniors Michelle Weinman and Alissa Kokinakis.

Boys’ winter track all-conference honors went to conference champions Jack McGuire (jr) and Patrick McGuire (sr).

In wrestling all-conference honors went to; Solomon Aziz (fr), Thomas Dunn (sr), Andrew Farrell (so), Christopher Farrell (sr), Thomas Gonzalez (sr), Daniel Grandelli (sr), Matthew Grandelli (fr), Corey Iuculano (so), Eric Kautz (sr), Michael Lopez (so), Carlos Rodriguez (sr), Anthony Rosa (jr), Kevin Ryersen (sr), William Rynne (jr), Ryan Singh (sr), John Temperino (so), and Michael Vespe (so). Both Singh (112 lbs.) and Rosa (189 lbs.) won conference championships.

In addition to these awards, individuals from each team were honored with Herricks Coaches Recognition awards.

These awards were presented to: senior Daniel Tadros (boys’ winter track), Ashu Jawal (girls’ winter track manager), senior Darren Kang (boys’ swimming), senior Zach Aziz (boys’ basketball), frosh Barbara Nictas (girls’ basketball), and junior Sabrina Osieczkowski (cheering).

The wrestling team will present their Coaches Recognition Award and numerous other awards and distinctions at their 35th Annual Herricks Wrestling Team Awards Dinner scheduled to be held at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday April 13t at the Davenport Press Restaurant in Mineola.

This premier jacket-and-tie affair features high school and middle school wrestlers, their families, friends and a number of Herricks wrestling alumni.

So the entries in the book are not quite complete yet, and before we turn the page to the spring sports season, we wish to thank the custodial staff, grounds crew, athletic department, coaches, and especially those dedicated folks in the Athletic Booster Association for their efforts on behalf of Herricks student-athletes enabling those youngsters to have the opportunity to rise above the mundane.