The Harrison Central School District Board of Education approved a proposed $103 million 2016-2017 school budget at its April 21 meeting. The budget will now go before the public in a May 17 vote.
Before the vote to adopt the budget, Superintendent for Business Robert Salierno gave the board a final budget summary. Among the highlights, Salierno noted that the district’s final share of state funds diverted to the state budget’s general fund, with the 2009 enactment of the Gap Elimination Act totaling $4.2 million.
But the budget took a backseat to a display of moon rocks borrowed from NASA by Louis M. Klein Middle School teacher Fred DePalma. The process of borrowing moon rocks from NASA for educational purposes is arduous, he noted. Almost two years ago, he made the first call to NASA to see about borrowing some rocks to use with his eighth-grade science class. Initially, he connected to very helpful NASA employees who had “no idea where anything was,” DePalma said.
In order to qualify to receive the rocks on loan, DePalma had to take NASA-required classes on the history of the rocks and the precautions and protocols for handling them. The loan is for two months. He received the rocks at the beginning of April.
The rules and regulations that come with the rocks are lengthy. The rocks, which are packaged in clear resin, must not touch any surface other than the one in the special carrying case that accompanies the rocks. In addition, the rocks require a security escort, which in this case was provided by the Harrison Police Department.
Schools Superintendent Louis Wool lauded DePalma’s determination. “Fred has not lost one iota of his enthusiasm for teaching and learning during his long career here,” he said.
