Certainly there has been an unfortunate situation with embezzlement of funds at the Roslyn School District. The offender was discovered, most of the money was recovered (although still under investigation) and actions are being taken to recover any additional monies as well as possibly taking further legal action. Obviously, this is a terrible situation, and one in which the School Administration and Board of Ed made a serious mistake - and that is in not informing the public immediately of their discovery.

However, I believe we must keep in mind the many accomplishments of Dr. Tassone, the administration and the board over these past years and not disregard these great advances due to one individual's actions. Some of these great accomplishments include:

* Just this week, The Wall Street Journal once again named Roslyn High School as one of the nation's top 10 public schools.

* Just this week, the Roslyn School District earned the 2004 Magna Award for Community Service from the American School Board Journal.

* The Elementary foreign language program, instituted years ago, is a cutting edge and very successful educational program.

* There are a number of school business partnerships that have raised money for technology and other benefits to the school system, that are financed from outside the school budget.

* The Gold Card program for senior residents also recently won a national award.

* Two major capital improvement projects have been launched and completed during this administrations' term and the physical plant of all the schools is much improved thanks to these projects and the teaching landscape much improved as well.

Thus, while we all abhor the recent discovery of malfeasance, it is important not to condemn the entire administration and the board, and to remember all the advances we've seen in this district over the past few years.

David Nussbaum