u/Tufflaw

There was a great documentary created by CBS News a few years ago about the insanity that is the Hempstead School Board (it's called 37% and worth watching).

I was reminded of it when I saw this article (posting the text since Newsday links are paywalled):

Hempstead school board challenges successful budget vote, trustee election and suspends 2 in clerk's office

By Tara Smith

The Hempstead School District’s Board of Education has placed two district employees on leave amid a challenge to the results of last week’s school elections, according to district officials.

Voters on Tuesday approved the district’s $378.2 million spending plan 463-141 and authorized the creation of a new capital reserve fund. Victor Pratt, an incumbent trustee, defeated challengers Eugenia Girtman, Gwendolyn Jackson and Caprice Rines with 288 votes, district officials said during a board meeting held just before midnight Tuesday.

But, at that meeting, the board did not accept the results of either the budget vote or trustee election. Instead, the board's president, Jeffrey Spencer, introduced a resolution to dispute the outcome.

“The Board of Education hereby directs its general counsel, Guercio & Guercio, LLP, to commence an immediate appeal to the Commissioner of Education regarding the results of the May 19, 2026 election,” Spencer said at the late-night meeting.

The board voted 5-0 to appeal the results without any public discussion.

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Then on Friday, the board met for an emergency session and placed the district clerk, April Keys, and the district clerk pro tem, Lottie Whitehead, on administrative leave pending an investigation, according to board trustee Victor Pratt.

Ron Edelson, a spokesman for the school district, said the district does not comment on personnel matters.

“The Board at this time has no comment on why the results are being contested,” Edelson wrote in an email Saturday. He noted that the board took no action other than that concerning the employees.

Neither Keys nor Whitehead returned phone calls on Saturday.

Pratt, who was reelected Tuesday, said he was unable to attend Friday’s meeting on short notice. “There was no advance notice, they weren’t posted and they just had the meeting, and that’s wrong in itself,” he said in an interview Saturday.

He said other board members have questioned how absentee ballots were handled and believes they are seeking to oust him from the five-member body.

“They spent the last year trying to come up with reasons for me to be removed from the board,” Pratt said Saturday.

Last November, the school board launched an investigation into Pratt after he was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle and other traffic violations during a traffic stop in Uniondale, Newsday reported at the time.

Spencer, the board president, did not return an email or phone call seeking more information Saturday.

The district has unsuccessfully appealed election results in the past.

In 2015, the board of education sought to annul the results but the state later dismissed allegations of fraud and disruptions at a polling site and two board members retained their seats, according to a 2016 Newsday report.

The prospect of having to re-do the election is troubling to Pratt.

“Elections are expensive, and it says that they really don't respect the public's time or their taxpayer dollars,” he said.

Lawyers at the Farmingdale firm Guercio & Guercio could not be reached for more information on Saturday.

The appeal is expected to come up for discussion at the next board of education meeting scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Alverta B. Gray Shultz Middle School.

I'm planning on putting a storage shed in my backyard to store some extra stuff we need to get out of the house. I don't have a lot of money for this, so I can't dig up a lot of my backyard and put in cement - I also don't want it to necessarily be there forever either.

I'm going to buy a premade shed somewhere, so my only concern is the foundation. I know I can't just plop the shed in the corner of the backyard. What I was thinking of doing was something like in https://mobileimages.lowes.com/product/converted/890248/890248002009_03580607.jpg, basically getting several deck blocks and putting in a frame made of pressure treated 2x4s, then cover with plywood and then putting the shed on top of that. I was thinking a 10x10 shed so I would do an 11x11 foundation.

I know in the picture above the blocks are right on the grass, but I thought to be a little more secure and make sure it's more level would be digging a hole about 3" deep for each block and filling with gravel so I can more easily level it off. My backyard looks pretty much like the one in the photo, and the area I want to put this is already relatively level.

Any thoughts/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. It's probably obvious but this isn't my area of expertise, I just want to make sure this thing doesn't topple over or sink into the ground. Thanks!