More than 100 local residents attended a public information meeting hosted by the Farmingdale School District administration Monday evening about the possible move of the district's sixth-graders to Howitt Middle School. The high turnout seemed to indicate a high level of concern about the issue, which has drawn mixed opinions.

Of those residents who spoke at the meeting, many expressed concerns about the effect the change would have on students, such as the developmental impact of social interaction with older children and transportation adjustments. Still, others supported the measure as a way to raise academic standards and give sixth-graders, all of whom are currently at the district's four elementary schools, new opportunities for extra-curricular activities.

After much research by the district's administrators and trustees, the Farmingdale Board of Education decided to explore the possible move further during its October regular meeting, which included discussion of the matter among trustees, as well as public participation. At the time, the board had requested that administrators make programming issues, rather than classroom space issues, the priority in exploring the issue. (It is obvious, however, that growing enrollment has made the need for more teaching room in the elementary schools inevitable, and that the move is one possible solution. Based on the administration's five-year enrollment projection for the years 1997-'98 through 2002-2003, the elementary schools will need at least 13 new classrooms.) Also at the request of the board, administrators have discussed the matter with the Farmingdale Federation of Teachers (FFT) and the PTA.

At Monday's meeting, Superintendent Gerard W. Dempsey, Jr. provided some background on the issue. He noted that during the 1980s, many school districts changed their grade configurations to create a grade nine through 12 high school and grade six through eight middle school. Today, the configurations vary greatly throughout the districts, with 17 of Nassau County's 41 kindergarten (K)-12 districts using the K-5; 6-8; 9-12 model.

"Farmingdale has remained in this K-6; 7-8; 9-12 configuration for a long period of time. The board of education asked us to look at this issue from a program-first discussion - what was in the best interest of our students from a program perspective," Dempsey said. "There is, however, no way to look at an issue like this, without also looking at facilities and grade configurations that might come about, and changes that might come about as a result of them. But the board has asked the administration not to drive this discussion by issues other than program. Facilities will be a part of it, long range planning is a part of it, but the issue is whether or not a sixth-grade configuration integrated into a seventh-and eighth-grade middle school is better for students or not." If the change is approved, he noted, at the earliest it would be implemented for September 2000, in order to allow time for preparation.

Also at the meeting, Arleen Besner, principal of Howitt, gave an overview of the effect the move would have on Howitt, as well as the pros and cons of the issue that were compiled by a shared-decision making committee of school staff, parents and community members. Before doing so, she noted that she would be excited about having the sixth-graders move into Howitt but would be impartial in her presentation. In addition to describing space conversions that could accommodate the 500 additional youngsters, such as turning administrative office space into classroom space, she discussed the shared-decision making committee's recommendations.

The following points were among the committee's recommendations, as listed in an information packet distributed by the district at the meeting: Pros - "sixth-graders are socially and developmentally compatible with seventh-and eighth-grade adolescents;" "excellent administration would adapt well to additional students;" "there would be greater consistency in preparing students for higher standards and new assessments as well as behavioral and academic expectations in all areas;" "sixth-grade students would be able to take some of the requirements of the Regents Action Plan, thus opening up more possibilities for both remedial and enrichment opportunities during the middle school experience;" "special education students would have greater opportunities for inclusive/collaborative classes;" "students at the sixth-grade level would have a wealth of extra-curricular activities open to them;" "a new kind of house plan could be created whereby each building houses grades six, seven, and eight - as well as teams of teachers, guidance counselors, psychologists, assistant principal - all connected to that one house;" Cons - "Children may be put in a social situation they are unprepared for and may feel intimidated by older eighth grade students;" "an additional administrator may be needed;" "the house plan would be lost" (currently one grade is in each of Howitt's two buildings); "may be a loss of recreation periods if no additional accommodation is made for additional physical education space;" "larger student bodies often increase the possibility of discipline problems;" "major renovation and additional construction would need to be made and would be costly."

During the question and answer part of the meeting, audience members raised issues ranging from whether teachers will have to be re-certified due to the change, to whether the sixth-graders who currently qualify for busing to their elementary schools would receive busing to Howitt, to whether different enrollment accommodations, such as creating a fifth elementary school were being considered. In keeping with the public informational nature of the meeting, the administration responded to each question/comment. For example, regarding the teacher recertification question, Dempsey noted that recertification and programming issues have been successfully worked out in other districts that have implemented this change. In response to the question about busing, he noted that the district has estimated the cost of providing busing for the sixth-graders to Howitt, but that the issue has not yet fully been resolved. (The information packet notes that if the district does not change the mileage qualifications for sixth-grade students, therefore bringing them by bus at the current half-mile distance, nine additional buses would be needed to transport them to Howitt.) Responding to the question about other options for enrollment accomodations, Dempsey said that other alternatives would not be considered until a decision is made on the current proposal. He added that the district has sought a site for an additional elementary school, but that he believes one of a large enough size is not currently available in the community.

Noting that the Dec. 2 regular board meeting will further address the possible move of sixth-graders to Howitt, including financial aspects, Dempsey said, "This is still an ongoing dialogue process."

The district wants to have a decision on the matter by January/February, according to the superintendent. "The plan that the board has is that there will be further discussion at our meeting in December, follow-up discussion at the meeting in January, and a decision sometime in the January and February time frame about what we will do for next year's budget," he said. "If, for example, we decide to keep the sixth-grade in the elementary school buildings, we are going to, in several of our buildings, need to add space, and so that construction plan would have to go into the budget plan." He added, "We are not talking about September 1999 [for implementation of a plan]. At the earliest, we are talking about September 2000, for either a building plan or for a grade configuration change."