As a part of the ongoing study regarding the possible move of the sixth grade to the middle school, the Farmingdale Board of Education, during its Dec. 2 regular meeting, reviewed a report from the district's architect, John Grillo, on school building options and potential costs.

Three different plans were presented, two of them involving the move of the sixth grade, and one plan addressing building needs if the sixth grade stays in the elementary school buildings. In order to address the district's increasing enrollment, to provide space for full day kindergarten and increased special education needs, as well as to keep class size smaller in the primary grades, there would have to be some construction of extra classrooms in any of the plans.

If the sixth grades remain at the elementary schools, 40 additional classrooms would need to be constructed (16 at Woodward, eight at the other three elementary schools), with a total projected cost of $13,765,500. If the sixth grades are moved to Howitt Middle School, the elementary schools would still require some construction, to add a total of 19 new classrooms.

The first of these plans to move the sixth grade involves changing the administrative offices back to classrooms, thereby requiring only nine new classrooms to be constructed at the middle school. However, there would be the additional cost of constructing new administrative offices and that does not receive state aid as would the school building constructions. The total projected cost of this plan is $14,166,000. The second of these plans involves keeping the administrative offices at Howitt, and constructing 32 additional classrooms. The total projected cost for this plan is $16,761,250.

Board Trustee Troy Rosasco had some concerns regarding these plans, and asked if we were not getting ahead of ourselves by linking full day kindergarten, smaller class size and the other classroom needs, to the move of the sixth grade to middle school. "Why are we getting into all these plans?" he asked.

Superintendent of Schools Gerard W. Dempsey Jr. stated that the sixth grade issue has to be resolved to be able to explore the long range plans of the district. We now know that we don't have to move the sixth grades to provide for full day kindergarten. "The question is - can we do this? Whatever we do this year, we need to make the sixth grade decision. We want to avoid the problem that the only way to get full day kindergarten was to move the sixth grade," he said, adding that the district could scale back these options, but that would not be the recommendation of administration. At the January board meeting, the structure of the sixth grade from a staffing perspective will be discussed. A public hearing will be arranged before the February board meeting, and before the board makes its final decision.

During the public participation, one resident expressed a concern that there was too much information presented at this meeting that was not presented at the PTA public information meeting in which approximately 170 community residents learned about the possible move of the sixth grades. He said that a public hearing is definitely needed. "All (of the information) should be publicized and emphasized so the public can be truly informed. Another resident was concerned about expanding Woodward Parkway Elementary School any further, but was happy to see that the board was considering permanent construction to the school buildings, which "is an investment in the community," he stated. There was some concern that the time may not be right to make the more for the sixth graders in the year 2000, considering the new standards and assessments that they will have to face as fourth graders this year.

A number of other issues were discussed during the public participation. Resident Jane Rubenstein stated that the cost of not having a full day kindergarten cannot be measured in dollars alone. "My child will be missing 90 instructional days next year (due to the half day program)," she said. "4,500 days will be lost for all the students. The opportunity is lost." Another resident asked about the current status of hiring a baseball coach. Dempsey stated that some progress has been made, but the person has not yet been selected. There was also more discussion regarding the high temperature in one of the elementary schools. Although the heating system appears to be operating correctly, Assistant Superintendent Dr. William Fanning agreed to meet with the concerned resident when she notices the temperature to be rising excessively.

The board approved the proposal for two new science courses at the high school: astronomy and environmental studies. These courses will be given on an alternating basis with marine biology and genetics. Although the overall approach is to encourage more student participation in Regents science courses, it is expected that these new courses could be taken as a one credit option.

Mr. Dempsey called for a moment of silence to remember Stanley Saltzman, former principal of East Memorial School, who died in November after 42 years of service to Farmingdale schools.

An award was given to Andrew Desrault, Eagle Scout. Public Relations awards were given by the NY School Public Relations Associations to Susan Becker-Tier for her work on the special purpose publication Farmingdale Schools and for the January 1998 edition of Our School. Ilene Palant also received an award for overall graphics and design on the publication. Superintendent Dempsey also commended Assistant Superintendent Barbara Horsley for her work on these publications. Farmingdale Schools received a "Good Government Award" from the Nassau Citizens Budget Committee in recognition of the documents submitted regarding budgets. Dempsey congratulated Dr. Fanning who was instrumental in the district receiving the award. Administrator Ellen Kramer was congratulated by the board and administration for her work in obtaining a $1,058,000 federal grant to be shared among five school districts to develop programs for at-risk students. This grant is part of a three-year commitment in which the school districts will receive $3 million for this purpose.