Director of Facilities and Operations Tim Almeida opened the meeting of the Board of Education on Dec. 21 with a report on the progress of the Garden City Middle School's gymnasium roof. Almeida explained that the work is "going along as scheduled" and that he "had a thought" that it would be best to replace the ceiling of the gym now, before the work is begun on the floor. The ceiling is reportedly in acceptable condition, but because they are working on the roof and then will redo the damaged floor, Almeida thought it best to install a new ceiling while work was already going on rather than wait until it needs it and all of the work is finished and could be damaged by the ceiling installation process.

The floor was to be completed over the Christmas recess, but it may now be held "in abeyance -- about three weeks -- while the light fixtures are installed first," according to Almeida. Dillon Construction will be handling the ceiling work in addition to the gym roof and floor work, and it will all come in under the same contract and amount, Almeida explained in response to questions from Board President Linda Leone.

Maureen Cornacchia, concerned about the lack of gym space for the middle school students asked what impact the extended timeline of work would have on the physical education program. Superintendent Dr. Wilson said that the students and staff have been "real troopers" and will have to "continue to make do" without gym space. Cornacchia said that she has been made aware that some students have been going without physical education in many cases and have had study hall instead. Dr. Wilson said that there has been physical education provided, albeit under somewhat makeshift conditions.

Wilson added that he believed it would be better to do the new ceiling "now instead of later, after the floor is already stripped, etc." He noted that the bids came in at such a level that they found they could afford to do now what they initially would have to do later.

Almeida also reported that the transportation garage will be getting a new lift for their vehicles once it is designed, approved, budgeted, and eventually installed. Almeida commented that the designs would take about three weeks and then would have to be submitted to the state before the district could even go out to bid.

Superintendent Dr. Wilson gave his report, concerning the new state testing of fourth graders in English. Originally, the testing was in the form of the PEP test, but now the test will attempt to gauge how well the fourth graders are being prepared for the Regents exams. Wilson explained that the current junior class will be the first required to use the Regents exams to qualify for graduation instead of the old competency tests. A major problem for the district was meeting the state's requirement of the district to send a large proportion of their third through fifth grade teachers to mark the exams, as the test will be graded regionally rather than within each school.

Wilson recommended that the elementary schools, Stewart and Stratford only, use the day - Jan. 29 - as a Superintendents' Conference Day, rather than attempt to keep the two schools open. The reason, Wilson explained, is that Garden City will be required to send 36 of their 38 third through fifth grade teachers. With only two teachers left, the district would "be in a serious bind providing education for that day." With nearly 56 schools in Nassau County that would be called upon to send teachers, totaling approximately 1,860 teachers countywide, there is little chance that this many substitutes would all be available on this one day, said Wilson.

Wilson added that there would be no need to "interfere with the educational programs at the other schools" and so the only schools that would need to close on Jan. 29 would be Stewart and Stratford.

He noted, "I suspect that we will see many schools close that day." He assured the board that the number of days scheduled on the Garden City calendar exceeds the required number of instructional days, and so the district is in a fine position to utitilize a Superintendents' Conference Day.

"It does not make sense to put schools through the ringer. I don't want to preach on it, but these tests are to see if the kids are progressing on level to see if they can succeed on a test they'll take in the 10th grade and the high school Regents is graded locally, not regionally, so I don't see why this has to be regionally" Wilson commented. "This is a dramatic exercise. We keep telling the state what we think would be best and we'll keep telling them until we get heard, but in the meantime we'll do our best to make it work so that when it doesn't work they can't turn around and blame us for it not working, but will see the folly of the system."

He continued, "It is my understanding that the papers will be collected and marked with a bar code or something and then reshuffled. One group will score one segment and then they'll be shuttled off to another group to score another segment, etc., until they're sent to some company to score the objective part and then put the pieces together. The results won't come back until April."

He concluded, "If I sound frustrated, it's because I am."

Reid Sclafani of the Ad Hoc Committee then gave a brief report thanking the Board of Education for their assistance, as well as the PTA, SEPTA, the POAs, and all of the community organizations and individuals who contributed to the creation of the newly passed school bond referendum. He commented, "It was truly a team effort" and assured the residents that with the "great construction manager and architectural firm" the district has employed, the project should move forward smoothly. The Ad Hoc Committee will now be sitting down and preparing for the work to actually begin and will report back to the public shortly.

Dr. Wilson explained that the architect now has to submit detailed plans to the state with all of the specifications. Upon approval from the state, the plan can go out to bid. As Mort Yuter noted, many districts in the state passed bonds for similar work and it could take a while before the state reviews the plans and approves them. Yuter also recommended that the board commission a plaque in honor of the Ad Hoc Citizens Advisory Committee and Legal Subcommittee, thanking them for their hard work and dedication to the project.

Wilson explained that the plans for the elementary schools would be sent to the state first, this spring, and once returned would go out to bid. The drawings would be submitted in stages and the work will begin on each school as the drawings are approved, returned, the bids go out, and the construction manager and architectural firm can manage it.

Several resolutions were approved unanimously by the board - with the exception of Trustee Klupka, who was unable to attend the meeting - and were discussed before the public.

The bond was officially adopted authorizing the construction of additions and renovations and authorizing the issuance of $37,856,000 serial bonds. President Leone noted that the 75 percent approval of the bond by the public was "a wonderful affirmation on the part of the community, which translates to me that the people see the need for this work, and I see it as a mandate to go forward and move ahead with the project." She also thanked the Ad Hoc Committee for their work. Trustee Ryan added that he has been to many parties since Dec. 10 and the subject of the bond's passing comes up frequently as people congratulate him. He noted, "I always tell them to thank themselves, because we couldn't have done it without the voters."

Assistant Superintendent for Business Bryan said that thanks to the STAR program, the district received a considerable amount of money. Revenues were in the amount of $875,000 and expenditures were $4,414,000. Estates POA President Bob Rothschild noted that the deadline for filing STAR applications has been extended to March. For more information, residents can call the County Board of Assessors at 571-2490.

The Superintendent's Search Services resolution passed and called for the cancellation of services with the New York State School Boards Association, as they are no longer doing the searches. The board appointed Dr. Robert Heller as the new consultant. President Leone stated that Heller is affilitated with SUNY Buffalo, has conducted over 200 searches for school superintendents, including searches for Wheatley, Manhasset, Jericho, East Hampton, and Smithtown. He is a professor emeritus at SUNY and was named the top searcher in the nation by Executive Educator. Heller came highly recommended to the district, Leone added. She commented that he has met with the board and will be working on a compressed timeline to help the district locate a new superintendent.

Trustee Rudy expressed his discontent with what he said was insufficient public participation in the process of hiring the new superintendent, but President Leone stated that because of the compressed timeline the consultant will be matching resumes with criteria for the district before the final group of candidates is brought before the district, and then the board will review these resumes. Leone added that Heller will be soliciting input from the community as he compiles a slate of candidates, but the input must be solicited and given at "the appropriate time." While she noted that the process will be different from that of hiring new teachers, as residents like Marge Kulessa commented from their past experiences on committees, the process will involve public participation, if in a more limited way than that with which some may be accustomed.

The consultant will be paid $12,900 for his services, with a fee of $2,800 for his office to provide additional information.

Dr. Fredericks added that Heller will basically be looking through the resumes and developing a profile based on conversations with the board and various groups in the Village. Heller will then "cross-reference" these for matches. Then the board will conduct an interview and have the ultimate say in the hiring of a specific individual. Leone also stated that the "specific responsibility for hiring rests with the board."

Leone concluded, "Hewlett-Woodmere just disclosed that Heller not only brought them their superintendent, but earned the respect himself of the estate holders there. It is not the board's intention to be exclusive."

Marge Kulessa asked the board to consider engaging a liaison into the community for special education students to help them find employment after graduation within the community. Her recommendation was to consult the Chamber of Commerce and find a way to create a transitional support system to help students put their educations to work. She recounted her own daughter's difficulty in making the transition from school and then college to the work force, explaining that many special education students have difficulty driving. She added that while this would not help her own daughter now, it would help future graduates.

The meeting concluded with President Leone answering questions regarding class size. She assured all concerned that while portables would not be possible onsite next year, the teachers have all said that what they need is staff support to maintain class sizes at a limited size. The kids will be "squeezed in wherever they can be," and the class sizes will stay small.