The Herricks School Board took a break during its last meeting to introduce new superintendent Dr. John Bierwirth to the community with a reception held outside the boardroom at the Herricks Community Center.

Many members of the administrative staff, the teachers and members of the PTA were on hand to greet Dr. Bierwirth.

Prior to the reception the board held its last budget hearing and approved the budget to be voted on May 15 between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. at the Herricks Community Center, 999 Herricks Road, New Hyde Park.

Before opening the discussion to the public Dr. Ronald Barnes, who was the interim superintendent until Dr. Bierwirth was hired, briefly outlined the budget.

He said that most of the spending is due to increased registration in each school and that the bulk of the increase will be instructional. The district will hire one elementary classroom teacher, two elementary special education teachers, two elementary teaching assistants, one sixth grade classroom teacher, 3.8 secondary teachers, 2.2 secondary special education teachers, 2.0 secondary teaching assistants, 0.5 psychologist, 1 AV technician, 2 bus drivers.

As an example Barnes said that years ago when he first came to the district Center Street School had an enrollment of between 275 and 300 with two classes at every level. Next fall the enrollment of Center Street School will be approximately 600 students and many of those classes at any grade level will have five teachers with an extended program for special education.

With all of these changes Dr. Barnes explained that in each building there is still only one principal so the district plans to hire 1/2 time "lead"teachers for each elementary school. The duties of the lead teacher will be to work in concert with the principal to make sure that the building is well managed and that the instructional program is ongoing.

Further, since this is year five of the five-year educational technology plan, each school will have its technology equipment updated in order to keep the students at each grade level computer savvy.

Dr. Barnes also outlined the high school course additions plus the purchase of new textbooks at every grade level.

The following courses will be added: At the high school-advanced placement macroeconomics, elective options for Spanish 4 and 5; reconfiguration of instrumental ensembles: Band/Orchestra-Grade 9; Band/Orchestra-Grade 10-12; Wind Ensemble and Chamber Orchestra.

Included in the budget will be capital projects including replacement of window balances in all schools except the middle school because new windows will be installed as part of the bond. There will be masonry repair at the Community Center, Center Street, middle school and high school. Fields and playgrounds will be improved and upgraded at the elementary schools and at the middle school money has been allocated to install an irrigation system on the baseball field and to repave and reline the track. At the high school exterior doors and lockers will be replaced and at the middle school additional lockers will be added and auditorium seats will be replaced. $600,000 of this is included in the budget and up to $150,000 will come from the Repair Reserve.

The bottom line is that if the items in Proposition No. 1 and No. 2 are approved, the budget amount will be $58,405, 280 which is an increase over last year's budget of $3, 852, 145 with a tax increase of 8.47 percent. This means that residents who have a home assessed at $5,000 will pay a yearly increase of $245.85; homes assessed at $7,500 will pay a yearly increase of $368.78 and homes assessed at $10,000 will pay a yearly increase of $491.70.

Proposition No. 2 includes the replacement of three buses and purchase of two 72-passenger buses and three 30 passenger buses at an estimated cost of $83, 862 and $55,000 respectively to be financed over five years. Total estimated cost would not exceed $332, 724 plus interest.

Impact of Proposition: The drivers' salaries are already included in the budget. The 5-year bond will add $.09 to the tax rate for five years beginning with 2002/2003.

Proposition No. 3 reduces the transportation mileage limit for middle school students from 1 1/2 miles to 1 mile. It further authorizes the purchase, to be financed over five years, of four 72-passenger buses at an estimated cost of $335,448 or $83, 862 per bus, plus interest and $155,600 for bus drivers' salaries, fringe benefits, fuel and maintenance.

Proposition No. 3 will only become effective if Proposition No. 1 & 2 are approved

If Proposition No. 3 is approved it will increase the tax levy by an additional $155, 600 to $49, 481,320 and raise the tax increase from 8.47 percent to 8.81 percent.

Residents will also have the opportunity to vote for a school board trustee to replace trustee Keith DeMarco who is not seeking re-election. The candidates seeking that position include: Richard Buckley, Gerald Houck and Edward Kennedy.

During the hearing a resident was quite vocal about the budget stating that a vote of the board to approve the budget at this time did not give residents enough time to study the budget or to analyze it correctly. Board President Emila Sutz pointed out that there have been at least six other budget meetings at various schools throughout the district during the last few months and it was unfortunate that residents did not take advantage of those meetings. However, President Sutz did give him unlimited time to ask questions that were for the most part answered.

The board closed questions from the public and approved the budget to be submitted to the community for a vote on May 15 between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. at the Herricks Community Center Gymnasium.

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