Herricks School Superintendent Dr. Jack Bierwirth announced at the last board meeting that F. Kenneth Stubbolo has once again been appointed as Herricks Interim Assistant Superintendent for Business. Bierwirth explained that due to personal pressures Assistant Superintendent for Business Stephen Golas has resigned and moved back to the Albany area.

Therefore, Stubbolo has been appointed along with John Marino, who will take over that position when Stubbolo, who will not be able to stay too long, leaves.

Dr. Bierwirth, prior to his formal statement announced that shortly after the New Year three people in the payroll department would be moving to the Community Center. They will not displace any programs at the center and for now it will be a temporary move to where the construction managers have set up their offices opposite the office on the main floor. The move is being done because working conditions are so horrific at the administration building for these particular staff members. If it becomes necessary to move other staff members to the Community Center the district could easily move the SAT Prep Courses to the high school and use the space that the SAT course uses now for staff.

In a further discussion Dr. Bierwith said that if the task force decided to move the staff to the Community Center non-rent paying programs such as Gemini and STAC would be moved to another school after construction is completed.

Because the litigation at the administration building has been resolved by the settlement with the surety company, Herricks Superintendent Dr. Jack Bierwirth was able to issue the following statement:

For the past several weeks, we have been reviewing the status of the Herricks School Administration Building and studying the viability of other sites to house the district's administrative staff. There have been two purposes for doing this: 1.) Regardless of how the situation with the defaulted contractor was eventually resolved, it was clear that the administration building was going to require additional capital expenditures in the relatively near future in order to have it remain a viable work place for its occupants. 2.) To see if there were ways of reducing overhead in the district.

As a result of the delicate legal situation, it has, unfortunately, been possible to discuss only a very limited portion of what we were considering. This is deeply regrettable. We are now doing what we had assured people that we would do all along, which was to bring this out into the open as soon as we were in a position to do so. Given the recent developments regarding the surety company and the defaulted contractor, we are now in a position to discuss most of the critical elements.

During the initial stage of the review we attempted to define the option available and determine if they were sufficiently viable to warrant in-depth review by a wide audience. Four options were considered:

1.) Remain in the Administration Building

2.) Move the administrative staff to the Community Center

3.) Move the administrative staff to one or more of the schools

4.) Find suitable space elsewhere

Neither Option 3 or 4 are viable and no further investigation was pursued.

In reviewing Options 1 and 2 sufficient investigation was done to determine that there was no easy or inexpensive solution. Since both have significant financial and programmatic ramifications, it is recommended that a broad-based task force be established to review both options and make a recommendation within the next several months. Among the elements the task force would have to consider are the following:

1.) Capital costs which would have to be invested in the current Administration Building (above and beyond the existing incomplete contracts which total approximately $633,600) in order to make all the spaces occupied by staff "decent." These costs should include all work which would be needed within the next three to four years even if we do not anticipate doing it immediately.

2.) Which of these expenses could be avoided if the building were to be rented to a commercial operation?

3.) The amount of money we are likely to receive from a commercial rental.

4.) Any impact a commercial rental might have on district operations.

5.) The cost to provide decent, but not extravagant, work space for the administrative staff in the Community Center. From this figure should be subtracted expenses which would be incurred maintaining the Community Center as usable space whether occupied by administrative staff or not.

6.) Which program would have to be dislocated from the Community Center where these programs might be relocated and what impact that would have on their operations.

Fairly detailed preliminary data has been developed on most of these points. Some additional work needs to be done, but the most important task is to weigh the pros and cons and make a recommendation. It should be emphasized once again, that neither choice is easy or inexpensive. Even in the best of times, which we are not likely to face over the next two or three years, these would be difficult decisions.

Should the board approve the recommendation to form a task force, it would be my recommendation that the Community Center Advisory Board, all tenants, PTAs and key community groups and organizations be contacted immediately to solicit their participation on the task force.

The first report was on the seniors who graduated last June; Regents Course I and the English Regents. Dr. Barnes said that the results were very good. In Math all students were above 65 percent and 83 percent scored 85 or better. In English only five students scored between 55 and 64 percent which still made them eligible for a high school diploma, not a Regents diploma; all others scored above 65 percent and 45 percent scored at 85 percent or better.

Dr. Barnes reported on the second set of test scores. He said, "Terranova tests are given to the third grade, fifth grade and seventh graders. Dr. Barnes said, "Again I am very pleased with the overall results. On average all the students scored around 4.5 which means the average student scored more than a grade level ahead on all the achievement tests which includes reading, language arts and math."

Dr. Barnes said, "The other nice thing is that the scores are consistent with the last two years and third is that all three of the Herricks Elementary Schools must know what is going on because all the results were very close which shows there is no real difference between the schools."

He said that the results were delayed because of the fifth grade Social Studies test results and 100 percent scored between a 3 or a 4 on the test. 74 percent of the students received a score of 4 which is the highest they could receive. The rest of the fifth grade tests will be received in a few weeks. Dr. Barnes added, "It's nice to know that our students are doing so well."

During the public portion of the meeting, parents from Brower's Hill Civic Association wanted to know if the district was putting the reduction of transportation miles on the ballot this year since in the past it has been such a close vote.

Board President Emilia Sutz said that the board would review the Brower's Hill letter and would be "revisiting" the issue once again during budget discussions. She further suggested that the representatives make an appointment with Acting Assistant Superintendent Stubbolo to further discuss the matter with him.

Another member of the same group wanted to know if the district was considering Universal Busing (busing every student in the district regardless of miles and location). Sutz said at this time that concept has not been considered.

Jim Brown gave a brief construction update and when the topic was open to the public, some of the parents had complaints about the traffic configuration especially at the Middle School especially the fact that some of the trucks try to break through the line of cars waiting for the children to be dismissed. The problem will be looked into by Brown to make sure that the students, in every school, are safe at all times. A hiring plan was discussed in detail in an effort to obtain the best candidates in the area to teach at the Herricks School. A small task force will be formed to execute the plan. It is recommended and the board agreed that beginning in the Spring of 2002, Adult Education instructors will receive an increase of three percent and the fees will be increased five percent.

The Mini-Grant Committee met recently and awarded a total of $6,983 to support ten educational projects submitted by staff members. Mini-Grants are given to support new creative projects that foster the Herricks Schools' goals. Funding for the project comes from a generous $7,000 donation by Herricks Community Fund, Inc. to the Herricks Schools.

The next school board meeting will be held on January 10 at the Community Center at 7:15 p.m. Agenda topics will include: Open Campus, Budget Format, Gemini Report, Complaint Policy.