Herricks Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Jack Bierwirth explained, at the last school board meeting, that there have been many lawsuits filed by school districts over the years against New York State and its formula for school funding. In the past the school districts have lost, but, recently, the New York City schools lawsuit was successful. The judge who ruled in the case has given the state until July to come up with a funding plan for New York State schools. New York State Governor George Pataki appointed a commission chaired by Frank Zarb to deal with the judge's decision That plan was recently released.

Dr. Bierwith said, "The problem is that while there would be billions of dollars of additional money for education, if the state legislature goes forward with the Zarb report 75 to 85 percent of that money would go to New York City. One hundred twenty of the 126 districts on Long Island would receive no additional money for the foreseeable future. They would be capped at current rates. For some districts that would be tough, for others it would be excruciating. There are school districts that are far less affluent than we are and they have high needs in terms of their student body. Some of them, not all would be among the six that wouldn't be capped. We have Roosevelt, Hempstead, Amityville districts that are not well funded that have serious academic needs. Beyond that we have other school districts who have needs that are among the 120 and I would include us. We may not be as needy as some, but we have gone from a budget that was supported about 17 percent from state aid in the late '80s and early '90s to under 10 percent."

Dr. Bierwirth said, "We will receive in state aid this year and next year about the same dollar amount we received in 1987-88. Obviously, with inflation that dollar amount doesn't purchase what it did back then. For Long Island, if the Zarb Commission report is adopted as it is, it would be a disaster. We would be faced with extraordinary tax levels or significant cuts in programs, or both and probably both. That would be a real problem for us on Long Island."

Dr. Bierwirth explained that the cost of living factor was accepted by the Zarb Commission, but it would only be applied to new money and if all the school districts on Long Island were capped and weren't going to get any new money anyway, then the cost of doing business would be nothing. According to Long Island Association President Matthew Crosson, who is also the head of the Long Island Education Coalition, not only would New York City receive 75 to 85 percent, the upstate cities would receive an additional 10 percent or more which would leave as little as 5 percent or less of new funds to be spread among more than 700 school districts statewide.

Dr. Bierwirth said, "By July there must be a plan or the judge will initiate his own formula and then because it is a court-ordered plan, it will move forward and will be written in stone. For the foreseeable future it will determine the financial status of school districts across the state of New York. There is an enormous amount riding on this."

He continued, "The Regents State Aid proposes scrapping the 90 pages of state law and substituting a simple formula based on four things: A foundation cost of education; a needs index; a regional cost index, which is important to Herricks and then an expectable contribution. This states that each community would be expected to come up with their fair share of what is required to educate students. There are some communities in the state who depend on the state to educate the children and don't come up with any money on their own."

Bierwirth added, "The Regents proposal would be acceptable to us. The Zarb Commission proposal would leave us out in the cold. Whatever is decided between now and the end of July will effectively preclude

any additional changes. Board members are invited to a meeting on April 26, PTA and other various organizations are invited to a meeting on April 30 and this will be the topic of those meetings. We don't need 40 people, but a good representation would be great so that people will understand what is happening and people need to know the seriousness of this situation."

Dr. Bierwirth said, "One possibility is to have a meeting with Senator Michael Balboni. I already had a meeting with him and he is on board with us and it would be very effective if he could stand on the floor of the Senate and report that he had just met with 100 very upset people in his community who do not want to choose between crippling the educational programs or taxing themselves and their friends out of the community. We need to give him ammunition."

He said, "We need to give all our other legislators as much ammunition and support as possible to try to combat this Zarb Commission."

He added, "We need to get all of Long Island upset and as a unified force say to the state, you just can't do this."

The Herricks School Board was given an outline for the future of the Herricks Community Center by Dr. Bierwirth.

Dr. Bierwirth gave a brief background stating that in 1979 the Herricks Board of Education accepted two premises as the basis for the original mandate for the center.

First to broaden educational,, recreational, social and cultural opportunities for all the residents of the Herricks community.

Second to make the center as financially self-supporting as possible.

In December of 1983 four individuals, Pierre Woog, Thomas Mulkeen, Barry Semple and Amy Wysoker evaluated the efforts of the Community Center to attain those objectives to that point. Although the report is now over 20 years old, many of the conclusions, findings, recommendations and comments of the Woog Report are as relevant today as they were in 1983.

The Task Force found three fundamental conclusions;

1 The Herricks Community Center is integral to the functioning of the present quality of the Herricks Public Schools.

2 The center is underutilized.

3 The costs of the center are quite complex, but within the context of regular schools, not high

Dr. Bierwirth said, "While the Herricks Community Center has grown, evolved and matured over the past 20 years, it would probably be fair to say that those conclusions are still on the mark. The community center still plays a critical role in the functioning of the Herricks educational program K-12 as well as in the broader educational, social and cultural life of the Herricks community, it is still underutilized and while not self-sustaining, its costs still are not high within the context of the overall budget."

Twenty-eight recommendations were included in the Woog Report. Many were acted upon; many were not. Other initiatives have been considered in subsequent years, some were implemented, others were not. What is important, although perhaps relatively unnoticed, is that the Herricks Community Center has become an institution. It has gone from a concept in 1979 to something that is more than a collection of all of the individuals, groups and organizations who use its grounds and facilities. It is a living organization. Its existence alone is proof of its value and relevance.

Dr. Bierwirth said, "While the Community center may not be perfect, it does work. And, if it does work, why tamper with it at this point? And, there are several reasons."

He then listed the following:

1. "The experience of the past 25 years indicates that there is underutilized capacity in the Community Center. Whether there is potential use which is untapped which could use this capacity is unclear but there has been and continues to be underutilized capacity, capacity which could theoretically provide additional services to the community and/or additional revenues to offset the fixed cost.

2. "The finances of the center are unclear. The lack of clarity is a source of unnecessary confusion in the Herricks community. This issue most frequently arises at budget time and most often within the context of what would happen if the district were forced to go on an austerity budget, but it goes beyond that.

3. "Who decides what regarding the community center has been and continues to be unclear. The lack of clarity has had relatively little impact on the day-to-day, month-to-month operations. It does appear, however, to have had a more significant impact on long-term planning. The operation of the community center is different from the other operations in the Herricks schools. The skills and knowledge required to take the community center to a higher level are different than those required to oversee and run schools. Advisory boards, boards of education, superintendents, tenants and many others have had a hand in helping make the community center a going operation. Clearly their collective efforts have yielded great success over a quarter of a century. Nevertheless, those collective efforts have fallen short of what had been envisioned originally and what has been held out as the dream since. The dream, the vision, may never have been realistic, but it is out there."

Dr. Bierwirth continued, "In light of these issues and the experience of the last 25 years, we would ask that the board consider two related steps. First, we would propose that the district publish a pro-forma budget for the community center each spring and a pro-forma financial statement each summer delineating actual expenses and revenues for the prior school year ( July 1 through June 30 ). In this manner the board and the Herricks community would have a clear and more realistic idea of the net cost of the community center. In establishing a pro-forma budget we recommend the following guidelines:

1. "Space utilized full time by the Herricks Public Schools-maintenance, administrative offices and the science resource room, but not the "front office" responsible for community center programs be counted as rental revenue on the same square foot basis as other major tenants. Space utilized on a part-time basis e.g. the gym, would be pro-rated.

2. "Custodial and maintenance costs would be included. Capital costs would not. Capital costs would, however, be noted in an addendum in order to give the community a clear picture of the real long-term costs of operating the center. The current need for a new roof at a cost of $1 to $1. 5 million is no small matter.

3. "Any administrative time other than direct responsibilities would not be included. For example, no time on the part of either the assistant superintendent for business or the director of facilities would be included.

4. Community activities, which use the building but do not pay rent or fees would be noted but not included in the revenue. With the exception of Herricks public school use, all revenues would be on the basis of cash received."

Bierwirth said, "Second, we would propose the creation of a board of directors which would be charged with maximizing appropriate usage and moving the center as close to the goal of supporting itself financially as possible. While the current legal and financial status of the community center as an integral part of the Herricks Public Schools under the authority of the Board of Education and the administrative staff should be maintained, we would recommend that the community center board of directors be charged with viewing the operation of the center as if it were a separate non-profit entity.

"Members of the Community Center Board should therefore be individuals who would be able to bring valuable skills and/or contacts. They should view their role as one of oversight and direction for a non-profit enterprise, not one of providing advice. If any representatives of tenants were appointed, such appointments should be in line with the entrepreneurial nature of the board.

"The primary value of such a board would be planning and direction for the future, not day-to-day operations. Day-to-day responsibilities would remain with district administrative staff. The board should review the use of the facility, identify underutilized capacity and then map out a strategy to expand use and revenue."

After the proposal was presented there was a discussion indicating that the current advisory board for the center should be retained. Dr. Bierwirth made it very plain that it was not his intention to slight the advisory board but rather draft a plan that would bring business to the center.

It was also pointed out that the exact empty space left at the center must also discussed.

The board now has the proposal and no action is to be taken at this time.

School Board President Peter Grisafi announced that the petitions for school board trustee are available at the office of the district clerk. The last date for filing is April 19.

Trustee Christine Turner praised the Herricks Council of PTAs for a successful scholarship dinner. It was announced that $21,000 was raised for scholarships.

Trustee Richard Buckley announced that The Music Man, produced by the Herricks Community Players, will open on the Herricks Theater stage on April 23 at 8 p.m. and then it will run on April 24, 25, and 30 and again on May 1 and 2. Sunday performances will be at 3 p.m. Tickets may be obtained by calling the Herricks Community Center at 742-1926.

Incidentially, Trustee Buckley has the lead of Harold Hill in The Music Man and his performance is outstanding.

Dr. Bierwirth announced that this year the state started to do something to recognize athletic teams around the state that have students that are also doing well academically. They are called Scholar-Athlete Teams. For a team to earn that status every team member, or almost every team member, must have a GPA of 90 percent or better. The following winter Herricks teams achieved Scholar-Athlete status: boys basketball, girls basketball, boys indoor track and girls indoor track.

Dr. Bierwirth said, "Now, the bad news. This week there have been bad leaks around the district. In fact the ones at the high school caused us to move classrooms out of two rooms. The faster we can get to June and get to at least three of the five new roofs, the better."

He continued, "The contractor did come in and opened up the gym roof, the one where the piece of ceiling fell down and it had to be closed. He did not complete it yet, but there were no leaks, so it is already in better shape than it was before we took the roof out. From what I understand the quality of the work is exactly what we expected from this contractor. He has a reputation of being the best on Long Island and it appears that is exactly what he is."

Bierwirth said, "They have also gone into the other buildings and are looking into the structure and undersides. They will do some small work during the spring recess so that when the end of the school year comes they are all set. Again, we just don't know what's going to hold and what is not going to hold. We didn't know if this patch (referring to the one in the Herricks Community Center cafeteria) was going to make it and who knows, the next rain it may not."

"When Dr. Robert Laird, who is the retired head of admissions for University California-Berkeley was here in the fall," Bierwirth said, "We asked his advice on several things regarding our guidance program. Prior to his arrival we decided we wanted to do a Parent's Handbook for grades 6 through 12, with a target date of this fall. That has been worked on and Herricks High Principal Dr. Jane Modoono took some of the work out with her on her recent music trip to California. We are moving ahead with that. It will also be reviewed by some Herricks groups and students to see if that is the information they wanted and to make sure that it is as self-explanatory as possible. We are really going to make this a good publication."

Dr. Bierwirth said, "As a result of Bob Laird's visit we took on two other projects which we didn't anticipate doing. One was the student profile. He took a look at our profile and said it was not selling us as well as we could to the colleges. For example he looked at the Herricks logo and saw Dr. Barnes name and my name and the principal's name and he said it was all wasted valuable space. He said why does an admissions department care who is the superintendent or principal of the school. He said we have better things to put in that space. Further, on the back of the profile we listed all the colleges where our students were accepted. He said for us to take that out and replace it with other material. So, we are in the process of writing another profile and Dr. Modoono shared that with Bob Laird and we should have something to show to you during the summer if not before and it should be ready for use for those students applying for college in the fall."

Dr. Bierwirth said, "In addition, as a result of the discussion with Bob Laird, we are going to change the format of our transcript. First of all it won't be done and Xeroxed, but will be all printed out. We are looking at format that would have the courses organized by department. Because our student's take so many courses, it is not easy to show how many courses each student took. If you can look on the transcript and see clearly how many courses the student has taken, the college admissions officer will have a very clear picture of that as well."

He said, "I have looked at the transcript of everyone who has graduated in the last two years and it is very difficult to read because of the density of information to figure out quickly how many courses and in what subject area the students took. For instance, in the science area there are so many different sciences to take. How many Regents courses and how many AP courses-they should all be in one area. We should have that ready for the fall."

"What we are also going to do, which we had decided to do before Bob Laird came and we asked his advice, is that sometime this spring, if we can, Dr. Barnes, Dr. Modoono and I will visit college admissions departments and directors at three to five colleges and talk them to about Herricks starting off with a line, 'Herricks is the best high school in the United States that you don't know about and we will also show them our new profile. Dr. Laird also suggested that we not make the visits until all the material is completed and until the admissions officers are finished with their spring admissions decisions."

Dr. Bierwirth continued, "Our students do such a spectacular job that we really owe it to them to figure out how to provide the information to the colleges in a way that best represents what they have done."

Dr. Bierwirth reported that the BOCES plan is moving ahead. They have submitted their plan to the state because they need state approval. The outline of the plan is the same. BOCES would rent the first floor for one of their special education programs. They would also pay for renovation. We would then put a program in the lower level probably some of an alternative program. He said, "It has gone to the state and I would hope they have approval by the end of April and hopefully we would be able to make a favorable announcement on the meeting of April 27 or the meeting after that."

The board approved the request from the Indo US Community to sponsor an essay contest in which the sum of $1,000 will be awarded to a graduating senior from Herricks High. The topic of the essay would be "How does adversity in the Herricks community prepare you to become a global citizen?"

The next school board meeting is scheduled for April 27 with a BOCES hearing at 6:30 p.m. followed by the regular meeting at the Community Center, 999 Herricks Road, New Hyde Park