At the outset of the last Herricks School Board meeting Superintendent Dr. Jack Bierwirth said, "I want to correct an impression that I may have been the source of at the last board meeting. We are not changing all board meetings to Center Street school. We are only changing the early fall and spring meetings and the purpose is to put the meetings into an air-conditioned room. However, I apologize because it is on the "fritz" tonight and that is why we have all the windows open." (Editors Note: The air conditioning did "kick in" before the end of the meeting!)

He also announced that there has been a case of whooping cough, which is rare, reported in the high school and it appears that adults and teenagers could be carriers. The case involves a high school student and notices have been sent home to all families with children attending the Herricks School.

Bierwith said, "Apparently, whooping cough has returned to other schools and there is some talk of perhaps administering booster shots since no one knows for sure how long the initial shot is effective.

"Next, the article in the Highlander (the student newspaper) indicated that Herricks staff did not have access to the Herricks district credit cards. The reason for this is that the district does not have credit cards, so that clears up that confusion.

"Two days ago PTA Council representatives and I met with Senator Michael Balboni's Chief of Staff Jim Sherry to further follow-up on safety. The particular issue which we were seeking assistance about which is the law on the regulation that deals with child safety zones. In the late 1980s or early 1990s the legislature, after decades of pressure from school boards, PTAs, superintendents, teachers' associations, passed a law that allows a school district to designate certain areas as unsafe within their bus limits.

"That was the theory behind the law. Once the New York State Education Department got hold of it they passed regulations that make it impossible for the school districts because the safety zones were determined on a point system.

"We brought to Sherry three or four good examples of very unsafe zones at Herricks. We asked him if other school districts had registered unsafe zones and we ultimately found out that there has not been a single unsafe zone registered in all of Nassau County.

"Sherry told us that years ago when he was a board member of the Mineola School District the area in that district where the children have to cross the railroad tracks on Roslyn Road did not even qualify for an unsafe zone under the state education department.

"Sherry is going to speak to Senator Balboni so that he in turn can speak to his caucus to see if they can do something to remedy the situation."

It was mentioned by an audience member that the Expressway and Searingtown Road had been designated as a safety zone and Dr. Bierwirth said perhaps it had been "knocked down" by the state education department. He said he would definitely follow up on it to see what had become of the designation.

Lastly, Dr. Bierwirth said he attended parts of the boys and girls soccer games as well as the girls tennis match. He said he particularly enjoyed each team's enthusiasm as well as their sportsmanship as they cheered each other on.

The board then took a break to swear in the student representatives who sit on the Herricks School Board. They are Ishwar Bridgelal, Monica Jun, Amol Jain and Seeta Menon.

Assistant Superintendent for Personnel Dr. Ronald Barnes reported on the test scores. Every grade level did extremely well and he said he was proud of the achievements of the students involved. The complete test results may be obtained at Dr. Barnes' office on the second floor of the Herricks Community Center, 999 Herricks Road, New Hyde Park.

Dr. Bierwirth said in an effort to revise the budget process to make it more efficient the administration has been working all summer to devise a plan to bring to the board budget topics beginning with the Oct. 20 meeting through to Dec. 16.

A timeline of board meetings was handed out and the following is how it will be presented.

Oct. 20-Technology and the status of the Community Center under a contingency budget.

Nov. 4-There will be a workshop on the Tri-State Consortium led by John Bryan Starr so there will be no budget item discussed.

Nov. 18-A discussion on the long range facilities plan, major equipment (maintenance vehicles) and per student allotment.

Dec. 2-Transportation and enrollment projections along with a meeting with the Middle School students.

Dec. 16-Music Department

No topic on Jan. 6 just a regular meeting and on Jan. 20 a meeting with the high school students.

A draft budget will be presented to the board on Feb. 1

Draft budgets will be made available to the public no later than Feb. 14.

Feb. 15-Overview of the budget and the elementary schools presentation.

Feb. 17-Special education presentation

Mar. 3-Middle School/High School presentation

Mar. 10-Deliberation

Mar. 17-Deliberation

March 8 and March 15 are additional deliberation dates as needed with an added date of March 1 if a third date is needed.

There was a discussion on how the transfers in the budget should be recorded in the form of codes in the budget so those taxpayers can refer to the code and see where the money has been transferred.

The meeting was then turned over to Debbie Beer, president of the PTA Council, for a report. She reported that the members of the PTA Council will be meeting with Town of North Hempstead Councilman Tom Dwyer to discuss the painting of lines at the school crossing as well as the installation of crossing signs. Further, she said Inspector of the 3rd Precinct Lorraine Hanlon has been contacted for a request for a school crossing guard at the high school.

Alice O'Leary wanted to know how much the attorney fees for the district have been to date. Assistant Superintendent for Business Helen Costigan told her that they were $20,174.70. She said that she had filed a Freedom of Information document to see the teachers' contracts, but had not received them. Board President Grisafi explained that although the board has ratified the contract it has not been signed and therefore could not be released.

At the end of the meeting a confrontation of words erupted between trustee Karin Filippi and Dr. Bierwirth regarding a letter sent by Bierwirth to a resident. Filippi felt the letter should not have been sent and Dr. Bierwirth disagreed.

The board meeting of Oct. 7 held at the Herricks Community Center will be reported in the Illustrated News. Herricks Homecoming will be held on Oct. 16 with a parade lineup on Park Avenue, Williston Park at noon and the parade is to step off at 12:30 p.m. travel west on Hillside, north on Moore Street across Shelter Rock Road to the high school. The game will start at 2 p.m. between Herricks and Calhoun.