At the last Herricks School board meeting trustee David Goodsell announced that the Democrat party has tapped him to run for Nassau County Third District Court Judge.

Goodsell, of New Hyde Park, who was recently re-elected to the school board, said he was honored to have been asked to run for a judgeship, but that he planned to stay on as Herricks trustee until the outcome of the November election has been determined. He further announced that if he were elected he would be required to step down as a trustee.

It was announced by Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Dr. Deidre Hayes that Jennifer Green, a Herricks graduate attending Vassar College, has been granted a Fulbright Scholarship to Spain to teach English as a foreign language. Further, Dr. Hayes announced that the summer ESL Jump Start program had 75 students from K-12, was held the last two weeks in August, and that it was very successful.

Dr. Hayes also announced that every new teacher, as well as every teacher, in the district received a Herricks booklet entitled, "What a Good Teacher Looks Like in Herricks," and it explains that every teacher in Herricks is held to very high standards and those standards have been put into words with publication of this booklet.

Herricks Superintendent Dr. Jack Bierwirth echoed Dr. Hayes' sentiments regarding the new teacher booklet that also describes that a good teacher also is able to relate well to parents as well as to colleagues.

Dr. Bierwirth also announced that, due to the holidays, the first football home game was held on September 16 on the Herricks High School football field. He said that there are more than 30 students on the "reborn" Herricks football teams and he urged all residents to come out to support the future football games.

Dr. Bierwirth also announced that the opening of school went very smoothly and he added, "Almost ten minutes after school begins after the summer break, it is as though the school has been in session for ten months."

He then turned to Interim Searingtown School Principal David Helme and he said, "At Searingtown School I was walking around ten minutes after school began, and the students were engaged in what they should be engaged in and that's school work. That's a very good sign, especially, the very young students."

Board President Chris Turner said that when she attended the Opening Convocation of the staff, David Helme added a "touch" of class to the ceremonies by not only introducing the new teachers, but giving a brief background of the teachers and what college they graduated from and giving a little personal info about each teacher. She said, "It was a very nice touch."

Turner also thanked James Brown and his staff for their hard work during the summer and she said it was appreciated by all of the board. She added that all the buildings look beautiful.

During the open portion of the meeting one resident wanted to know if the teacher booklet would be available for the public and where it could be found.

She was told that copies could be obtained in Dr. Hayes' office at the Herricks Community Center.

To start the presentation of the Energy Performance Contract Dr. Bierwirth gave some background information. He said, "In February of 2006 the board established a task force consisting of Assistant Superintendent for Business Helen Costigan, trustees Richard Buckley and David Goodsell, Jim Brown, a number of parents and community members and myself to look at our facilities and look at the two reports prepared, by law, as a starting point. We looked at buildings and we looked at our own concerns."

Bierwirth continued, "We also looked at how to dovetail the need which might be addressed through an energy performance contact with other needs that would not be able to be addressed through that procedure. My hope at that time was that we would be able to get the Energy Performance Contract approved but the New York State Education Department in its infinite capacity to frustrate the rest of us, took about a year longer than originally anticipated.

"As you know it is finally approved and now we have to approve the funding but the projects will not be done until next summer. It is $3.8 million of capital projects that will be paid for by the savings in energy. Included are more efficient lighting, more efficient electrical, more efficient boilers within a period, collectively, of 18 years.

"The timeline for all of this starts with the presentation of the draft plan tonight and the acceptance of the board of the funding.

"Next, materials will be distributed to each building itemizing special projects for that building as well as the plans for the district as a whole. "In late September or early October there will be an article in dateline explaining the draft plan. Then in mid or late October there will be special meetings in each school to explain the plans and that will be followed by information sessions with staff in each building. Hopefully, residents will come to those meetings to find out what is planned for that building.

"Then in early November we will hold meetings with interested community groups. During all of this there will be a compilation of feedback to be sent periodically to the members of the school board but summarized for all parties at the end of November.

"Next there will be a feedback by the board and, if appropriate, modification of the plan. The adoption of the plan will be presented to the voters in the May 2008 election.

"If approved, the submission of the projects will be sent to New York State Education Department anywhere from June through August of '08. Then the SED will review and approve the projects. However, currently they are taking 15 to 25 weeks to approve projects. Accordingly, it is highly unlikely that any projects will be approved before the spring of 2009. After that will come the implementation of projects including the bid process on all projects.

"The Task Force has identified the most critical projects and most fall into one of six areas."

Dr. Bierwirth listed the following projects:

• windows

• heating and ventilation, including boilers and ductwork

• electrical-increased capacity, fire alarms and safety

• roof and building repairs

• renovation of locker rooms

• renovation of the track

He continued, "The best way to have these meetings, I have found through my experience, is to take people on a tour and show them the various things that need replacement. For instance when they walk into a building, a faulty, old boiler is not visible, but if it can be seen, there is a greater understanding as to why it has to be replaced. The same with windows. Of course, not all windows will be replaced, but there will be a definite outline as to which windows will be replaced and why."

"Our plan will be to hold discussion meetings in October to lay-out the draft plan to get feedback from the community which we will gather and supply to the board and then summarize for everyone in November. Then we will go to the December 6 board meeting. At that meeting the board and community will meet and make any changes necessary and if it is ready, present it to the community in May as part of the regular budget vote."

In the meantime Dr. Bierwirth said the community would be well-educated as to whether or not they wanted to support this or not.

Dr. Bierwirth added, "A May '08 approval does not mean the projects would begin immediately. There is a process that the materials have to be presented to Albany and the New York State School Board, and at the moment state education department approval is running 15 to 25 weeks, which would mean we would probably get approval back sometime during the '08-'09 school year. If it comes back early enough we could probably go out to bid and start work during the summer of 2009. In any case, we are entirely in the hands of the New York State Education Department, but if we don't get it done now it will take that much longer and we could run into a lot of trouble."

A comprehensive description of the entire Long Range Facilities Project with the Timeline and Process is available for anyone who wishes to go over it carefully at the superintendent's office at the Herricks Community Center, 999 Herricks Road, New Hyde Park.

The board then approved the acceptance of the bid to finance the Energy Performance Contract bid of $3,855,174 at a net interest rate of 4.088 percent from Chase Equipment Leasing.

The board also issued the AP Scores. Dr. Bierwirth explained that 963 exams were taken by Herricks students last spring. Bierwirth added, "When I first came to Herricks that number was around 400. Last year and this, 86 percent of students have had a grade of 3 or better, which is the highest mark in these tests and what the colleges look for.

"Each year, in going over the transcripts of the students, I made a note as to how many students have taken AP tests and this year 60 percent of June graduates took one or more AP tests. My guess is that with this year's students the percentage will be higher than that.

"One thing I found to be very interesting is that students who took one AP took them in wider areas than I have seen in the last several years. For instance students taking only one AP took it in Calculus. There were students who took only one AP and it was in psychology. The last few years the one course was much narrower. I think what is happening is that as seniors get into their senior year they are pursuing courses that are of particular interest to them. We are not pushing anyone into any particular area. I am very pleased. No one is required to take an AP course and those who are taking them are doing very well."

The board ended its meeting by going into executive session. The next board meeting will be held on October 4 and will be held at 7:15 p.m. at the Herricks Community Center, 999 Herricks Road, Herricks.