The Manhasset administration and the board of education (BOE) directed their architect, Roger Smith, of Burton, Behrendt & Smith (BBS), to reduce and itemize the $62.5 million conceptual plan in order to meet the demands of a community that had found the district's original plan preposterous both in its price tag and lack of specifics. He identified three areas of discussion-secondary school expansion and renovation, district wide infrastructure and a new bus garage. Roger Smith came prepared with a power point presentation of over 70 slides. He had specifics and line by line costs. He did an excellent job presenting the district's position. The only problem is that not everyone embraces all the components of the district's position.

As of Dec. 8 these were the referendum costs: secondary school spatial needs ($33,915,726); secondary school infrastructure ($5,519,600); elementary school infrastructure ($3,013,000) and new bus garage ($4,129,398) for a total of $46,577,725. All amounts quoted were almost exactly the same as the original amounts presented at the October 7 meeting, with the exception of the secondary school spatial needs which had originally been $49,903,741 representing a cut of about $16 million.

The bond has been reduced from $62.5 million to $46,577,725. Roger Smith explained, in part, how the $16 million had been cut. His original mandate was to meet state optimum requirements for classroom sizes. For example, the requirement for a science lab is 1200 square feet and when first drawn up the plans met that requirement. In the secondary school building, to create a science lab meeting the optimum number of feet necessitated moving walls and having two labs with some leftover space. During the second go round the labs are 1000 square feet each-less square feet than what's recommended but no walls will be moved resulting in lowered construction costs. Mr. Smith said initially he had a directive to include all that the administration wanted and then changed the plan after he was asked to following the public meetings in Oct. and November. At that time he was charged with taking a look at the costs and finding a way to adjust them yet still retain the educational objectives. A resident said," So you tried to float it and see if you can get away with it and when you couldn't then you change it."

He said before listing what this bond will address it was important to look at the previous referendums and see what had been accomplished. It's prudent to be aware of past improvements and to retain recent construction from the 1985 and 1996 bonds so as not to pay for something twice. He said the 1996 bond met and exceeded its goals. Slides enumerated much of what had been done in past referendums and Superintendent of Schools Lawrence Bozzomo, said all the items would appear on the school website.

A resident commented that most of the construction is based on the decision to move the sixth grade to the high school. Following is a quote presently on the Manhasset School District website. "Factors driving the building improvement planning effort are:

• District wide enrollment growth, which has prompted consensus to move the sixth grade up to the secondary school; district-wide enrollment, now at more than 2750 students, has grown by more than 12 percent over the past four years. This trend is expected to continue until at least 2008, when it will plateau above 3000 students.

• The desire to develop a true 6-8 middle school, moving the sixth grade to the secondary site and alleviating the anticipated growth crunch at both Munsey Park and Shelter Rock Schools.

· Evolving educational program needs at the middle and high school in academics, the arts, and athletics, in line with the high expectations of our community.

• The need to fix outdated and, in some instances, unacceptable conditions at the secondary school including inadequate electrical, security and heating facilities. The secondary school is the oldest of our school buildings. During its 70 year history, only two major building projects have addressed needs at this site.

• The need to address infrastructure improvements at other district schools, including replacement of the original 30-year-old roof at Shelter Rock and installation of an emergency generator at Munsey Park."

When first presented at the Oct. 7 meeting the community was in shock over the cost of the bond. To get a handle on how the community viewed the referendum, and more specifically how it would vote, the district hired a firm to poll the taxpayers. The results of this phone survey were presented at the Nov. 10 meeting. The districts own survey pointed out that the community does not buy into the district's value statements. These value statements have not been altered, are still the impetus behind construction. The construction is now being altered, but not the reasons for the construction. For example, in the district's own survey, conducted by Michael Conte of Syntax Communications, the community does not buy into many of the value statements presented in the original conceptual plan. "On almost every statement tested about 40-45 percent disagree or disagree strongly, suggesting a very difficult sell for the conceptual plan." Examples of those value statements are: 1. It's about time we make a significant investment in our secondary school and had a real middle school. 2. The district has made its case for why the project is needed. 3. The reorganized grade groupings and new school will enhance student opportunities and performance. 4. The need for secondary school expansion and improvement is inevitable, and we should do it now because it's only going to cost more later." Does what the community wants matter?

To make a case for moving the sixth grade to the secondary school Rick McMahon, middle school principal, said that out of approximately 56 school districts on Long Island only six do not have a middle school, with classes 6-8 grouped together. Of those six, three are in the process of converting to a "true " middle school. Port Washington, Roslyn and Great Neck all have "true" middle schools-on Long Island it is the dominant model. Manhasset is the exception to the rule.

As the evening progressed the architect clearly had assembled a fact-filled presentation

but going through the slide show some felt was a waste of time because they did not support the principles used to warrant the construction. They felt the question of how to address the enrollment growth should be settled before all this detail was presented as if the course of action had been decided. A taxpayer commented, "All this is based on the superintendent's decision to move the sixth grade to the high school. In a democracy the people make the decision. Much of this evening is unnecessary because it is based on the sixth grade moving." One resident, impressed with Roger Smith's presentation, and swayed by his arguments, said, "The architect makes sense and the board should better explain themselves."

As a solution to the growing enrollment problem the question of class size is often brought up. Several questioned whether the class size of 21-27 students could be modified for the period enrollment is growing. After peak enrollment expected in 2007-08, class size would begin to shrink naturally. Construction would be ongoing and disruptive until around 2007 so perhaps larger class size until 2007 is a possible trade off? The district puts caps on classroom size themselves. Class size is discussed yearly by elementary school parents who want them kept low. The class size isn't dictated by union contracts because the union caps the classes at 32 or 33 students. The BOE determines the class size. The administration said that in the high school some of the regents classes are 30 and above. It is said that elementary classes should be smaller. It is a balancing act. To get one thing you must give up another.

There was much discussion, pro and con, on the size of schools and at what number of students the elementary schools become too big. There was agreement that size does matter and large elementary schools do not work; that 1000 children is too many. As of November 30 current enrollment is all schools is 2772 students. Munsey Park has 753 students and Shelter Rock has 758 students. According to Manhasset Public Schools literature, Shelter Rock has already surpassed it projected peak enrollment.

Cost continued to be a hot topic of conversation. A resident said salaries are what drive the costs up so high. He wondered if, with the projected enrollment growth, additional classrooms and resulting increase in the teaching staff, whether the additional salaries had been factored into the total costs? These are ongoing expenses which include minimum pay raises each year. Dr. Bozzomo said they discussed and struggled with that issue and decided not to include additional staff because they would have to be hired regardless of the bond issue. They would be hired due to enrollment growth. Another question was, "How do you cost out the planned additions on an annual basis? Already our school budget goes up 8 percent a year." Another commented, "I have been a resident for 50 years and have seen the demographics go up and go down. The school budget already has a built in increase of 6-8 percent per year while the cost of living rises 2-3 percent. The current trend is to buy a house and tear it down and build a mansion. If the district's cost per pupil is over $21,000 now, what will it be after the construction? Spending should occur within the framework of what you have." Further comment was,

"You guys are beginning to sound like congress-talking about millions of dollars.

You would be wise to remember Charles O'Shea was voted out of office after the Nassau County reassessment. Grasso is gone from the NYSE. In California they went after Gray Davis and he is gone. Take heed, the critical mass is getting really angry."

As a result of the slide presentation and handout listing the line by line costs, the relationship of construction and academic excellence was mentioned. A few of the comments were, "Has the board scrubbed this to see that every line is geared to a better education?"; "How will renovation improve the educational programs? No one has explained how foreign language or social studies will change"; "What is the correlation between state of the art buildings and improved scores?"; "How does a 1200 square foot science room improve the science program? The basis of the construction seems to be that the education will improve."

While everyone was pleased to have numbers to evaluate the project some felt they were very hard to digest and difficult to know if they were reasonable. One member of the audience said that while he was delighted to finally have some hard numbers it was difficult to relate to the line items. Dr. Bozzomo said the information will be on the Internet "very soon after the start of the new year."

Other topics were briefly discussed including the bus garage and whether the bus service could be outsourced. At present it is to be moved off site, one reason being there is so little space to play with. Non-educational facilities can be moved off site. A resident asked if the district offices could be moved off campus. The answer was that the central administration does not require that much space and it is desirable to have them where the staff is located.

Dr. Bozzomo mentioned the security system that would monitor the 26 doors of the secondary school building, making it more secure. There could be a card swipe system-student ID's could be compatible with the system. In that way anytime of day it would be known who is off campus. Coupled with the plan to take period by period attendance, which has never been done before, there would be far greater tracking of students.

An awful lot of information was supplied. Those residents present did their best to comprehend, to ask for clarification when necessary, to question and to comment. There is a core group attending the meetings who are asking the questions for themselves and their neighbors, to ensure the best possible plan is adopted. Better to be informed now and to give your input now than to complain later.