Now that Dr. Bozzomo has resigned as the superintendent of schools in Manhasset things should change. The effective date of his resignation should have been not more than 60 days hence. The present date of April 30, 2005 leaves him a "lame duck," for entirely too long.

The superintendent and the BOE are about to start planning next year's budget. The budget must be reduced and it can be done. The incoming superintendent should be part of making the new budget.

Consider the following. I believe that it is a fact that only about 30 percent of the families that live in this school district have one or more children in the school system. A lot of the other 70 percent are retired persons living on a fixed income. I have heard of a number of these persons who are being forced to move away because of the bloated school tax. If just one half of the mostly older families moved away they would likely be replaced by younger families with children. If this took place it would mean a doubling of the school population. Where would you get the land on which to build a few more schools and what would it cost? The cost of the buildings alone would probably be well over $100 million. Then there is the little matter of staffing, heating and cooling, lighting, etc., for a 100 percent increase in the taxes in addition to the cost of bonds to finance the actual building and land acquisition. And this is not even considering the inflation over which we have control. Just think it over before you wish the older families would move away.

There are many places to save money, but I will limit this letter to just two of them.

The first is heating. I have noticed on my visits to the schools that they are more than plenty warm in cool weather. I understand that for every degree F above 70 that the heating costs go up three percent. This holds true up to about a 10 degree change from 70 degrees F. Thus a three degree decrease in the temperature would save nearly 10 percent. With heating oil and gas prices at record levels now this amount of saving is really a lot of money. If there are classrooms that tend to be cool, there is nothing wrong with those present in those rooms to put on a sweater. They would probably be healthier in a cooler atmosphere anyway.

The second is teaching costs. We were told a week ago that teacher contract negotiations were stalled and that the teachers had requested the help of a mediator. Though the teachers do not have a new contract the old one stays in force, including the step raises, and other perks. Just for the record, these automatic annual step raises exceed the present cost of living index. There has to be an increase in productivity by the teaching staff and all excess teachers must be suspended. It costs the taxpayers an average of about $100,000 per year for each teacher. This figure includes not only pay but social security payments, payments to the pension plan, cost of health insurance, Schedule B and Schedule C payments, etc. The teachers here are among the highest paid in the country. They get about 20 percent, in base pay, more than those in New York City and enjoy incomparably better working conditions. Our teachers are lucky to even have a job. Read the papers and find out what has happened in the airline industry. Delta pilots just took a 32 percent cut in pay, plus partially losing their pensions and health benefits after retirement. Teaching costs are the largest single line item in the budget and they must be reduced. I am not bashing the good teachers, but they must face reality.

The budget must be cut 10 to 15 percent below what it was this year and that means a lot of, "special interest," courses must be combined or eliminated.

Nothing that I have proposed will in any way adversely effect the students getting an excellent education.

Eugene W. Garges, Jr.