The April 7 board of education meeting was the final one for Superintendent of Schools Dr. Lawrence E. Bozzomo. Tom Maimone, board president, quipped that they had found enough funds, even under austerity, to present him with a plaque expressing appreciation for his years of service to the community since his arrival in July of 1999. Dr. Bozzomo thanked the community, district employees and especially Maureen Margolies, his assistant, claiming it was her common sense that kept his office running smoothly. He then thanked the board who hired him, mentioned the wonderful children of Manhasset and thanked the assembled community for the opportunity to address them. Board member Deborah Klein prepared a tribute to Dr. Bozzomo which she read to the group saying, in part, that he had exhibited such dedication and had had so many accomplishments and that "these cannot be measured." The new interim superintendent, William A. Shine, who recently retired from the Great Neck School District where he was superintendent for 22 years, will begin on Monday, April 11.

Following the tribute to Dr. Bozzomo, Maimone announced that Summer Center was in place, but that the district had been advised by legal council that it cannot be run for tuition, therefore SCOPE would administer the program, and it would be virtually the same program as last year.

Public comment on any issue has been shifted closer to the beginning of the meeting with a 20 minute time allotment. Patrick Connolly, Jr. took the microphone and put in a plug for the bus drivers which was met with hearty applause. The teachers and transportation employees were well represented at the meeting, easily identifiable in their predominately black clothing and orange buttons. Connolly sought information on the status of coach Suzanne Kennedy but Maimone was advised by council not to respond, to maintain confidentiality. Coach Bill Cherry said "the bus drivers have been part of our family for 30 years," that there were horror stories regarding outsourcing, and then asked the board when they "crunch numbers for the budget to ask what value is put on a child's life." Other community members spoke against outsourcing, Dr. Harvey Passes being one of them. He recounted he had just discovered his income taxes were being outsourced to India, "outsourcing has become a bad word," he said. He would like to keep Manhasset like a big family, "like Mayberry," he said. A member of the transportation department said drivers under an outsourcing contract could be, in effect, "casing the joint," to return later and steal.

The outsourcing bids have been received by the district and are being analyzed by the business department, and Maimone said it appeared that $4 million could be saved over three years. Should the board decide in favor of outsourcing the issue would appear on the ballot on May 17 for the community's approval. Should the board decide against outsourcing a referendum to purchase buses would appear on the ballot on May 17 in order to upgrade the fleet.

The student representatives were attending a concert that evening and their presentation, always informative, was missed. An inquiry had been made about increasing the $75 recommendation for staff member gifts to $130 and, upon investigating, it was learned the $75 limit is prescribed by law and the total aggregate gift is not to exceed $75.

Another issue mentioned was the eight class restriction, meaning students may take no more than eight classes per semester. A letter was sent to all parents to determine if any student wanted to take nine classes, with a firm cut-off response date. Only 15 responded wanting nine classes so Dr. Feirsen said they were considering rescinding the restriction to better "satisfy the demands of our customers."

Dr. Austin Gavin, interim assistant superintendent for business, was scheduled to tackle undistributed costs, but was not present due to illness. To date the budget has been revised nine times and stands at $68,173,847, which represents a 4.7 percent budget increase. One more draft is anticipated.

The budgets presented were Transportation, by Rosemary Johnson, and Curriculum Development, by Dr. Robert Feirsen.

A summary of the expenses in Transportation 2004-05/2005-06 with the variance is:

Compensation: $2,080,000/$1,865,000 down 10.3 percent;

Benefits: $749,000/$806,000 up 7.6 percent;

Equipment: 0/0;

Other expenses; $1,396,400/$1,998,400 up 43.1 percent;

Supplies: $193,700/$212,900 up 9.9 percent;

Total direct costs: $4,419,100/$4,882,300 up 10.5 percent;

Total students: 2,700/2,700;

Direct cost per pupil: $1,637/$1,808 up 10.0 percent

Overtime in 2003/2004 was $430,000 and in 2005/2006 is budgeted at $250,000.

Equipment costs will increase if outsourcing appears on the ballot and is voted down thus necessitating the purchase of new buses if transportation is retained in house.

Ms. Johnson commented they had looked at a lot of districts and Manhasset's transportation costs were significantly higher than others.

A summary of the expenses in Curriculum Development 2004-05/2005-06 with the variance is:

Compensation: $434,000/$587,000 up 35.3 percent;

Benefits: $86,600/$102,600 up 18.5 percent;

Equipment: 0/0;

Other expenses; $882,000/$494,000 down 44.0 percent;

Supplies: $23,600/$24,450 up 3.6 percent;

Total direct costs: $1,426,200/$1,208,050 down 15.3 percent;

Total students: 2,825/2,895 up 2.5 percent;

Direct cost per pupil: $505/$417 down 17.4 percent

For a more detailed breakdown of expenses contact Brenda Damiani in Community Services at 267-7750.