As a resident of Manhasset for 27 years, I have viewed with alarm our rapidly rising school taxes. I support expenditures which are necessary to provide our children with a quality education. However, the recent decision by the Manhasset Board of Education to contract to purchase a private residence on Memorial Place for $700,000 subject to the approval of voters at a referendum on Oct. 4, seems to be poorly conceived, and without a clear purpose and the consideration of other alternatives.

At the board of education's meeting on July 25, members of the public were told that, should the referendum be approved, there was no decision on the use of the property. Two possibilities were for an unspecified use by the athletic department and for the construction of a new district office. Since the present private home is unsuitable for either purpose, the building would have to be torn down. District taxpayers would be asked to pay, not only for the $700,000 purchase price, but also for demolition costs, site preparation, and the unknown cost of any possible future building.

At the board's Sept. 7 meeting, the public was told that there was no master plan for the development of the secondary school campus. It seems that there has been no thorough study of alternatives to the purchase of the Memorial Place property.

For what athletic purpose would the lot containing the home on Memorial Place serve? This lot is too small for most athletic activities. The secondary school campus has more than enough unused land for accommodating the athletic needs of the students without burdening the taxpayer with this additional purchase.

The second possible use suggested by the board was a new district office. This would free 5,000 square feet of space for additional classrooms. Again, there is sufficient land for building on the secondary school campus. The other option would be to use the bus garage site. Next year, school buses will no longer be parked on school grounds and most of the garage facilities will be unused. Keeping the district office on the present school campus would mean not only that the administrative office would not be separated from the school by roadways and athletic fields, but also that the expenditure of $700,000 would be unnecessary.

Because the proposal to purchase the home on Memorial Place is not part of a properly considered secondary school campus master plan, because other alternatives to the acquisition have not been explored, and because, once approved, Manhasset taxpayers will most likely be asked to expend an unknown amount of money to develop this property with higher school taxes as the inevitable result, this proposition should be defeated at the referendum on Oct. 4.

Mary Ann Sandor