For the past several months, the East Williston school district, which includes much of the Roslyn area, has been embroiled in a controversy over possible new school construction. The school board recently voted by a 3-2 margin to approve the construction of a fourth building on the Wheatley High School campus. However, a bond vote, tentatively scheduled for the fall, will have to be held to finance the construction.

Whether the district needs another a new building or not has been the focal point of the controversy. The East Williston School District includes all of East Williston, plus parts of Roslyn Heights, Albertson, Old Westbury, and Mineola. The district, many residents have noted, is unique in that it receives its students from communities different in their socio-economic makeup; plus, there is no commercial base in the district so all revenue must be generated from property taxes.

An opponent of the fourth building is Robert Kushner, who is currently running for the school board seat now held by Janet Entine. On May 18, there will be an election for that seat. Ms. Entine supported the new construction so the election will determine if the slim 3-2 pro-building majority stays in place. Ms. Entine has not announced whether or not she will seek re-election.

Mr. Kushner said that while "upgrading our facilities is a top priority" for him, "staffing and maintaining a fourth school would greatly deplete our district's resources," which he claimed "could otherwise be spent on enriched programs and educational opportunities." More specifically, Mr. Kushner said a fourth building would mean a new administrative staff and "the costs that go with it." Despite enrollment increases, the district, Mr. Kushner believes, does not need an entirely new building.

He added that his plan would be for "improvements and renovations" to the district's three existing schools. Noting the 3-2 margin which passed the new building proposal, Mr. Kushner also said that any plan "can and should" be arrived at by a unanimous vote from the BOE. Mr. Kushner said that such a plan would accommodate an increased student population, provide new state mandates, advances in technology and "innovative programs," while also limiting the "enormous tax burden" carried by the East Williston district.

Mr. Kushner said that plans are being finalized now to present the building plan to the community at large. He said no date has been set for the vote, which has been rumored for September or October.

A supporter of the plan is David Wasserman, chairman of Partnership for Education. He notes that the Board of Education has spent the past several years reviewing a series of options to deal with enrollment and curriculum challenges. The state of the current buildings in the district, especially the North Side campus, convinced the board to endorse the new building plan.

Mr. Wasserman said a new building is needed to both meet the 25 percent enrollment increase that has taken place over the past 10 years and state-mandated program requirements. Furthermore, a new building could accommodate recent technological breakthroughs, especially concerning computer usage. Current buildings, Mr. Wasserman said, have no computer facilities except for a "handful" of stand-alone computers.

He added that both the Willets Road and North Side campuses are too small to make needed renovations. An architect by trade, Mr. Wasserman said any additions would involve the kind of "tremendous architectural changes" that neither campus---nor the surrounding neighborhoods---could accommodate.

Mr. Wasserman admitted that a new building would cost more than renovations, but he noted that when the school board did a cost/analysis study they concluded that a new building would result in "more bang for the buck," that is, better educational opportunities for the students. The cost of renovation in a turn-of-the-century building such as the one at North Side would not result in program benefits, Mr. Wasserman said. That could only come from a new middle school building.

Mr. Wasserman said the plan and cost data of any new building project has not yet been made public. Once it is, the board of education will have to vote on it and then set a public referendum on the matter.

The controversy has occupied much of the "Letters to the Editor" section of the Roslyn News for the past two months. Letters, both pro and con, have debated the necessity of constructing a new building. Proponents of the new building claim that there is overcrowding in the school right now. Echoing Mr. Wasserman, they say a building is needed to accommodate new technologies. They also maintain the plan is "fiscally responsible." They note that interest rates are now low, making the time right for such a construction project. Also on the financial side, they argue that the state STAR program will result in a $750 tax credit for some homeowners and that the school district would receive additional New York state aid for such a construction project.

Opponents have written that the school age population, at least in Long Island as a whole, is stabilizing. Enrollment additions that have taken place will level off in the coming years. They add that funds could be better spent on curriculum enhancement rather than a new building. In addition, the school district administration has been criticized for spending money on a "public relations campaign" for the construction project.