To buy or not to buy.

That is the question that will be put before area residents this coming Sept. 24, in the form of a referendum that will determine the future ownership of the old Alva T. Stanforth school building.

Long vacant, the building is being sought by a number of local residents and school administrators as a cure to classroom overcrowding in the Elmont Elementary School District.

Those residents, gathering collectively under the banner "People for the Purchase of Alva T. Stanforth," (PFPAS) will be meeting this coming Wednesday, April 30, at 7:30 p.m. in the St. Vincent de Paul church basement at 1500 de Paul Street.

The main purpose of the meeting is to organize a grassroots 'vote yes' campaign in favor of the purchase of the building from its present owner, the Sewanhaka School District, for $3 million. A referendum deciding the matter will go before residents of Elmont, Franklin Square, Floral Park, and New Hyde Park Sept. 24.

"Since we first began meeting formally in January, we've gotten between 30 and 50 people at each session," said Richard Mastrocola, who described himself as "acting facilitator" for the movement rather than as its "chairman" or "president."

"What we are proposing isn't new - the elementary school district has actually wanted to purchase the building for many years - what's different is the need to see this through now. Overcrowding has gotten to the point where it's impacting our children in the classroom. Given that, many of us believe that purchasing Alva T. Stanforth and returning it to its former use is the most sensible solution to a significant problem."

But if, as Mastrocola said, buying the old school building is the sensible solution to a community problem, he readily admits, the solution doesn't come without its own controversies.

"It comes down to the contract proposed by the Sewanhaka School District," he said. "Frankly, the initial thought of many of us was that it didn't seem fair to the Elmont Elementary School district. Some of us even thought that it was hostile.

"Mind you, the problem wasn't the $3 million price tag; it was the contingencies, the various requirements the Sewanhaka School District built into the contract of the sale, such as how much money could be spent on refurbishing the building. It was a 'This much and not a dime more' kind of thing."

Mastrocola continued, "The bottom line though was, Elmont accepted those requirements. Therefore our philosophy has been, let's look past the contract and focus instead on what we will be getting if this referendum is approved: a building in which to educate our children."

During their first meeting in January, the members of the PFPAS divided themselves into a series of subcommittees whose individual responsibilities include voter registration, lobbying, acting as information gathers and information dispersers, and coordinating said activities as well as efforts aimed at bring Stanforth online, with the elementary school district.

"In addition, because of the nature of the vote, the fact that it will be held in communities other than our own, we've also formed a speaker's bureau, to get other communities in the Sewanhaka School District to support our cause," Mastrocola said.

If classroom overcrowding is the main impetus for the PFPAS movement, Mastrocola maintains it will also bear other fruits for the community.

"In purchasing Alva T. Stanforth, what we're attempting to do is not just add another elementary school to the system. We see this building as a district-wide, fifth and sixth grade-only facility. What that means is that for the first time, every fifth and sixth grader in the Elmont Elementary School District will come together to get their education. That's something, I think, we should all be proud of."

According to Mastrocola, three separate issues will have to be decided at the time of the September vote.

"The first thing is the sale of the building. That's something that Elmont, Floral Park, Franklin Square and New Hyde Park all have to vote in favor of. The second part of the vote really is one that has to be decided by the residents of Elmont alone: Do we want to purchase this building?

"Finally, we have to agree to purchase a bond for between $5 and $8 million in order to refurbish the building and make it a modern school building.

"That's the reality of what we're talking about here and as a result, our motto is 'Vote yes, yes, yes for ATS.'"

Though heís been the movement's chief spokesman since his organization was formed, Mastrocola emphasized that PFPAS is a one issue organization that isn't really an organization at all.

"I think we all prefer to think of this effort as a mobilization," he said. We're not interested in having someone personify the issue. From the very beginning of this we all believed that the focus should be on the community at large."