1975-06-12

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i4 Pm^ Winning Weekly Serving The Greater Farmingdak Ana Since 119250C
An Official Newspaper far the Village of Farmingdale
VOL. 56 NO. 30
Second Class Postage Paid
in Farmingdale, N. Y. 11735 Thursday, June 12, 1975 Copyright 1975 by
Island— Wide Publication, Inc. price 1 $ i - $ 5 per year
MartThreeSchools For Qosing
I Hearing Tonight
On 5 Year Plans
NEW TRUSTEE Fred Rathgeber, immediately after being sworn in as a Trustee of the Village of
Farmingdale to fill the unexpired term of former Trustee, Norman Krasnow, who resigned May 31, is
flanked by Mayor Hallahan and Village Clerk- Treasurer, James J. McKenna. Fred is following in the
footsteps of his uncle, William Rathgeber, who was a Village Trustee from 1944 until 1949. Fred's
father, Fred, Sr., was also involved in Village affairs, having served in the Farmingdale Fire Depart­ment
as well as a member of the Board of Appeals, while the younger Fred has already served the
Village of Farmingdale as chairman and member of the Planning Board, and is currently chairman of
the Board of Fire Commissioners. Fred and his wife, Barbara, have five children and reside at 60
Yoakum Street. The family is very active in local church and social activities.
Polls Open Wednesday
For School Budget
Residents of the Farmingdale
School District will go to the polls
next Wednesday, June 18, to
decide between approval of all
$ 28,863,057 and austerity for the
coming school year. Also up for
approval are the Library Budget
and the Youth Council Budget, as
well as the selection of three
school board trustees and one
library trustee.
Voting will take place at Howitt
Junior High School from 10 a. m.
to 10 p. m. Three propositions will
also be on the ballot for pubtic
approval, a three year tran­sportation
contract, permission
to sell the Main Street School
building and the purchase of the
South Farmingdale Branch
Library Building.
' Approval of the school budget
will bring an increase of $ 1.09 per
hundred to Oyster Bay residents,
a decrease of the estimated $ 2.30
increase estimated in March.
Additional state aid promised by
the state legislature could reduce
this amount even further. The
school board feels, however, that
they have cut the budget as far as
they are able and do not intend to
resubmit it for a second vote,
unless a public mandate is
received demanding further cuts
in established programs. The
board is already under fire for
reducing the budget to its present
level.
Three seats are open on the
Board of Education to be filled at
this election. Board President
Robert Weiss is seeking
reelection against Lenore
Barrella. Vice President Frank
V. Ranieri is also seeking
reelection and is being
challenged by Elaine Korenge.
Louis J. Avallone and Bette
Watkins are seeking the one, year
( Continued on page 12)
Two five year plans, projecting the declining
enrollment of the Farmingdale School District, will be
made public at a special hearing tonight at the high
school. The superintendent's report and the report of the
Citizens Advisory Committee for building utilization
both call for the closing of three schools in the district
and disagree only on which school should be closed first
and in which year.
library Urges
Approval Of
Purchase Plan
Your Farmingdale Public
Library Board of Trustees urge a
" yes" vote on the proposition to
purchase the South Farmingdale
Branch Library for $ 250,000. This
proposition will be on the School
District ballot at the Wednesday,
June 18, election to be held at
Weldon E. Howitt Junior High
from 10 am to 10 pm. According
to Vice President Joseph S.
Crocco, " It just makes good
economic sense. We'll be buying
a 13,000 square foot building for
less than $ 20 per square foot. This
( Continued on page 12)
F. H. S. Graduates
950 This Sunday
John A. McLennan, principal of
the Farmingdale Senior High
School, has announced that the
fifty- ninth Annual Com­mencement
Exercises will be
held on Sunday, June 15, at 1: 30
p. m. in the gymnasium at the
Agricultural College in Far­mingdale.
This year's class numbers
about 950 graduates,, ap­proximately
70% of whom are
planning to continue with various
types of post- high school
training.
The Salutatory will be given by
Carol Habich and the Valedictory
by Patricia Wheeler.
The members of the Class of
1975 will be presented by Dr.
William A. Kinzler, superin­tendent
of schools. Robert Weiss,
president of the Board of
Education, will present the
diplomas.
The High School Band will play
under the direction of Alfred
Fiore. AH
Projecting an enrollment
decline from the present 11,025 to
an estimated 7,251 in the 1980- 81
school year, the two reports
attempt to project matching cuts
in . school district personnel and
the closing of two elementary
schools and one junior high
school. The estimated saving of
the cuts over the five year period
has been estimated at $ 5,621,475.
The superintendent's report
calls for the closing of Parkway
Oaks Elementary school and the
moving of the district offices*
from Conklin Street to the Howitt
East wing in the 1976- 77 school
year. There would then be no
further closings for the next two
years. In the 1979- 80 school year
the report proposes closing
Northside Elementary School
and one wing of the Woodward
Parkway Elementary School.
The folk) wing year 1980- 81 Mill
Lane Junior High School would
be closed and Howitt would
become a middle school for
grades 6 to 8 and the high school
would contain grades 9 thru 12.
The Citizens Advisory Com­mittee
report calls for the closing
of school much more quickly.
Their plan calls for the Northside
Elementary School to be closed
in the 1976- 77 school year. In 1977-
78 a partial closing of wings
where possible is called for. Mill
Lane Junior High School and
Parkway Oaks Elementary
School are both to be closed in the
1978- 79 school year, according to
the CAC report.
Following the planned closings
the district would eliminate a
total of 269 professional staff over
the five year period.
In his recommendations, Dr.
William A. Kinzler, superin­tendent
of schools, urged the
Board of Education to take action
with regard to the proposal
concerning the use of all school
buildings under the present 6- 3- 3
pattern of organization for the
1975- 76 school year.
He also urged the board to
( Continued on page 12)