Bethpage-Tribune_1972-05-11

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Serving Bethpage - Plainview - Island Trees — Plainedge — Seaford un Detnpage
VOL. 6 No. 27 Thursday, May II, 1972 10c per copy
New School Superintendent
Starts To Learn Island Trees
WELCOMING COMMITTEE at a reception for new
Island Trees School Superintendent Dr. Edwin Klotz
(c.) include administrators Eugene Reilley (1.) and
George Murphy. Teacher Mrs. Patricia Sympson is in
the background. phoro by Anthony Genzardi
School Closing Rumor
Brings Out Big Crowd
By Mary McCutcheoh and Lorraine Carley
Approximately 250 people from
the Bloomingdale School area
gathered Monday night at an
impromptu meeting to voice their
opposition and present petitions
against the proposed closing of
the Bloomingdale Elementary
School. Dr. Larson, Superin­tendent
of Schools and School
Board Members, Mr. Slavin, Mr.
Miklas, and Mrs. Regan
presented the Boards reasons for
considering closing the school.
Mrs. Locascio. President of the
Bloomingdale P.T.A., introduced
Mr. Slavin, Board President and
in his opening statement, he
assured the parents that there
had been no final decision on the
school closing. He attempted to
dispel rumors that if the school
were closed it would not be sold to
BUCKS or offered to a business
for factory use, etc., but that the
building would be used for
educational purposes only. He
said the Board planned to
maintain security and building
maintenance until final
disposition had been decided.
Mr. Slavin said that he had the
assurance of both the Superin­tendent
of Schools and the
Director of Transportation that
there would be no large increase
in class sizes or additional cost of
busing and that the proposed
closing would result in a tax
decrease of 25 cents to 35 cents
per $100 of assessed valuation.
Dr. Larson indicated through the
use of slides that the District's
enrollment had dropped over the
past few years and also indicated
that there was more than
adequate room to absorb the'
anticipated enrollment of 280
Bloomingdale students into the
Pine Avenue and Kramer Lane
Schools.
He continued that. . . currently
{Continued <»i I'tific ,K)
Fire Meeting Ends Quickly
The feud between former chief
Andrew Sleinmuller and the Beth-page
Board of Fire Com­missioners
flared briefly again
last Thursday night. May 4, but
the meeting was adjourned
before much was said.
After a reading of the minutes,
which Sleinmuller later claimed
was only done because the press
was on hand, the Board handled
some routine business. Besides a
complaint about 100 missing ch­airs
and a review of the Fire Cadet
program, the Board voted to buy
a new chief's car.
At the public session that
ed a notice saying past chiefs had
managed well enough without one.
Steinmuller, who has claimed
the denial of a car was part of a
"personal vendetta" between -
him and the Commissioners over
a disputed election to the Board,
asked the Commissioners to
justify the expense. Commission
attorney Robert Glasser told him
Board would consider his
butwould give him no
the
followed. Steinmuller called the
ZTZM purchase "a foolish ex
In his last weeks as (
Knmuller had been without.a
car "he had been in an accident
wihil.a«.cl ^ Board had po«t
question
Steinmuller pressed the issue
and Glasser said the meeting was
adjourned. When the former
chief protested that the attorney
could not call off the meeting, the
commissioners themselves -
called for adjournment. "We
may bring up something we don't
want the public to hear", said one
as they left he-room.
By Tom Cullem
Here it was four o'clock, the
school day long over, the only
sound of activity the bounce of a
basketball in the gym of the
Stokes School. And there he was.
Dr. Edwin Klotz. the new and
somewhat controversial
superintendent of Island Trees,
driving for the hoop with an
enthusiasm he seems to being to
everything he does.
1 was in no hurry to get down to
work, so I delayed my interview
long enough to join in the action.
Later cutting through the district
library in search of a more in­formal
place to interview him
than his office we met the
library's director, Dennis King.
And just like that, the good
Doctor went to work.
Two of a Kind
The two merr talked for an hour
or so. v They were trying to
determine how the school and
library systems could be better
coordinated, and they came up
with an idea or two.
Example: According to King,
students who come to the library
to research school reports will
only find a few books they can
use. One reason for this is money
... limited amounts of it mean
limited stock. But another reason
is a simple lack of com­munication.
If he knows what topics a
teacher assigns. King can borrow
many more books through the
Nassau County Interlibrary
system. On a given assignment,
he can then put 30 or 40 books in a
reserve section where all
students could have access to
them.
So, there was decision number
one: Dr..Klotz promised a link
• between libraries in the schools
and the district library, so that
King would be kept current on
report assignments. It wasn't the
most earth-shaking educational
step possible ..'. but it was quick,
and long overdue.
Possibilities
In the four days he had been on
the job when 1 interviewed him.
Dr. Klotz had met local residents,
toured classrooms, , taught
Spanish to ninth graders, and
come up with some suggestions.
Such as:
Curriculum: Faced with a
'locked" in budget," the new
superintendent hopes to make
improvements without spending
much more money than is
already mandated. One approach
he will consider is streamlining
curriculum-perhaps eliminating
"fringe programs."
Student Teaching: "There's no
reason why high' school juniors
and seniors can't teach
(elementary students how to
read."
Administrative Involvement:
Anxious not to become "isolated"
from staff, students, or com­munity.
Dr. Klotz promises to
spend more time in the schools
and less "running around New
York State" to superintendent's
conferences. He has already
offered to teach an in-service
course in Spanish, and hopes to
remove barriers which, prevent
administrators who want to teach
from so doing.
Reading: Two of his first four
days on the job included reports
on the district's developmental
reading program. He wants to
strengthen this, so that reading
difficulties can be spotted and
corrected earlier in a child's
school career.
Vocational Education: Con­vinced
that the schools must help
train non-college students to
handle skilled jobs. Dr. Klotz
feels that the 10 per cent of
students now involved in BOCES
(Board of Cooperative
Educational Services), is
probably low. He said he would
investigate the district's own
vocational programs to see if
they made up the gap between
what BOCES does, and what
college prep courses do.
Since he was only on the job
lour days at the time of this in­terview.
Dr. Klotz noted that all
these ideas were still in the
planning stage.
Controversy and Credentials
Dr. Klotz comes to Island Trees
from California, where he served
in the State Department of
Education under then-commfcsionerMax
Rafferty. Both
men were politically con­troversial,
and the new
superintendent admits his con­servative
point-of-view. But,
while not afraid to argue his
convictions, he also seems more
intent right now on improving
education than fighting any
political battles.
Politics are hard to pin down.
Credentials are easier to un­derstand,
and these Dr. Klotz
has. A consultant on Junior
CollegeEducation for California,
he holds a Ph.D in History from
the University of Madrid, where
he specialized in modern
American and European History.
He has taught high school
students here and in Germany,
and was a professor of History at
Chaffee College in Ontario. Calif.
Besides basketball, the
superintendent enjoys duck
hunting, hiking and "spending
time in the woods." But "my
work is usually my life" he
states, and at this time he sees his'
most important task as
"stimulating community con­sciousness
of the school system."
In line with this. Dr. Klotz had
high, praise for King, who has
amassed a large amount of
material on the history of the
Island Trees area. Dr. Klotz
. would like to work with the
director on a school project
linking Island Trees with the
American Revolution Bicenn-tennial
in 1976. . ..
For those who do not know.
Island Trees was named, ac­cording
to legend, by George
- Washington, whose army found
the tall pines here a welcome
contrast to the exposed Hemp­stead
plain. £
Dr. Klotz drove cross-county
with his wife Winogene, and
passed up positions in California.
Chicago and Florida to be
superintendent in Island Trees.
Whether he will be controversial,
superior, or "merely" competent
in his job remains to be seen
but he seems like the type of
superintendent who won't keep us
in doubt for very long. .
FIRST OF A KIND: Leonard Fuchs of Bethpage,
Chairman of the Jewish War Veterans National Boy
Scout Committee was presented with a National
Partner Representative Plaque during a recent visit to
the National Headquarters of Boy Scouts of America.
This was the first award of its type to be made by the
Boy Scouts of America.