The-Leader_1985-04-25

              Olticial
.. Newspaper
i^^'sr* Village of
• ' Freeporl
• •
Freeporl
School District
•
• Baldwin •
School District
THS
Li Aim FREEPORT. NEW YORK. APRIL 25.1985
rpORt MEMOF^^
51st YEAR. No.l
; FfiEEPORT. UZliX)niM. IIBURX
V. liERRlCK Ra •
FREEfoaT. H y U520 • 6 "
PRICE 2 5 * PER COPY
Substance
Concerns Ba
ool Tax Hike $1.67
Budget To Go To Voters
Wednesday, Moy 8
. Violators Fined
In Village Court
FREEPORT - A total of nine
local waterfront operations have
recently been issued summonses,
which have been or will be
answerable in Fieep<xt Village
Court in the weeks to come. -
Among the violations cited was
an illegal flashing light for which'
the ViHageV Building Depart­ment
issued a summons to Cap­tain
Ben's Fish Doc*. 319-325
Wooddeft Avenue. Last Thurs­day,
April '18, Village Court
Judge Ralph Franco fined Capt.
' Ben's S5d for the violaiipn, which
has since been corrected.
Tony Mayo of the Miss Free-port
n. a boat docked at 23 Wood-cleft
Avenue, paid a $25 fine for
displaying a. sign tied'lo the back
of a car parked on the street.
• ' Off the wateifronl; violations
which came to court April 18,
included the summonses issued
(Com. on Page 16) _ •
An Update On
Playground Project
FREEPORT • The stndenU of .
Freeport's Bayview ., Avenue
School are anzionsly awaiting the
construction of their new play
ground.- From the start the chil-.
dren were aware that their active
involvement, in ; the design,
. fundraising for, and construction
of the playground was imporfanL
The architects of the project,
Robert-Leathers & Co., spent an
entire day in September--:- De­sign
Day — interviewing students
to determine what they wanted
in their' playground. The stu­dents
input included requests
for a castle, a boat^ and a maze
along with a circular slide and
many other features. AH of the^
have been clearly incorporated
into the playground.
In order to make their dream of
the playgrotmd a reality, the chil­dren,
with the help of their
parents,, have spent the past
seven months woiking on various
fundraising events. They have
collected empty cans and bottles,
sold boartls representing those
, used : ^_ ,biu]di]>B(, and ; creat^ ^
,',•;;: I • ic«ni.o(VPijirfl6t,^_.;;
Some Claim Teen Drug
And Alcohol Use High
byJoanDetaney
• BALDWIN - The Baldwin Board of Education meeting of Wednes;
day, April 17, centered primarily on the period of audience questions
and concenu regarding the problem of substance abuse in Baldwin,.
parliailirty at the Baldwin Seniw High Sdiod^.^rdh.the.S^^
tyring to Eeep the concern in perspective, noting that Vmost of ourUds
are good," the board inembers
answered questions and .made
comments'on a situation which,
it was agreed, was a community-wide
problem and not Emtted to
Baldwin.
Concern had apparently de-'
veloped following a senior high
:school parent-networking meet­ing,
when a speaker had noted
ihe high statistics regarding sub­stance'
abuse among teenagers.
Although Dr. Rolhmd - Jones,
Baldwin Superintendent ' of
Schools, stated that the reported
cases of substance abuse at the
high school, are "two a toontfa,"'
residents noted personal observa­tions
of teenagers drinking and
taking drugs belund local stores
and homes dose to the high .
sdiopi'and asked if these teen­agers
were not observed by high
school staff .^
One resident-daimed that a
letter sent to the Board of Educa­tion,
on the subject bad not been
answered and Jones said that the
letter expressed "many concerns
we share ourseWes." Noting that
recent reports on - educational
excellence stress acadfmic and
curriculum upgrading and as­sume
a resultant . sodplogica]
change, Jones said that one can-.
ix>t expect that such aradrmic
striving will correct the other
problems of sodety. He said that
students today "behave, think
and are motivated in an entirely
different way from-any other
generation," and he reiienpd-^
studies and reconmienda^ms on
the' problem, nude in I\KS2 by
' th%*Baldwin Educational Assem­bly's
Educational Trends Com­mittee.
Noting that the group recom­mended
a modified ckMed cam­pus
(students leaving for lunch)
ra&er than a strictly dosed
campus, Jones and later Baldwin
nJof ; High:. School;jPdsiipal
^aU tliaL;u»e plttrl^
had followed all of the Com­mittee's
'recommendations. A
member of that Committee later
informed THE LEADER, how­ever,
that many of those recom­mendations
that were made re­flected
the space constraints at
the high school at that time. '
Lynch outlined the positive
approach to disdpline and dosing
the campus which the high school
preferred. He noted the addi­tional
electives available, the ad­ditional
course requirement; for
graduation and the full schedul­ing
of ninth and tenth graders
including a supervised study hall
program and FIE program, which
in fact required fiill attendance,
for the lower grades. He noted
the inoblems with a physical
dosing of the campus, stating
that the 38 doors at the h i^
school' prednde a one-on-one
guarding of exits. He said a study
of this possibility te 1979 showed
that eight axlditional security
guards at a cost then of S1S9,000
would be needed. He added that
. he feared that such a set-up
would provide the "ultimate
challenge" to students and in-,
crease their motivation to try to
leave th'e school.'
While residents pointed but the
specifics of the community's
awareness of substance abuse,
drug dealing, vandalism, -etc.
during school hours, particulariy
before schod and at lunch time,
Lyndi explained the disdpline
and sodological problems en­countered
by teachers, deans
and staff, which make disdpline
and parental contact difficult.
Noting the Inability to contact
many parents, the hostBity of
certain parents lo school - inter­vention
and the real problems of
"changing families," ' Lynch
stressed the "realities of dosing
i^.i.l(;.^-^:.:U^i.i •'.:: •<.'.
t i r . , r v ' ' -(CpOl.onrtQ«8). ' ' ..
FREEPORT - Aii estimated average school lax increase of S1.67 per
' $100 assessed'valuation is expected to greet Freeport School District
voters when they go to the polls Wednesday, May 8.
The increase, as proposed by the Board of Education at a public
hearing •ie\ for I h i ; pvfning, April T i , wniiM prr.h»My «x. l>i> fr,l,^
school tax for residential proper­ties
set at S25.21, and for busi­ness
properties set at S26.92.
Freepoi<.^&iperintendent of
Schools Jonn^^Aierwirth noted
that the Board tIFEducation had
walked a "fine line" between
slowing down the annual tlx
increases, particulariy compared
to other communities in the area,
and strengthening the district's
educational programs.
Each year, Bierwirth said, the
district is budgeting "closer to
the chest" and its annual' tax
increases are generally smaller
than neighboring districts.
Bfe'rwirth also noted with pride
that the district was able to pro­vide
increased educational op­portunities
for its youngsters
while praqtidng economies. For
example, . he pointed to the
strengthening of the sdence
program, a move begun last year
and spedfically requested by
parents.
Several out-of-district expenses
seem to liave contributed sub­stantially
to the 7.1% tax in­crease.
BOCES has increased
its charges.levied on all school
districts. for their share of its
administration and building
rental charges. The increase for
the coming year is 14% and it is
in addition to the increase in
tuition costs per-student, which
are also increasing 12%.
. Costs are also induded in this
budget -for implementing, the
State Regents Action Plan.'.
Even prior to this plan, Bierwirth
points out, the district had been
working on restructuring its
secondary .classes, a program
requested by parents and staff.
At Dodd Junior High School,
the-present class set up of Honors
at one end and "all others" at
the other will be replaced by
three categories: Honors and two
levels of academic daises.
On the high school level, the
new structure . will allow for
classes on the Honors level, the
Regents level, non-Regents level.
and fiindamental level.
Regents diplomas "will be
tougher to get,".said Bierw-irth,
and youngsters will have to, begin
working for them eariier. ' •
A third budgetary difference
this year is the district's "fiind
balance," which has dropped
because interest rates are lower
and the difference has narrowed
betw-een what the district makes
' when investing its money and .
what it must pay when it bcnrows.
That difference had also always
gone into the "fund balance,'
which has begun to shrink.
The revamping of the sdence
program, begun last year at the
request of district parents, will
soon see the development c^ a
research program at the high
schod, enabling youngsters, who '
are interested in sdence as' a
fConV. bn"ftge^16)
PALS'OF THE. PALS. Guests at a recent Freeporl Exchange Club
luncheon were Mary Ann Rosa (2nd r.), co-president of the Bayview
Avenue School PTA, and Anthony Duhamel (2nd I.), prindpal of the
Freeport School. They gave the Exchangeites an upidate on the pro­gress^
the PALS of the Playground, which will be constructir>g the
community play area May 9-12. The Exchange Club dwiated torn*
$2,000 to the PALS' fund. Introdudng the tpeaken werer Jerry NIchola
< '(I.),' Freeport Exchange's chalrmtn for th# PALS; and Exchange presir
dent.Charif^Mehrmanntr'.^- .• i. f-. .J ;..«•( ;; . - i ; - -