Observer_1989-10-04; East Rockaway/Lynbrook Observer

              Official
Newspaper
Inc Village
School District
Inc Village
School District
'THE GOOD NEIGHBOR NEWSPAPER "
m i m i m OBSERVER Sinct 1967 by Mailad Subtcription
Executive Oftices: Seiffort Building. m 7 Long BmcH Road. OcMniidt, NY 11572]
Port Office Box A. East Rockaway, NY 11518 (516) 764-2500
Serving _ _
^ . ^UH VOICE IN THE
COMMUNITY"
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The EaM Rockaway Lynbrook Obaerycr Pnblicatioa «
lifhcti wMkly for S14.M by the ERLO Corporal'
P ^ a f c Paid at Rockvillc Centre, N.Y. 1IS7« and
VOL 36 NO. 37
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office*. Send addreu ckange* to The East Rockaway-Lynbrook
Obwrver. Box A, East Rockaway, N.Y. IISII
Wednesday, October 4,1989 35c PER COPY
Fortgang & Schloen
Elected to Nassau
Music Educators Assn.
Mr, William Fortgang,
Instructional Dean of Fine
and Practical Arts in the
East Rockaway School Dis-trict,
has been elected to the
office of President of the
Nassau Music Educators
Association for the 1989-90
school year.
Mr. Thomas Schloen,
Band Director at East Rock-away
High School, will serve
as President Elect this year.
He will be responsible for
running the Senior High All-
Deep Divisions Revealed
School Board Meeting
at
The tranquif'.serenity of report was challenged from
the past few y e ^ app«firs the floor by a number of
to have ended for tfee E ^ people who personally
Rockaway Board of "Educa^oured the new building a
tion, with deep divi s ^ e e k prior to the meeting.
occurring over the Admi
tration's actions concerni
the progress of the new
Rhame Avenue School, a
new policy concerning
report cards, and the sus-pension
of popular high
school teacher Peter
Kilcommins.
More than 100 interested
residents packed the Sep-tember
19, 1989 meeting of
the Board of Education,
with both parents and
teachers questioning the
activities of the Board and
Superintendent of Schools
Robert Parry.
The Board set aside one
hour before the start of the
meeting to answer questions
from the audience. Eric
Johnson, the construction
manager of W.J. Barney,
reported on the progress of
Rhame Avenue School. He
estimated that construction
work would be completed by
the end of November, and
Superintendent Parry stated
that he anticipated that the
students would move into
the new facility after the
Christmas recess. He added
that should this not be pos-sible,
the move could be
made during the winter
recess in February.
Superintendent Parry's
rding to the group, the
^ing would not be fit for
cu^pancy before the end of
school year, A number
ol residents indicated that
they had not been informed
by the administration as to
the progress being made at
Rhame Avenue School.
Mr. Bill Campbell, one of
those who toured the new
facility, spoke about the
excessive cost overruns at
the school. Insofar as the
Board could not specifically
respond to Mr. Campbell's
questions, they requested
that he submit them in
writing.
A coalition of parents and
teachers expressed concern
over the Administration's
plan to reduce the number
of reporting periods from
four to three times per year.
They stated that no one had
received notification of the
change prior to its institu-tion,
and remarked that no
one had an opportunity to
make any recommenda-tions.
A number of teachers
expressed displeasure with
the change in report cards,
with one for the primary
grades (K through 3) and
another for the intermediate
grades (4 through 6). Super-intendent
Parry noted that
previously the district had
six types of report cards,
although some teachers
seemed to disagree. He
stated, however, that the
decision had been made and
that no changes would be
considered.
One member of the
faculty at the high school
expressed his concern that
the morale in the school dis-trict
is low because of a fear
that teachers are not allowed
to offer input or make
recommendations. He stated
that there is little or no
communication between the
administration and the
faculty and feared that many
teachers would be seeking
employment elsehwere.
(Some pople close to the
situation have stated pri-vately
that even high admin-istration
officials are actively
seeking employment outside
the district.)
The board was asked
about the suspension of high
school history teacher Peter
Kilcommins, who also serves
as the President of the' East
Rockaway Teachers Associ-ation
(ERTA). The Board
had previously voted ~ by
a divided 3 to 1 margin with
one abstention ~ to institute
disciplinary charges against
the long tenured and pop-ular
teacher. Superintendent
Parry responded by stating
that the affair was a private
matter, and that he could not
reveal the charees. He went
on to say that a private
hearing would be scheduled
some time in the future.
High School Principal Kat-hleen
Semergieff noted that
she and not Superintendent
Parry had requested that
Mr. Kilcommins be placed
on suspension.
The suspension of Mr.
Kilcommins has divided
some supporters of the
Board and the Administra-tion.
The ERA has placed
ads in the Observer to make
the community aware of the
situation, and several par-ents
and former students
have written letters to the
editor in support of Kil-commins.
Many have raised
the question of the expense
to the taxpayer for the pur-pose
of bringing this suit. An
informed source stated that
proceedings of this type
could conservatively range
up to 2 and one half years.
Mr. Lawrence Taylor, a
Centre Avenue parent, said
that teacher discontent
makes the students the true
losers. He indicated his
belief that the teachers are
not sufficiently supported by
the administration and are
not allowed to participate
fully in the decision making
process.
The meeting concluded at
10:35 PM. The next Board
meeting is scheduled for
Monday, October 16, 1989
at Centre Avenue School.
East Rockaway Board Report
by Emma Tolmach
The meeting was held on
September 11, 1989 at 8:30
P.M. at the Village Hall in
East Rockaway.
Officer VanWell reported
on activities of the 4th Pre-cinct
for the month of
August as submitted by
Deputy Inspector Liam F.
Twomey as follows: 5 arrests
(1 criminal possession of
marijuana, 1 resisting arrest,
1 gambling and VTLS, 1
D.W.I, and 1 burglary
second, petit larceny); 81
County Festival which will
be held at the C.W. Post
Tilles Center in January.
Nassau Music Educators
Association, comprised of
over eight hundred music
teachers, is a non-profit
professional organization
solely designed for the
enhancement and improve-ment
of music education in
the schools of Nassau
County. Our many dedi-
(Continued on Page 11)
East Rockaway Wins
AAA Safety Award
East Rockaway ~ where
there have been no pedes-trian
deaths for the past 12
years - has received the
American Automobile
Association's Safety
Achievement Award.
The award was presented
today (Wednesday, Sep-tember
20th) by Patricia B.
Adduci, New York State
Commissioner of Motor
Vehicles, at a special cerem-ony
in Westchester County
sponsored by the Automo-bile
Club of New York.
The cpmmunity officials
accepting the award were
Mayor Irving F. Shaw, Dep-uty
Mayor Charles Formont
and Deputy Chief Richard
Littellj Nassau County
Police Department.
Tlifi luncheon honored
iCqntinued on Page 11)
moving and 155 parking
summonses issued; no
A.B.C. referrals; 5 major
crimes reported (3 burglaries
of residences, 1 burglary at
East Rockaway High
School, 1 robbery on Rhame
Avenue); and 21 accidents
with 9 injured.
The Mayor reported that
he, the Village Attorney and
the Village Engineer had met
with several Nassau County
officials regarding the pro-posed
road raising project
and indicated that progress
is being made. He pointed
out that a letter had been
mailed to the residents of the
affected area explaining the
Village's position regarding
this matter and the steps
being taken by the Village to
protect the residents. Shaw
further reported having
attended several meetings
regarding the proposed
Sludge Dewatering Plant
and that he expressed the
strenuous opposition to the
installation ofthis plant in the
Bay Park area on behalf of
all the residents.
The Board reviewed the
proposed local law indicat-ing
that the parking of veh-icles
in Municipal Fields at
meters would be at the rate
of twenty-five cents for three
hours tf3 the ma^i^nium time
on the meter dial except in
field #9 which would be at
the rate of twenty-five cents
loreach hour the vehicle
would be parked. It was
further pointed out that
Municipal Field #9 would be
under renovation in the very
near future and that main-tenance
costs have sky-rocketed
for the repair of
municipal fields and the
(Continued on Page 12)