By LARRY MAIER
The panel is to report back in December, said Robert Johnson, Long Island's representative on the Board of Regents. If the Roosevelt district is dissolved, its students might be sent to neighboring school districts like Bellmore-Merrick and East Meadow.
Johnson, however, noted that there's nothing now spelled out about what would happen to Roosevelt's 3,200-plus students if the district is dissolved.
Johnson said that possible solutions include: merging all Roosevelt students into surrounding districts; keeping Roosevelt students in their current buildings, which would be run by surrounding districts; or keeping some students in their current buildings and sending others to neighboring schools.
Another scenario, said Johnson, would be the dissolution of the entire district and then a reorganization that would allow the elementary schools, which have performed better academically than the upper grades, to operate as a separate district.
In short, anything can happen.
"All of these combinations and permutations really depend on which of the surrounding districts ultimately become part of the solution and what their facility capabilities are," Johnson said.
If the Roosevelt District were dissolved, he said, the fate of its students would be reached in discussions between the state education commissioner and school boards and superintendents of surrounding districts.
SH: Legislative agreement needed
But it doesn't have to come to that.
Johnson said that the Board of Regents hopes that the state Legislature can agree to a full state takeover of the Roosevelt district, which was first proposed earlier this year. Education department officials are ready, however, to dissolve the district if the Legislature does not act.
More than six years ago, Roosevelt became the first school district in New York State to be placed under limited control of a state review panel. Since then, the academic performance of Roosevelt students has continued to lag behind state expectations, and the district's financial troubles have not improved.
The news from the recent Regents meeting is just the latest in a year-long parade of disturbing reports about Roosevelt that have confused local residents and school officials. Fundamental to the confusion has been the disagreement between the state Senate and Assembly over how to best help the district.
In October, the Senate passed legislation introduced by Sen. Charles Fuschillo (R-Merrick) that provides for a minimum five-year state intervention into the financial, educational and governance affairs of the district. The plan would give the state education commissioner control of the district until an interim board is appointed, which would transition to an elected school board starting in June 2003.
The legislation differs slightly from a bill passed by the Senate in June. Fuschillo said the latest bill would allow Roosevelt to finance its structural deficit through bond issuance and require that at least three of the five members of the interim board be from Roosevelt. The changes, he said, were made through negotiations with the Assembly until talks broke down. Fuschillo hopes that the Assembly will pass the legislation.
As yet, however, Assemblywoman Earlene Hooper (D-Hempstead) has not introduced the Senate bill to the Assembly. Hooper did not return calls from the Herald for this or past stories regarding Roosevelt. In the past, her representatives have said that the state takeover plan outlined in the Senate legislation was not specific enough in addressing administrative changes, did not provide enough money for the district, and did not specify who was accountable at the state level for Roosevelt's success or failure.
Since Mills first proposed dissolving Roosevelt over a year ago, Fuschillo has been steadfastly against it.
"I fully reject state Education Commissioner Richard Mills' suggestion to dissolve the Roosevelt School District," said Fuschillo. "He cannot solve the issue by dividing it up into small pieces and spreading it around."
Fuschillo added that only recently had he had heard about the possibility of including Roosevelt's elementary schools in any district breakup.
Johnson said the Senate legislation "goes a long, long way" toward solving Roosevelt's problem, but is still short on money. The Senate bill would allow for $4 million in annual school aid for Roosevelt; Johnson said that at least $6 million a year is needed.
Funding concerns have only been compounded since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Given the financial burdens placed on the state since the attacks, the amount of available funding for Roosevelt remains a question.
Johnson said that while the Senate and Assembly are very close on issues of governance, money remains the sticking point.
"If the additional funding and the solution from the state are not forthcoming, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that come January, the commissioner is going to be moving in earnest to get the process rolling," Johnson said.
If that happens, added Johnson, the district could be dissolved and students assigned to neighboring districts as early as September 2002.
Johnson said he had not yet heard from residents in surrounding districts since the recent announcement that a breakup is a real possibility. "But I expect to," he said. Most people, Johnson added, believe that state takeover legislation will pass.
