By LARRY MAIER
At the Jan. 11 meeting at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Roosevelt, Hooper (D-18th District) said she recently sponsored a bill in the state Assembly that would provide up to $100 million for the construction of a new high school, middle school and elementary school for the Roosevelt district, as well as $10 million a year in perpetuity for the district.
Part of the high-school construction plans would include an indoor, Olympic-sized swimming pool, a lighted football field and a Broadway-production quality auditorium, Hooper said.
Conflicting reports
During the evening, Hooper repeatedly said or implied that state Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr. (R-Merrick) favored her bill and that the decision to grant her requests ultimately rested with Gov. George Pataki, who Hooper encouraged residents to call to show support for her legislation.
A spokesman for Fuschillo, however, said Monday that the senator had not seen the bill that Hooper was referring to and that he still favored his own takeover legislation, which passed the Senate in Oct. 2001.
The Fuschillo bill calls for removal of the current school board and an interim board to be appointed by the state education commissioner. It also provides $4 million grants for five years to be awarded to the district for the improvement of academic performance.
According to the New York State Assembly's Web site (http://assembly.state.ny.us/) a bill (No. A09072) asking for $100 million for the construction of a new middle and high school was introduced to the Assembly June 7, 2001 by the Committee on Rules at Hooper's request.
However, no other bills introduced by Hooper concerning Roosevelt schools were found on the Web site.
According to Fuschillo's spokesman, the state Legislature was scheduled to hold negotiation meetings on the Roosevelt issue Monday, Jan. 14.
In the meantime, a state-appointed review panel might move shortly to cut $3.6 million from Roosevelt's school budget to prevent the district from running out of money before the end of the school year. The cuts would cost the district its kindergarten and athletic programs, among others.
The review panel was to meet with the Roosevelt school board on Tuesday evening, Jan. 15. A state education department spokesman said Richard Cate, the chief operating officer of the state education department, would also be in Roosevelt to address resident's concerns.
Audience wary of words
While some audience members cheered Hooper's promises, the overall mood was one of skepticism. Roosevelt residents have heard about different plans for their schools, including breaking up the district and busing students to neighboring districts such as Baldwin, Bellmore-Merrick and East Meadow, for months.
Many in Roosevelt have criticized Hooper, who has remained silent in recent months on the Roosevelt schools issue. Hooper said her state trooper security force was necessary because of death threats that she has received from within and outside the Roosevelt community.
Hooper did leave herself wiggle room with her constituents should her version of the state takeover fail to pass. She told the audience that as of earlier in the afternoon, the prospect of passing the legislation looked good. "But I have to be very careful," she added. "Yesterday, four legislators approached the governor and wanted to know why are you giving this to Earlene."
When asked by an audience member for her takeover bill's number, Hooper refused to provide it.
"I am not at liberty to give out the bill number now," Hooper said, She said that the governor was "itchy" and wary of setting a precedent by allocating funds for constructing the three new schools.
