1972-08-31

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FARMIN6DALE OBSERVER
AN OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE VILL r i S . , v o ^ E
•• • ; I - * 111 s s • A C
SERVING THE GREATER FARMINGDALE AP< ._..., UE 1R*
A MEMBER OF THE OltSIIC \ l< It / I It I I d ^ I GROUP OF NEWSPAPERS
VOL. 10 NO. 2 Second CUs » roMie D » s bem paid at FamUmdale. N. Y. 11735 . Publi* ed by THE OBSERVER, INC., Box 146. Faimiiudale, N. Y. Thursday, August 3 1 , 1 9 72
School Bus Picture Looks
Different from Local View
A recently published report by the State Investigation Commission suggesting
that widespread collusion among school- bus operators was costing Nassau
taxpayers millions in excessive transportation expenses, is not about to get an
enthusiastic endorsement from the Farmingdale school district. According to
the report, the excessive costs are caused by artificially high prices in districts
where " truly competitive bidding" was not demanded by school boards.
THE RUSH IS ON: Pretty Melanie Frost of Bethpage was one of the
new voters who recently journed to the popular RUSH discothe
que in East Norwich to meet the Republican candidates for election
this November. Oyster Bay Town Councilman Gregory W. Carman,
right, has Melanie's attention for the moment, but the formidable
campaigner, the Hon. Martin Ginsberg, who is seeking election as a
Family Court Judge, is waiting in the wings.
The study, based on in­formation
for the 1969- 70 school
year, claimed that conditions
exist which " tend to sustain the
allegation of collusion among the
various school- bus operators in
Nassau County." The SIC said
that bidding practices indicated a
" considerable degree of pre-arrangement
among busing
contractors."
The report continues: " The
Commission also found that
busing- contract specifications, as
drawn by various school district
officials, frequently revealed
careful ' tailoring' designed to
give incumbent bus operators a
distinct advantage over new
competitors. In school districts
where there was true competitive
bidding, busing prices were
distinctly lower than in those
districts where such competition
was absent."
In the period covered by the
report, Nassau County districts
expended over $ 18 million for bus
transportation. For the current
year that figure is expected to
rise to more than $ 24 million.
Main Street School Opens Its
Gates to Handicapped Students
Without fanfare, venerable Main Street School will enter a new phase on
September 7 when about 50 students will enter the school to receive special in­structions.
The facility, no longer needed by the Farmingdale school district
because of a decrease in enrollment, will become the Center for Community
Adjustment run by BOCES ( Boaid Of Cooperative Educational Services).
Commission Chairman Paul J.
Curran hinted that lax con­tracting
procedures on the part of
local school officials may be
prompted by the fact that the
state pays up to 90 per cent of the
costs.
" The controls are probably not
as tight as they should be in the
local school districts, since it is
not the people of that district who
are picking up the tab," Curran
said.
While allowing that it is not
always possible to get more than
one bid when bus transportation
contracts are up for renewal,
Gerard Donnolli, director of
transporation for the Far­mingdale
school district, rejects
that implication that this fact has
anything to do with collusion or
abetting with the practices of bus
companies.
" It was our school board that
recommended an investigation of
the school bus situation several
years ago," Donnoli said. " It is
easy said to generate competition
in order to get transportation
costs down. In reality, school
transportation in our area is a
shrinking market because of a
decrease in enrollment and I
doubt whether many new bus
companies will be formed in the
future to allow for that type of
competition.
The Farmingdale school
district has been tough with bus
companies when necessary. Four
years ago, the district threw out
his two times because it was felt
that the costs were too high. In
the third round of bidding,
County School Co. was given a
contract which called for an
annual cost of $ 8,800 per bus.
After the first three year contract
ran out, the cost per bus jumped
to $ 13,383. " This sounds like a
tremendous increase," Donolli
said, " and it is. But we are sure
that the bus company lost money
in the last year of its first three
year contract. Although the
annual rate per bus is high let me
point out that our cost per bussed
pupil is quite low. Our annual cost
per pupil amounts to $ 85, much
lower than the County's average
of $ 108. The annual rate per pupil
shows more accurately how
painstakingly the district tries to
run the transportation of students
as efficient as possible."
Donolli's explanation that bus
companies located close to a
district often are the winning
bidders because proximity to the
area served reduces travel time
and costs and can be the basis for
lower bids, coincided with the
opinions of the other school
transportation officials in­terviewed.
Another view that won general
concurrence was that the lowest
bid did not always represent the
best transportation buy. In an
effort to get a contract by un­derbidding,
a company may
resort to drastic cost- cutting
resulting in inefficient, un-dependable
and often dangerous
service.
The center, first of its kind in
Nassau County, will be directed
by supervisor Edward McManus
and will have a professional staff
of eight ( five teachers, a
psychologist, a schooo nurse
teacher and a social worker) and
five teacher aides.
The students, teenagers all of
them, attended either the Career
Development Center of BOCES in
Syosset or the Beechwood School
in Wantagh. School will be held
between the hours of 9: 30 a. m.
and 2: 30 p. m.
Any negative impact on the
community appears unlikely,
since less than a dozen bussses,
almost all of them mini- size, will
be used to transport the students
to and from Main Street school.
The new center will offer a
program designed to modify the
inappropriate behavior of
adolescents and young adults
who have difficutly adjusting to
their environment. These young
people are generally unable to
perform independently or to
assume responsibility for
themselves.
The goal of the Center for
Community Adjustment will be to
help the students become more
independent - to direct them­selves
toward meeting their own
needs rather than depending on
an adult or their peers for
direction. The emphasis will be
on limiting their behavioral
problems and encouraging their
P. R. I. C. E. Moved to
Bigger Headquarters
Anybody wondering what
happened to P. R. I. C. E. lately
while passing the building on
South Main Street and finding it
deserted, may rest assured. The
Farmingdale organization to
combat drug abuse has been
moving to larger and better
quarters just a few blocks south,
to 684 Main Street. The 10 room
house will give P. R. I. C. E.
a much better chance to continue
its work sucdessfully.
social growth. The student's
" work" will be to adjust to the
demands of the environment.
The center, accordingly, will be
a reality- based community in
which the student must learn to
function in order to meet the
daily demands placed upon him
by society.
It is hoped that this pilot
program will help the students
modify, their behavior so that
they can become productive
members of and be more readily
accepted by the community.
The new Center for Community
Adjustment is part of the com­prehensive
special education
program conducted by the
Nassau BOCES for more than
3100 handicapped pupils, ages
three to twenty- one, who reside in
Nassau's 56 local school districts.
BOCES special education pupils
include the learning disabled,
emotionally disburbed, trainable
mentally retarded, cerebral
palsied, visually impaired,
hearing impaired, and multi-handicapped.
Just a Few Farmingdalers
Attended Bethpage Hearing
When Farmingdale residents
complained that they didn't have
a chance to voice their views at
the Town of Oyster Bay public
hearing on its proposed master
plan last month, Councilman
Gregory Carman urged that a
second hearing be held. This
week they got their chance, but
apparently few took advantage of
it.
While an overflow crowd
estimated at 500 attended the
hearing held at Bethpage High
School Monday, few Far­mingdale
residents made their
presence known. Although a
number of area residents did
indicate their opposition to that
part of the plan which calls for
garden apartments at the nor­theast
corner of the intersection
of Merritt Road and Motor
Avenue, participation in the
discussion by Farmingdale
residents was far less than ex­pected.
The master plan calls for about
45 units at that location, or a
density of about 10 units to the
acre. ( See August 3 and 17 issues
of The OBSERVER for details.)
Most of those at the hearing
came to protest a provision of the
plan that could lead to the con­struction
of 39 apartments at
Stewart and Central Avenues,
Bethpage, at the present site of
the Beau Sejour Restaurant, and
at the northeastern corner of
Broadway and Powell Avenues.
Carman, who did not attend the
hearing following a request by
Supervisor John Burke that
councilmen not participate in the
discussion, said it is not too late
for Farmingdale residents to
make their views known. He
suggested that people write
either the planning board, or
himself. He said he would present
comments he received in writing
to the board.