Bethpage-Tribune_1972-07-06

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Island Trees
Vol. 6 No. :$5
Serving Bethpage Piainview - .s.and Trees - P,ainedge - Seaford
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An Editorial
'These Things Unite Us - the time for division is
now over We are all Americans, we love our coun-try...
We love our children and we want the best
possible education for them...We love our homes and
we want the lowest taxes possible. We bear no grudges
y > ^ JO rancor, we seek no vengeance..At is only
witlrthe hel§ of ALL our neighbors that we can achieve
what we^want..."
SOUND GREAT, DOESN'T IT? As NEWSDAY
quoted man editorial of June 23,1972~"These ringing
and reasonable words possess more than a touch of
Jetterson, We are proud to note, however, they come
not from some great statesman of history, but from
Long Islanders of today - the winning slate in the
recent Island Trees School Board Election."
Then the editorial reminded its public that the
election campaign was bitter but ended in victory for
'common sense" and "moderation"...
In a polite but emphatic way we say BALONEY'
BALONEY! ANYMORE BALONEY'
THE PEOPLE OF ISLAND TREES GOT THE
BIGGEST SNOW JOB IN HISTORY this was aided
and abetted by self interest groups, the teachers union
and some teachers who managed to politik in the
schools and brainwash the kids and the daily news
media who played up one side only...now come the
pious mouthings.
Over 1400 people voted nor the majority board and
over 1350 voted to pass the 23-ceht tax
DECREASE...but who could stem the flow of lies "out
olJth^jQMUth^
us they are gonna have 40 kids in the class..."Dad, no
more sports...they are gonna' cut our sports...I won't
get in college Dad...Hey did you hear..no, more band
...no music.no after school activities...no bus trips
...no activities ...no more hot lunch...and on and on it
went...again aided and abetted by self-interest
employees whose first interest is themselves...the kids
were used all along the line. LIES, LIES, LIES, if you
tell them often enough they sound like the TRUTH.
Then the Catholics were used — a rumor was spread
-•- "Parochial transportation is going to be cut" — This
LIE has only to be examined carefully...Parochial
transportation is mandated...it cannot be cut.
The defeated Board worked against a concerted
effort ol obstructionism^ harassament and vested
interest pressures. The Board made a conscientious
effort to achieve reforms in the District, cut out the
"fat" and set up a restructered Central Ad­ministration...
to formulate a program of efficiency in
business and plant management and a forwarded-looking
program of educational goals. This could be
managed within the bounds of the district's pocketbook
with the cooperation of.its staff. But no one wants his
"ivy tower" disturbed and the bureauacracy continues
unabated while the taxpayers pay through the nose and
the kid suffer educationally. 1400 people voted for the
defeated board—1400 people have a right to be heard.
"The Time for division is over"—again BALONEY -
-The very first meeting of the newly-elected Board of
Education reeks with vindictiveness, malice and down­right
abuse of their powers -THE PUBLIC BE
DAMNED is their attitude as they deliberately and
viciously thumbed their noses at 1400 voters. They
deliberately ignore the 1400 taxpayers who beg for tax
relief —- they arbitrarily act in a high-handed manner
and forget all about the "JEFFERSONIAN TOUCH"
and instead used a "DICTATOR'S SLEDGE HAM­MER'
' They use the ruse of a SPECIAL MEETING on
a holiday weekend., on a Saturday (Sabboth)....to pass
((.nnlimicd on I'age <W
Thursday, July 6, 1972
Old Bethpage
10c per copy
Island Trees
New Board
Trustee DeMitri Stalks Oat Of Meeting
It was the 4th of July
weekend and the newly-elected
Board of
Education of Island Trees
started off with a
BANG!!!
In a very clever
maneuver the new Board
called for a Special
Meeting Saturday af­ternoon
July 1,1972. Using
this vehicle they then
designated the July l date
as the "Reorganizational
Meeting". It has been
customary to hold this
after July 4th.
pointments were held as
follows: Election of Of­ficers,
President - Lillian
Rosa;* Vice President -
Robert Evans; District
Clerk™" - Dorotny Levy;
Treasurer - James Bar­bour.
School Attorney -
Robert Stapleton. Setting
of regular monthly meet­ing
date, last Tuesday of
each month except August
8,1972 (setting of tax rate)
and December (holiday
calendar).
Other routine business
included naming bank
depositories. Franklin
National Bank, Bethpage
branch and Bankers Trust,
Farmingdale branch were
named. The Chemical
Bank (Levittown) was
named for a $1,000,000 tax
anticipation loan at 2.99
interest.
Certain executive
authority routinely vested
in the Superintendent were
withheld by the Board'
This caused consternation
in the otherwise well-behaved
audience. The Re-
QTganjgat
adjoined to : executive
session, promising to be on
time when they returned to
re-convene the SPECIAL
MEETING.
* iney returned a. half:"
hour late. It was obvious
the lateness was due to
friction within the Board.
As the SPECIAL
MEETING re-opened
Trustee Louis DeMetre
read a statement and
declared his intention was
to "work with the new
Board to help unite the
District as expressed in
their Victory statement.
PROUD SCOUTING: Oyster Bay Town Councilman
Lewis Yevoli, right. Was on hand this week to present
David Frederick of Old Bethpage Boy Scout Troop No.
423 a citation commending him as he became an Eagle
Scout. Scoutmaster of 10 years, Mr. Robert C.
Podewils, was also presented a Certificate of Merit for
his outstanding leadership and dedication to the boys
in Troop No. 423.
"However," he went on
"the actions to be taken at
the SPECIAL- MEETING
will only open all wounds
and further divide the
c o m m u n i t y . * ' . He
apologized to the public
and then and walked out
refusing to participate..
As was expected the new .
Board recinded -the
resolutions and actions of
the previous Board.
They put back the
abolished controversial
Superintendent (Eugene
District Dr. Edwin Klotz of
executive authority and
suspended his team of
assistants Mr. - Waif
Oglesky and George
Murphy pending an out­come
of the actions started
against their ap­pointments
to their
positions by Mr. Richter
while he was a candidate
for the Board (He was
represented by Mr.
Stapleton)
The audience roared.
Cries of "election
revenge," "Conflict of
interest," threats of
"taxpayers suits" were
raised against the Board.
Many people felt this was a
deliberate action of the
Board taken to force Dr.
Klotz out. One woman
feared "a hostile climate
is being created by the re­instatement
of Mr. Reilly
to the detriment of the
whole school system."
The Board was unable to
justify its actions to the
enraged people and now
faces Court Actions. The
Board having suspended
Mr. Oglesky and Mr.
Murphy instructed Reilly
to proceed with budget
preparation. labor
negotiations and per­sonnel.
There is a strong
possibility the taxpayers
face a $2.00 per $100 in­creased
tax based on the
actions taken by the new
Board at this meeting.
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