At its first meeting since suspending North Babylon Schools Superintendent Dr. Randy Bos, board members received only a handful of questions regarding the situation from the approximately 25 people in attendance.

At the reorganization meeting, where William Harrigan and Paul Buraczenski were unanimously reelected as board president and vice-president respectively, little additional information was provided about Bos' future in the district. Those residents in attendance were mainly concerned about when the hearing dealing with the Bos situation would be held and if it would be open to the public, and where the district would derive the funds to cover the salaries of Bos- who is still under salary with the district- and Dr. Joseph Laria, who is currently serving as acting superintendent.

Currently, Laria is receiving a salary of $950 per day and Bos is receiving his base salary of $818 per day.

Although the board at the meeting could not pinpoint a date as to when a meeting with an arbitrator would be held to resolve the situation with Bos, Board Trustee Janet Meyerson said the additional funding needed to cover the addition cost of paying Bos and Laria would most likely come from the district's fund balance.

"The one thing I can tell you is that we will be looking at less of a fund balance at the end of the year," she said.

According to Laria, the recently approved 200607 school budget earmarked $180,000 to cover the salary and fringe benefits for the superintendent. Once those funds are exhausted, he said, funds will be moved from other areas of the budget to cover the superintendent salary and benefits. However, he declined to say where those funds would come from.

In terms of the hearing with an arbitrator, as of the July 11 meeting, no date had been set and Gary Steffanetta, school district counsel, informed residents in attendance that the hearing would most likely be closed to the public, unless Bos decided to allow the hearing to be open to the public.

However, Steffanetta feels the possibility of a public hearing is unlikely. "In these situations, I have never seen a request for a public hearing," he said. Some residents in attendance at the meeting also expressed frustration over the lack of information being made public about the Bos situation. But Steffanetta said the school board was walking a difficult line between residents right to know and protecting the district and ultimately taxpayers from a possible lawsuit.

"The board is following my advice in not discussing the particulars of the case in public," he said. "If they did, it would open the district to the possibility of civil liabilities, claims which would ultimately be paid by taxpayers."