struction of new homes and new developments ceased and this threw more men out of work. Rampant inflation only compounded everyone's difficulties and to make matters worse, property taxes kept going up and up. Nobody wanted to buy a home in Commack. With few families moving in and others unable to move out, the number of children in the school district fell off precipitously especially in the primary grades. It soon became apparent that the elementary schools were underutilized. The neighborhood school concept was a great idea as long as there were enough children in the neighborhood. Initially the concept worked well and the families that moved into the new developments of Commack had plenty of kids to fill the classrooms. But as these children grew up and graduated there were no new families moving in. "Empty nesters" occupied many of the homes. So the neighborhood schools in the district, that were located in the older developments, experienced a decline in their enrollments. With empty classrooms, too many teachers, and too many schools, something had to be done. In 1974, the Board of Education decided to close the Marion Carll School. It seemed impossible, but just two years after opening two brand new schools, the school district was now boarding up a school. And two years later, the district was ready to close two more schools. Public hearings were held and residents came out in droves to protest the closing of their neighborhood schools. They objected to the busing of their children and the problems they would have in picking up and dropping off their children for school. They also voiced their concerns over the staffing and crowding that would result in the new school. Over these objections, the Board of Education and the district administrators had to consider the escalating costs of maintaining and
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staffing so many buildings. They had to consider the impact that cuts in state aid would have upon local taxes. In the end, they had to make a decision that would benefit all the taxpayers of the school district, not just the people within the immediate area of the neighborhood school being closed. In the end, the Board of Education chose to close schools as district enrollment declined further. As the years went by, one school after another was closed as the district enrollment dropped. The closing of schools throughout the 70's and 80's was accompanied by a reduction of the professional staff. Teachers were excessed and told that they were losing their jobs. Operating under the premise that the last hired would be the first fired, seniority lists were drawn up and teachers were made aware of their number on the list. The difficulty of telling who would stay and who would go was compounded by an individual's certification status and the needs of the district. As the Director of Personnel, Joe Heinlein went through agony everytime he had to call in a teacher who had been recently hired only to tell him that he was losing his job. As the years went by and the schools continued to close, more and more people were excessed. Tenure didn't count for much and there were many people who had over 15 years of teaching in the district who lost their positions. In 1972, there were over 900 people on the Commack staff. Twenty years later, the numbers had dropped to 500. It was a terribly difficult time for all concerned and many gifted teachers left Commack. The one thing that the Commack School District did attempt to do for its teachers whose positions were threatened was to offer them an opportunity for cross-training and recertification. The District actually paid for teachers to go back to school and get the training they needed to become an ele-