Albany Seeks School Control In A Long Island District

by Doreen Carvajal, New York Times Reporter

With a state official calling the Roosevelt school system an "educational and financial failure," the State Board of Regents voted unanimously today to proceed with the first state takeover of a school district in New York history. Meeting in Albany, the regents decided to hold a public hearing on ousting Roosevelt's five-member school board, the final step required by law before a takeover can begin. Board members vowed to resist removal.

The New York State Education Department is seeking last-minute legislation that would allow it for the first time to seize "immediate control" of a crisis-ridden school district, state officials said yesterday.

The state proposal, which would wrest control of the Roosevelt school district on Long Island from the local elected school board, follows a series of inspections revealing many problems at the 1,050-student Roosevelt Junior-Senior High School.