As a result of these and other cost savings, the summer academy, whose $257,000 cost from last year was completely eliminated from the originally proposed budget, was partially restored.

Dr. Diane Ramos-Kelly, assistant superintendent for curriculum and staff development, said that she had consulted with building principals in formulating the partial restoration, which concentrated on "at risk" students, especially those in difficult transition periods. Those included students passing from third grade to fourth grade and from fifth grade to sixth grade. The core subjects in high school were also given a high priority.

She noted that statewide assessments of fourth graders were especially crucial as was the transition of students from elementary school to the middle school.

She posed a program to serve 156 students, as compared to 352 students last year, which represented a 56 percent reduction in enrollment. The teaching staff would be cut from 27 teachers to 13 and teachers' aides from 10 to three total of $65,500 was proposed to be over last year in salaries and the cost of material.

Mel Comberiati, school board trustee, asked if Bedford Central students could be placed in summer schools in other districts.

Bruce Dennis, schools superintendent, replied that the admission to summer schools is usually restricted to students who reside in the school district.

Full restoration requested School board trustee Brad Sachs noted that the scaled-back summer school proposal called for the elimination of 90 students through the third grade.

Mr. Slivka was in accord with that suggestion, saying that he would like to keep the budget to budget increase at the currently proposed 8.78 percent.

Dr. Comberiati questioned why the 8.78 percent increase was "a magic number." He criticized the district's abandonment of certain children who were identified by the Equity Task Force as needing ,more attention or encouragement to do honors level work. Such classes were included in last year's summer academy, he said.

School board trustee Joseph Whelan also expressed some concern over the number of summer academy students who would need to be shifted to academic intervention services.

He said that he had been perplexed for the last two and a half years over the school district's reluctance to derive additional revenue from the siting of other cell phone companies on its Fox Lane campus cell tower.

He also found the $5-million increase in hospital and medical costs a "tremendous pain" to the district. Trustee Paula Kumar responded that it was "unfair" to suggest that the school district could do anything about those burgeoning costs. "They're contractual and it's a national trend, she said."

Mrs. Kumar also called for full restoration of the summer academy and called for the elimination of the proposed cut of two teaching positions at the high school.

Elin Sullivan, school board vice president, who chaired the meeting in the absence of the school board's president, Dot Fallon, called upon the school administration to come back to the school board at its next meeting on March 26 with ways of restoring the summer academy and the high school positions.

"Then we would have to see if we can stay within the 8.78 percent spending increase or allow it to creep up a little," she said.

Mr. Slivka complimented school administrators for reducing the originally proposed budget increase from 13 percent to the currently proposed 8.78 percent.

However, school board critic Mike Carbone criticized the administration for seeking to "keep up the house at four times the rate of inflation. We must be pretty lousy housekeepers," he said.

District residents will vote on the budget on May 20.