The Palm Beach Post from West Palm Beach, Florida • Page 76

SminiJllif (iladcs Martin anil Si. hiiic NorthWest The Palm Beach Pol si I io KKIDU. Tax Ratio School Funding verturned the distribution of federal to the various 'o'lntie in losses to counties hardest bit lion will probably cluing Urban ssistance FuniN order to make up financial The effect on Palm ISeach County will be a loss id $1113.000 while neighboring Martin will gain $765,000 Palm Beach County school olficials noted, however, that the ruling will also have a severe indirect hit on the county. The officials said the state Department of Kduca- The court declared unconstitutional a piopoily tax ratio used to withhold state education aid (nun counties where real estate is underassessed. The suit was initiated by seven counties which were big losers under the ratio study Pinellas l.ee.

Charlotte. Desoto. Alachua. Martin and Sarasota. From Pott Wire Service T.U.I.

AH. SSKK Tlic state Supremo Court yesterday overturned a major portion of Florida's billion dollar school funding system in a ruling winch education officials said will affect school aid in almost every Florida count v. by yesterday's ruling i'aim lie.ic CoiiliK was scheduled in gel million in Urban Assistance Funds anil they were earmarked tor teacher pay boosts. Repair of Damaged Bridge Starts James Quinlan 1 i Post Columnist 'W K-'Je I 'Tk 9k -v VA 1 a. mmmtutmmmmj We're going to have to wail and see what the legislature does in this session." a school system sxikesman said.

We can only hope they appropriate funds out of existing revenue to cover the deficits." Charles Miner, general counsel to the state Education Department, said the ruling will result in a massive redistribution of state school aid. Counties originally penalized under the ratio study will now gain state funds at the expense of those not penalized before. Pinellas County stands to recover $3.3 million in withheld school funds under the decision. Sarasota gets $983,059: l.ee $1.1 million: Alachua gets Martin. $765 843 Desoto, $145,640: and Charlotte.

$466,432. Hillsborough County loses $683,356: Duval loses $612,054 and Palm Beach loses $183,124. think it's great." said Gus Sakkis. acting superintendent of Pinellas County schools. Pinellas, which the ratio study said was only assessing property at 67 per cent of its value, was the biggest loser in state aid under the ratio study.

The ruling appeared certain to convert the 1973 session of the legislature, which convened on Tuesday, into a major educational funding session. Educational leaders in both houses were already working on a full overhaul of the state's school funding system. Schools' Gamble By.IOIINBAKTI.KTT Poil Stall Wriler FOKT PIKKCK Workmen yeslenlay began repairing a damaged 40-foot bridge span to South Hutchinson Island alter an oil barge rammed the structure early Monday. The danger of an oil spill apiarently has passed But the bridge linking the island to bustling SH A 1 A will remain closed for several weeks, creating hardships and inconveniences for thousands of residents About 15.0011 gallons of fuel oil from the forward section of the barge, owned by Belcher Towing Co has been pumped into another barge, a state Department ot Transportation spokesman said yesterday. State divers found only minimal damage to the barge hull which was stuck between bridge pilings below and the weight of the bridge roadway above.

The oil was removed anyway and most of the spillage danger has passed, olficials said. Scott Industries of Georgia, the contractor building the new South Bridge, has been awarded the repair contract by the state. Scott will break up the damaged section of the bridge, then remove the HO tons of rubble with cranes it already has at the site Then a temporary metal structure will be fastened in place so bridge traffic can be resumed The bridge is still expected to be closed to all traffic for at least two weeks. DOT officials said yesterday. Meanwhile, complaints are starting to come from businesses and residentson the isolated beach More than 3.200 island residents are faced with a one-hour drive to the city of Fort Pierce, but island businesses aren't just inconvenienced they're losing money fast Wednesday we lost about $1,000 in business and we're going to keep losing it without some transportation to cross the river." complained Krie Boiighner.

manager of the New Kngland Oyster House on the beach. have no employes without the shuttle service Without employes I can't even offer anything to the beach residents who want to eat Another industry hard hit by lack of communication with the mainland are the island's motels. Most of the county's resort motels are located on the South Beach. Many are in the same position as the Holiday Beach, said Holiday Beach manager Mrs. Sue Seymour, 'The worst thing is our busiest week.

Faster, is just ahead." she said. The bridge damage has brought our business to a standstill She estimated that the motel will lose several thousand dollars if the bridge is not repaired before Faster Our business has dropped off to nothing Most ol our reservations have been canceled and people there now are going home early They tell us there's nothing to do out here on the beach and it 's too much trouble to drive all the way around." she said Other businesses that make deliveries to the island are also being hurt by the additional time it takes to make the round trip through Jensen Beach. Statl Photos dv jonn Bartlctt I I li I id Hammers roar as workers try to get the damaged South Hutchinson Island span at Fort Pierce back into service, but meanwhile there's a lot oj sitting, thinking and waiting by those who have to cope with span-related problems one way or another. Pays Off The Soul Of Shoe Repair The smell is sweet, air laced with the perfume of polish and thinners and leather. Good prime tanners leather that looks like smooth soft board picked specially by Richard Kramp because the sand on the sidewalks of West Palm Beach wears out stiffer leather too quickly.

Kramp leans forward, resting both elbows on the glass display case. He stares at passing traffic through the open door. Today probably will be his last day at work. It is just a matter of getting machines like his big Singer stitcher moved out. But by month's end he will be gone and the ROK Shoe Repair at 3629 S.

Dixie in West Palm Beach will be closed for good. Richard Kramp turns from looking at the traffic and walks around to the shop area behind him. He reaches up and pulls an aluminum cigarette case down from a shelf. It's a funny little ritual he will do all day, like a man trying to put some restraints on his smoking habit by making them hard to reach. For all his effort, he will still smoke a couple of packs.

Each filtered cigarette will be puffed down to its tip until the cold ash is brushed to the floor with his finger. He came to West Palm Beach in 1945. Before that Richard Kramp has served in the U.S. Army. He was a major, a battalion commander, and his all volunteer infantry unit fought herioically throughout the Pacific campaign.

After 15 years in the Army and seven Purple Hearts, Kramp came home to the United States and civilian life. Like millions of others who returned from the war there was the fruitless search for work of any type. And if the nation was reeling from the glut of servicemen looking for work, sleepy South Florida was on its back and out cold. To make things worse Kramp would carry the disability of his wounds suffered on the far away sands of Iwo Jima and other tiny islands in the Pacific for the rest of his life. Kramp lights his cigarette.

His dark blue eyes move back and forth as the late afternoon traffic flashes past. On the wall next to him is a printed quote he will eventually point to with pride and say "That is what I bet on." "The bitterness of poor Quality remains long After the sweetness of -Low prices is forgotten." With a wife and family and a little help from the VA, Kramp rolled up his sleeves and decided he would make work for himself if none existed. The shoe repair business was a far cry from being a lawyer which he once dreamed of but it was real and Kramp couldn't afford to chase dreams. Turn to THE SOUL, C3 Ex-Deputy To Be Questioned in Murders If rf I By JAYNE KLLISON Post staH Writer FORT PIERCE Gerald Schaefer, the former Martin County deputy sheriff serving a jail sentence for aggravated assault, is expected to be questioned today in the deaths of two Broward County teenagers found butchered Sunday on Hutchinson's Island. Schaefer, 26, is in Martin County jail, Stuart, serving a six-month sentence with two years' probation for aggravated assault of two other teenage girls last July.

The girls escaped. The mutilated bodies found Sunday have been identified as Susan Place, 17, and Georgia Jessup, 16, both of Oakland Park near Fort Lauderdale. They vanished last Sept. 27, when they left the Place home about 8:30 p.m. with a man who identified himself as Jerry Shepherd.

in the July incident, Schaefer was ac- By BILL TERRY Post Stfltt writer STUART The Martin County School System gambled $5,700 and won $765,000 yesterday. Charles J. Helmer. finance director for county schools, said that's the net effect of a Florida Supreme Court decision which threw out the state's ratio study which is used in granting state aid to schools. Martin County and five other counties raised a warchest and sued the state, claiming the ratio study was unconstitutional.

Each of the counties got less money than anticipated, with Martin County's loss being $765,000. Martin County's share of the litigation cost was $5,700. The counties lost in the lower courts before yesterday's Supreme court decision. Using the ratio study. Auditor General Ernest 1 1 -son calculated that Martin County was valuing taxable property at only 63 per cent of its true value.

He cut the amount of money due from the state, on the theory that counties which didn't help themselves by increasing valuations didn't deserve as much state help. Since then County Auditor E. Schnurbusch has increased assessed values "Now Martin County will be due for a refund of 000, Helmer said. The financial year for the school system begins July 1. and Helmer said the decision should have an effect on the next allocation of school funds, too.

In the works is a $2 million expansion program to permit moving of the ninth grade to the high school to avoid double sessions or an extended school year. Helmer said funds for the program now are in sight SI SAN PLACE met Shepherd and has identified him from photographs. never met Jerry Shepherd, but Georgia told me he was a real nice guy and smart," Mrs. Jessup said. Mrs.

Place said Jerry Shepherd was at her home the night the girls disappeared. Mrs. Place said she recorded the license number and description of the car driven by the man. Her husband said Susan had been absent from home on other occasions for brief periods of time. Susan Place and Georgia Jessup, who adopted the name Crystal, met at the Adult Education Center in Fort Lauderdale, where both were students.

Mrs. Place said she thought her daughter. Georgia Jessup and the man who called himself Jerry Shepherd, were going to the beach. The girls were reported missing to Oakland Park police two days apart and the Jessups learned for the first time their daughter apparently had left with Susan Place and a man. One week before the mutilated remains of the two girls were unearthed, Place and his wife took a Sunday drive to the Fort Pierce-Stuart area.

The couple noted the frequency of number 42 designations on car licenses in the area. They had an address for the owner of the foreign-made car in which their daughter and the Jessup girl left Sept. 27. The street address had been given in another city, which proved fruitless in a check made by Mrs. Jessup.

Mrs. Place said she was certain they had located the man who identified himself as Jerry Shepherd. "We went to the Martin County sheriff's office and made a report," she said. On Tuesday in Stuart, Circuit Court Judge I). C.

Smith filed an amendment to Schaefer's sentence, which removed him from consideration in the county work-release prognmi. cused of gagging, handcuffing and tying two hitch-hiking teenagers to trees on Hutchinson's Island, along a lonely stretch a few hundred yards from the shallow grave site of Leonard Masar, a Riviera Beach coffee shop owner. Masar vanished Aug. 11 after visiting a Riviera Beach bar. His handless body was found in a sandy grave Jan.

3 by a Martin County road worker. St. Lucie County Sheriff's Department has said a pathologist estimated Susan Place and Georgia Jessup had been dead five or six months. Three officers from the Oakland Park Police Department are scheduled to attend a meeting today with sheriffs' representatives of St. Lucie and Martin counties The Oakland Park officers also will question Schaefer.

He was hired in June 1972 by the then-Martin County Sheriff Robert L. Crowder, after he had been fired by the Wilton Manors Police Department near Fort Lauderdale for alleged violation of the civil service code. Schaefer had worked for Wackenhut Corp. He reportedly had been an Everglades guide from 1964 through 1970, until graduation from Florida Atlantic University with a bachelor's degree in social service. Plantation police and Broward County deputies have been investigating the discovery of skeletons of two young girls found buried in the city limits earlier this year.

"We have a case of a couple of skeletal remains." a spokesman for Plantation police said. "They were young girls. The remains were found a few weeks apart, in January, I think. There does not seem to be any connection with the discovery of those girls in St. Lucie County.

"But, we are keeping in touch with those investigating those deaths up there." Mr. and Mrs. Ira Place, parents of Susan, told The Post Tuesday they have identified photographs of the man they knew as Jerry Shepherd. Shirley Jessup, mother of Georgia, said her divorced husband had also i i v' -a' I WV-S- 1 I A GEORGIA Former Deputy Gerald Schaefer.