Newsday from New York, New York • 20

E. Harlem Board Fires School Chief Flagging morale fiscal woes plague district findings. District 4s finances have been a source of controversy for years. A team of administrators from the central Board of Education has been working in the district since June to tighten fiscal management. Last month, the districts director of fiscal affairs, Michael Stolberg, was fired by Acting Superintendent Shirley Walker on the recommendation of Mecklowitz.

In a hearing before the Joint Commission on Integrity in the Public Schools last month, it was revealed that thousands of dollars in calls to sex and sports specialty lines were charged to the district at the same time that the district was unable for seven months to pay its phone bills. On Wednesday night, much of the By Nick Chiles Amid a raucous gathering of angry' parents. Community School Board 4 fired District Superintendent Carlos Medina late Wednesday night, ending the cloud of uncertainty that has hung over the suspended educator for nearly a year. Now the board must choose a new superintendent, who will be faced with the task of healing deep divisions in the East Harlem district, boosting flagging staff and parent morale, and fixing the difficulties that plague one of New York's most highly touted school districts. Some parents say the district is at a critical juncture, a time when many of the innovations and special programs which they fought hard to institute are in danger of being taken away because of apparent budget shortfalls.

At Wednesday nights meeting; which began well after 9 p.m., the nine-member went into executive session for more than 90 minutes while parents sat in the auditorium of PS 155 in Blast Harlem, waiting impatiently for a verdict. At 11:45 p.m., the board followed the recommendation of an independent arbitrator and unanimously voted to fire Medina. The superintendent was suspended without pay 11 months ago after a report by the Board of Educations inspector general revealed that Medina used an illegal $56,000 slush fund in running the district. Chancellor Bernard Mecklowitz said yesterday in a statement: I applaud the District 4 board for acting responsibly in keeping with the arbitrators Nevada? John PirMhm Carlos Medina Please see SCHOOLS on Page 46 Maddox to Defy Grievance Panel Newidajr Jeffrey A. Salter Alton Maddox, left, at a September, 1988, news conference in Newark, N.J., with Tawana Brawley ana the Rev.

AJ Sharpton. By Curtis L. Taylor Civil rights lawyer Alton Maddox said yesterday that he will defy an order to appear before a lawyers disciplinary committee investigating possible misconduct in his handling of the Tawana Brawley case. Hudson Reid, Maddox attorney, said that the Grievance Committee of the Second and 11th Judicial Districts has requested that Maddox appear before it on Monday, at its offices at 210 Jorale-mon Brooklyn. I am not going to cooperate with a committee that violates all kinds of civil rights, Maddox said from his downtown Brooklyn office.

Its clear that their operation is illegal. The committee has requested that he furnish it with any files, documents or other materials pertaining to allegations of professional misconduct lodged against Maddox in three separate complaints filed last year. Maddox and lawyer C. Vernon Mason were advisers to the Brawley family during a lengthy investigation of the Wap-pingers Falls teenagers claim that she was abducted and raped by six white men who scrawled racial epithets on her body. A grand jury earlier this year found that Brawley made up her story.

Allegations of misconduct were made against Maddox by State Attorney General Robert Abrams; Assistant Dutchess County district attorney Steven A. Pago nes; and, in the same complaint, Assembly members Neil W. Kelleher, Robert Andrea, Glenn Harris, James Tedisco and Chris OrtlofT. Abrams four-count complaint alleged that Maddox and Mason knowingly made false statements; assisted Brawley and her family in conduct they knew to be illegal; advised their clients to leave the state to evade the law, and obstructed justice. Robert Straus, chief counsel to the Grievance Committee, said that by law he was not permitted to confirm or discuss any investigations.

Maddox said the action was occurring because he had taken unpopular cases such as Brawley's, the Howard Beach case and the Yusuf Hawkins case. I would like to see them ask drug or mob lawyers to turn over information about their clients," he said. Tramway Fans In Wait-and-See Its future depends upon continued ridership and a balanced budget, both of which are now jeopardized by cheaper and quicker subway service, Abramson said. For the next six months, its wait-and-see. It depends upon how far ridership drops and what happens with some of our other plans, said Abramson, who heads the state agency that oversees development of the island, including the tramway operations.

Last year revenues just covered this trams $1.8 million operating costs. But under the By Katherine Foran -A replica of the Roosevelt Island tramway will be among the big attractions at Universal Studios Florida entertainment park when it opens next spring but some New Yorkers fear the real thing may soon be history. Last months opening of the 63rd Street subway, which links the island to Queens and Manhattan, secures its future development but endangers the tramway that has served island residents as their link to Manhattan for the laBt 13 years, said Rosina Abramson, president of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation. 5 0 Newaday Jim Cummins Roosevelt Island tramway cars in action. Please see TRAM on Page 46.