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Overcast East School’s doors will stay open—for now
Posted
Many were expecting to reiterate their call for the board to postpone its decision to close their 82-year-old neighborhood school, the oldest and most deteriorated in the district. But school board President Patrick Gallagher unexpectedly opened the meeting by announcing that he and his fellow trustees were tabling their decision on the school’s fate for two years.
“Maybe we’d felt that we had surprised you and that there needs to be more of a process involved,” Gallagher told the parents who filled the Lindell School auditorium Tuesday night. “So … the Board of Education has made the following decision: For the next two years, we will very carefully monitor what is going on relevant to the wait-and-see issues, very carefully monitor what’s going on with enrollment ... and very carefully have more input of people that need to give us more input. Therefore, we have decided in this two-year cycle ... East School will remain in its open status.”
Gerry McKay, the school’s PTA co-president, echoed the sentiment of others who addressed the board when she said, “We strongly urge the board to continue this positive process of working with the parents and the community to come up with the most favorable plan for the district.”
But while the board initially received a round of applause, other parents questioned its decision, asking for further clarification, as well as a postponement of a vote on the $98.9 million bond to fund the district’s “preservation plan,” the first phase of a $350 million district-wide master plan of renovations, upgrades and consolidation of its facilities.
“We wanted you to hold off voting on the preservation plan so it will work for everyone in the district, including East School,” said Darlene Tangney, who was part of a subcommittee that examined the plan.
The board voted unanimously to authorize the completion of a state environmental impact study for the master plan. Superintendent Dr. Robert Greenberg explained that if the board approves the study at its Feb. 10 meeting, it could then put the bond up for a community vote.
The bond, which includes $3.5 million for basic upgrades to East School to stabilize the building, including brick work and electrical repairs, is expected to cost the average homeowner $19 more per month in school taxes over 23 years. The district will be reimbursed $38 million in state aide for the cost of the bond.
The board had planned to close East School but allow the students now enrolled in kindergarten through fifth grade to finish their elementary education there, and then consolidate future classes and staff into the district’s other elementary schools: Lindell, Lido and West.
Trustee Roy Lester explained that the board had decided to close East School whether the bond passes or not, and that demographics was the main factor driving the decision.
Tuesday’s meeting followed one last Saturday at the middle school, at which Superintendent Dr. Robert Greenberg, Trustee Frank Alverado and the district’s engineers gave a more detailed presentation of the master plan. They explained that two studies of the district — one done by Nassau BOCES and one by an independent demographer — concluded that Long Beach schools would lose 800 students over the next 10 years. Given this projection, the board decided it had the responsibility to consolidate its elementary schools.
“I empathize with what you’re saying, because it’s very hard for us to propose something like this,” Alverado told parents who want East School to stay open. “But at the same time, another two-thirds of the community are saying to us, ‘Keep our taxes low.’”
Parent Mindy Warshaw said she sees many homes being expanded and more families with school-aged children moving into her neighborhood, the Canals. “It could change three years from now,” she said of the student population. “You have new buildings on the boardwalk, condos going up, you have the Superblock going to be developed. You are going to get many more people moving into the most desirable community in Nassau County.”
Greenberg explained that the independent demographer found that families throughout Nassau County whose children have graduated from high school are staying in their communities, including Long Beach, and that most of the people expected to move into the city’s new condos and co-ops will not enroll their children in the city’s schools.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Warshaw called on the district to do its own census of the community.
Gallagher explained that the district keeps up with demographics with yearly meetings with local real estate executives, and that it plans to have the independent demographer give the community a presentation to explain his findings. But Lester questioned the need for yet another study. “How many studies are we going to do?” he said. “ … To continue with additional studies, at the cost of the taxpayer, is not fair.”
All along, East School parents have charged that the board has not offered the community enough time to review its proposals, and that it should take a wait-and-see approach, particularly with regard to federal aide.
At Saturday’s meeting, another parent, Terry O’Neill, noted that President-elect Barack Obama proposes putting more funds into building schools. “If we do anything before we saw what the federal government plans to do, I think that would be very short-sighted,” O’Neill said.
But Alverado stressed that it is important to act now because state aide will probably be much lower in coming years — possibly $3 million less next year — and Lester warned of the possibility of hyper-inflation resulting from Obama’s proposed economic plan, which could eliminate the option to bond.
Alverado said that despite uncertainty over the reeling economy, the district should go forward with the desperately needed renovation work that it has put off for far too long at its peril. “We for many years have put a Band-Aid on our buildings,” he said. “ ... We cannot continue to risk doing nothing, and it will cost more in the future if we don’t do something now.”
City Council President Thomas Sofield, saying he was speaking only as a concerned parent, suggested that the board take a step back and hold more informational meetings with the community about its plan. He said that what he has heard from residents is that “information is not trickling down to the community,” and that most people feel the decision to close East School is “being forced down people’s throats.”
Parents have asked the board to provide more information on its Web site about the $350 million master plan. “I think if we see that master plan and we see money attached to what things cost, and we see state aide attributed to certain items ... then I think you will see out of this community some ideas that you may have not considered,” O’Neill said.
Gallagher responded that when the district knows more about issues like state aide, it will make more details available. “Over the course of the next number of months, a lot of these details are going to be much more specific,” he said.
Comments about this story? JKellard@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.
“Maybe we’d felt that we had surprised you and that there needs to be more of a process involved,” Gallagher told the parents who filled the Lindell School auditorium Tuesday night. “So … the Board of Education has made the following decision: For the next two years, we will very carefully monitor what is going on relevant to the wait-and-see issues, very carefully monitor what’s going on with enrollment ... and very carefully have more input of people that need to give us more input. Therefore, we have decided in this two-year cycle ... East School will remain in its open status.”
Gerry McKay, the school’s PTA co-president, echoed the sentiment of others who addressed the board when she said, “We strongly urge the board to continue this positive process of working with the parents and the community to come up with the most favorable plan for the district.”
But while the board initially received a round of applause, other parents questioned its decision, asking for further clarification, as well as a postponement of a vote on the $98.9 million bond to fund the district’s “preservation plan,” the first phase of a $350 million district-wide master plan of renovations, upgrades and consolidation of its facilities.
“We wanted you to hold off voting on the preservation plan so it will work for everyone in the district, including East School,” said Darlene Tangney, who was part of a subcommittee that examined the plan.
The bond, which includes $3.5 million for basic upgrades to East School to stabilize the building, including brick work and electrical repairs, is expected to cost the average homeowner $19 more per month in school taxes over 23 years. The district will be reimbursed $38 million in state aide for the cost of the bond.
The board had planned to close East School but allow the students now enrolled in kindergarten through fifth grade to finish their elementary education there, and then consolidate future classes and staff into the district’s other elementary schools: Lindell, Lido and West.
Trustee Roy Lester explained that the board had decided to close East School whether the bond passes or not, and that demographics was the main factor driving the decision.
Tuesday’s meeting followed one last Saturday at the middle school, at which Superintendent Dr. Robert Greenberg, Trustee Frank Alverado and the district’s engineers gave a more detailed presentation of the master plan. They explained that two studies of the district — one done by Nassau BOCES and one by an independent demographer — concluded that Long Beach schools would lose 800 students over the next 10 years. Given this projection, the board decided it had the responsibility to consolidate its elementary schools.
“I empathize with what you’re saying, because it’s very hard for us to propose something like this,” Alverado told parents who want East School to stay open. “But at the same time, another two-thirds of the community are saying to us, ‘Keep our taxes low.’”
Parent Mindy Warshaw said she sees many homes being expanded and more families with school-aged children moving into her neighborhood, the Canals. “It could change three years from now,” she said of the student population. “You have new buildings on the boardwalk, condos going up, you have the Superblock going to be developed. You are going to get many more people moving into the most desirable community in Nassau County.”
Greenberg explained that the independent demographer found that families throughout Nassau County whose children have graduated from high school are staying in their communities, including Long Beach, and that most of the people expected to move into the city’s new condos and co-ops will not enroll their children in the city’s schools.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Warshaw called on the district to do its own census of the community.
Gallagher explained that the district keeps up with demographics with yearly meetings with local real estate executives, and that it plans to have the independent demographer give the community a presentation to explain his findings. But Lester questioned the need for yet another study. “How many studies are we going to do?” he said. “ … To continue with additional studies, at the cost of the taxpayer, is not fair.”
All along, East School parents have charged that the board has not offered the community enough time to review its proposals, and that it should take a wait-and-see approach, particularly with regard to federal aide.
At Saturday’s meeting, another parent, Terry O’Neill, noted that President-elect Barack Obama proposes putting more funds into building schools. “If we do anything before we saw what the federal government plans to do, I think that would be very short-sighted,” O’Neill said.
But Alverado stressed that it is important to act now because state aide will probably be much lower in coming years — possibly $3 million less next year — and Lester warned of the possibility of hyper-inflation resulting from Obama’s proposed economic plan, which could eliminate the option to bond.
Alverado said that despite uncertainty over the reeling economy, the district should go forward with the desperately needed renovation work that it has put off for far too long at its peril. “We for many years have put a Band-Aid on our buildings,” he said. “ ... We cannot continue to risk doing nothing, and it will cost more in the future if we don’t do something now.”
City Council President Thomas Sofield, saying he was speaking only as a concerned parent, suggested that the board take a step back and hold more informational meetings with the community about its plan. He said that what he has heard from residents is that “information is not trickling down to the community,” and that most people feel the decision to close East School is “being forced down people’s throats.”
Parents have asked the board to provide more information on its Web site about the $350 million master plan. “I think if we see that master plan and we see money attached to what things cost, and we see state aide attributed to certain items ... then I think you will see out of this community some ideas that you may have not considered,” O’Neill said.
Gallagher responded that when the district knows more about issues like state aide, it will make more details available. “Over the course of the next number of months, a lot of these details are going to be much more specific,” he said.
Comments about this story? JKellard@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.
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