Former BOE Head Says LI Superintendent Knew About Abuse Reports

BABYLON, NY — A former Babylon Board of Education president blasted current Superintendent Linda Rozzi during a heated BOE meeting Monday, saying that she and the district have known for some time about accusations of abuse and wrongdoing in the district — because she had told them herself — but did nothing.

Scordino read from a letter she had previously posted on social media: "When Mrs. Rozzi came to Babylon, Ralph" — Scordino's husband Ralph, who died suddenly last year, was the longtime Village of Babylon mayor —"and I invited her to our home." Rozzi was appointed superintendent in 2015; the abuse allegations swirling in the district span decades.

"We wanted to give her some history and ask her for her help with this. She came with a board member. I outlined everything to her," Scordino said. "It is just so infuriating to me when I hear her say, 'We didn't know anything about any of this.'"

Rozzi said the district had looked into any accusations and followed all the proper procedures and protocols, but that they did not rise to the level of further investigation.

Many young women who stood, tears running down their faces, said they had called the district to come forward but had not had their calls returned. And, in another instance, a woman said she hadn't heard back from Rozzi, who said she'd sent the complaint to the police — something the woman said she'd never given the district permission to do.

After the meeting, Rozzi did not return a request for further comment.

A press representative for the Babylon School District said the district had no comment on Scordino's allegations.

Scordino, with her daughter by her side, spoke passionately about a situation that she said has filled her with regret and guilt for not doing more — despite the fact that she'd tried to be the whistleblower in a district that kept sweeping the dark secrets under the proverbial rug.

The charged meeting, marked by yelling from outraged parents, followed weeks of tension as first, a teacher was removed from a classroom and later resigned following "disturbing allegations"and then, a post on social media by former student Brittany Rohl — who said she was groomed and both sexually and emotionally abused by a former teacher — opened the proverbial floodgates as students came forward with their own accusations of abuse by teachers, coaches, and administrators that spanned decades.

Rozzi stated in a letter after the teacher was removed from the classroom that an internal investigation was currently underway after learning about the allegations made about an employee.

"The district does not tolerate misconduct and takes all allegations of such very seriously," said Rozzi. "Due to privacy laws, school districts are limited in the information we can release regarding this matter."

Rozzi continued to say that "the employee in question was immediately reassigned to home."

Parents refused to leave the meeting Monday night, saying they would remain all night if necessary until a number of teachers publicly accused of abuse by Rohl that night, and who were still employed by the district, were barred from returning to the building Tuesday.

The board of education went into an emergency executive session and came back to say that all teachers named publicly would be reassigned to their homes until an investigation was complete.

As she spoke, Scordino also mentioned the "list:" "This was not a lot a list of teachers that give too much homework," she said. "This was abuse."

Scordino, who also posted her account on social media this week, said she was coming forward for her husband Ralph.

"It's time for me to tell my story," she said. "He wanted me to tell my story and I didn't. I wish he were here to hear this."

Scordino ran for the BOE and once elected, she said: "During my time on the board some very disturbing things happened and I learned things about people that I can't unlearn. Most were of abusive teachers and no repercussions. The same teachers' names kept coming up, again and again."

Parents who complained were given "the same stock line," that it was the first time a complaint had been made, the child must be mistaken, the teacher was retiring, she said.

Board members did not support her in her fight for change, she said."Many of the most abusive teachers were the most popular ones with parents," she said. "It was like a made-for-TV movie."

When she complained, she faced pressure from the district and other teachers who said she "wasn't playing ball," Scordino said.

There was a teacher who grabbed a student by the neck, leaving marks; she was given a party by teachers when she left, Scordino said.

Another male teacher was caught in the closet with a female student, she said; the girls' parents said they wished he'd leave his wife for their daughter, she said.

"No one would stand by me," she said; her own daughter — who stood beside Scordino at the meeting and said, "All of this is true" — became a target.

No only would no one stand by her, but the "real attacks began . . . on my child," Scordino said. "The president of the teachers' union told me that he was going to use me as an example of what can happen to someone who goes after a teacher. I said, 'Are you saying he didn't do it?' He said, 'I'm saying we'll make sure you can never prove it and people will look at what we're going to do and they won't ever say a thing.'"

She added: "He was right. The board members and anyone who was friendly with me in the community were promised deals if they stayed away from me." One, she said, told her, "'Keep your mouth shut or you'll ruin our real estate values.' Real estate values? People were more than happy to sell their souls. The sexual abuse continued but now there were several teachers. It was the culture. The norm."

Some female teachers, she said, contacted her to tell her they knew what was happening and wanted to come forward but they were warned of repercussions if they did.

Ultimately, she left the board, and her husband was furious; he thought she should fight. The decision is one that has left her filled with guilt and grief for years."I'm here for my husband. He begged me not to leave. I'm here to right this wrong. It takes a village to raise a child and we failed. But we're going to do better and right this wrong."

On Tuesday, students took a stand, with hundreds marching out of their classrooms in protest.
Principal Al Cirrone sent home a letter to families that said at 8:30 a.m, "some members of our student body participated in a walkout. Many students returned to the building within 20 minutes and the day has since continued, while some students were signed out by their parents.

"As we know, these past few weeks have been difficult for our students and our community. It takes a lot of courage for young adults to advocate for change and we are proud of them for using their voice. The safety, security, and well-being of our students remains our top priority. While the students were outside, our staff and security were on hand to monitor the situation and ensure students were safe," he wrote.

At Monday's BOE meeting, which began with the hiring of new outside counsel Chris Powers of Ingerman Smith LLP to investigate allegations, a crowd turned out demanding answers.

Farmingdale attorney Kenneth Silverman also stood up to speak, saying he planned to bring the case to the New York State Attorney General's civil rights bureau.

One by one, some barely able to speak through the tears, a group of young women came forward to speak about what they said were decades of abuse and administrators in a district that left them afraid to come forward because their fears and concerns would be ignored, with "predators" protected and students left to feel worthless and alone.

Rohl sparked the outpouring when she posted about her experience on social media.

Rohl, 28, said in an open letter addressed to the Babylon Board of Education that between 2010 and 2013 a teacher groomed and sexually abused her until her second year of college.

"It is inconceivable that school employees were not aware of these "rumors" back then, " Rohl wrote to the board. "I firmly believe that there are professionals currently working within the school district who knew back then and who were not surprised in the past few weeks. We probably aren't going to be able to prove that, but I want you to know that we know."

Suffolk police confirmed to Patch that no criminal activity was found in regard to another Babylon High School teacher who was the subject of "disturbing allegations" last month.

However, many community members have spoken out to decry a toxic culture they say has existed in the district for many years, allowing such incidents to be swept under the proverbial rug by the administration.

In a detailed, eight-page timeline shared with Patch and on social media, Rohl said she signed up to participate on a school sports team in March 2010. The teacher was her coach. That spring, she claimed he began to "isolate" her and make her feel "special".

Rohl flew from her home in Florida where she lives for the meeting because she said she was told she would not be able to speak on Zoom.

"You have no idea who you are f------ with," she said. "My grandfather was a New York State Supreme Court Judge. It's in my blood to get justice when I know something is wrong."

The abuse she endured left her thinking about suicide, she said.

"But I didn't kill myself. I spent the last 10 years investigating what happened to me in this building," she said. "This is rape culture."

Today, Rohl said she still suffers from PTSD, has dreams of the teacher, who now lives just miles from her Florida home, coming after her with a knife, standing near doorways so she can easily escape, and taking medications that leave her at elevated risk for seizures.

"The abuse by this district was never forgotten by my body physically or psychologically," she said. "The fact that I'm alive, sober, and pursuing a degree in clinical psychology is a miracle."

The district, she added, teaches boys how to objectify. "Whose reputation are you trying to protect?" she asked. "You protect the men and boys of this community and you don't care about the women and girls."

Although painful to face her demons, Rohl said she had to speak out. "It's necessary," she said. To the board, she added, "It's disgusting that I have to come, but I have to. I can't let kids enter this building under your leadership. . .I'm so mad that you are so incompetent."

Reading the letter from Rozzi that said the district does not tolerate misconduct and takes all allegations seriously, Rohl said she laughed out loud. "Babylon High School is built on misconduct. If you don't know that, I think that's a crime."

Students, she said, do not feel safe; survivors who come forward are still waiting for callbacks from the BOE.

Rohl said she was present to "put on record" the names of those accused of abuse still working in the district, as well as those who may no longer still be employed or who have retired, but must be held accountable, including teachers and coaches.

"Don't try to stop me," she said.

Powers tried to warn Rohl against naming names and said personnel issues could not be discussed; he mentioned defamation.

"Let her speak! Let her speak!" the crowd yelled.

"We're the taxpayers, you are paid by us!" another mother cried out.

Rohl would not be silenced.

"To the parents of this community, I would advise you that until the following individuals are removed from student contact, it's not safe to send your children to school here," she said.

She named four teachers currently employed, guidance counselors, and six from past years.
Rohl's words were met with a standing ovation.

Next, the mother of another victim who spoke out on social media this week, Jaycee Angello Slawson, also read her daughter's post. Jaycee said while a student in the district, there was a rumor that she had "inappropriate feelings" for a teacher. She was called in for questioning with no parents present, and made to feel "scared, humiliated and overwhelmed," she said. She walked out of school "alone and distraught" to wander the village streets.

A straight-A varsity cheerleader with no marks on her record, "I was treated like the problem," she said.

The teachers treated her like a favorite, spoke to her openly about his life, counted the times he saw her in the hall, and "looked at me too long," she said. Even after the incident, his behavior didn't change, she said.

"The culture at this school has always been toxic," she said. "The predators here are the administration."

Others stood up to speak repeatedly about a tennis instructor accused of abuse for years.

One woman said she graduated in 2009 and the tennis teacher was a family friend. Her parents struggled with addiction and alcohol abuse and she had problems at home.

"Tennis changed all that," she said.

Until the coach began pressing his body against hers while practicing her serve.

The coach, who visited her family in another town after they moved, tried to kiss her. "I was 16," she said.

When her family moved back to the district, other girls accused him of acting inappropriately, "grinding" his body against theirs during practice, but while he was removed as a tennis coach, he was not fired and is now comfortably retired with a pension, many said.

The incident helped contribute to her despair, she said. "I spiraled into a deep depression," the woman said. While she'd tried to tell teachers about her situation at home, only one offered a book; nothing else was done.

The tennis coach wasn't the only reason she turned to drugs, she said. "But he played a part in it. He made me feel like I was worthless."

Sobbing, she said, "If just one of those teachers did the right thing and reported my situation to Child Protective Services, I would have avoided years of abuse."

Kelsey Lang, also a classmate of Brittany's today works as a public defender and discussed the tennis coach, who was described by some who spoke as hitting girls' butts with the racquet and putting the other end between their legs and up their skirts.

"I have cases where if you touch someone on the bus or subway it's a misdemeanor and you are a sex offender," she said. "In Babylon, you get a giant pension."

Robyn Silvestri has shared the story of a science teacher who asked her daughter if she would share the "eggs" from her ovaries. She also mentioned a "list" she was given when she first got to the district, with five teachers to avoid.

One by one, they came forward, their stories echoing similar words and emotions. "We are taking back what was ours," one woman said. "We demand to be heard."

With reporting by Maureen Mullarkey.