Residents, Board Divided Over Tax Breaks for Volunteers and Field Use For Outside Sports Teams

After sitting through a two-and-a-half-hour meeting of the West Hempstead Board of Education Tuesday night, many residents went home disappointed with the outcome of several of the issues addressed. A tax exemption for members of the and , and a request for a soccer team affiliated with a Franklin Square league to use school district facilities had the board and those in attendance divided. Plus, the faculty and leaders of the teachers' union voiced their discontent yet again, as the number of days they have been working without a contract passed the 500 mark.

Teachers' Contract Negotiations

Even before the meeting was called to order on Dec. 21, teachers lined the hallway outside of the auditorium, wearing red shirts bearing slogans of protest and holding signs that read, "It's Not About the Money," and "It's About Time..." They stood at attention, silently, while letting their signs and shirts voice their frustration as members of the board walked past them to enter the theater for the monthly business meeting.

The negotiations between the board and the West Hempstead Education Association (WHEA), which represents the district's teachers and teaching assistants, have been put on hold as both parties prepare to enter the fact-finding stage. This is scheduled to start in early February although, WHEA President Barbara Haffner, said that if both parties could come together to work on an agreement a resolution could occur before then.

Routine Matters

When the meeting did commence, the board took care of routine matters. They approved the minutes from its Nov. 16 business meeting and its Dec. 7 policy meeting, as well as the Treasurer's Report and Recommendations, although there were some corrections, clarifications and changes that needed to be made to these items.

Committee Reports

While none of the board members had committee reports to present at the meeting this time, they turned the floor over to two representatives from the Student Council, who proudly stated that students had collected nearly 200 toys through its Toys for Tots drive and congratulated the boys varsity Rams basketball team on their three-game winning streak. The young ladies also explained that the Student Council, working with the Rams cheerleaders, are working on fundraising projects to collect money to buy a new costume for the school's mascot. So far they have raised $200 through an ice cream social, and project that they will need just over $1000 to make the purchase.

Superintendent's Report

Superintendent John Hogan started off his monthly report expressing how impressed he was by the "outstanding, wonderful and enjoyable" performances by students in the winter concerts. He also reminded parents that in the event of inclement weather, the district will use its Web site, Connect Ed and local media to announce school closings, and called to their attention the fact that from Dec. 24 to Jan. 2 all district offices will be closed.

He wrapped up his brief speech by wishing everyone a "Happy Holiday and prosperous New Year."

Underage Drinking on School Property

The board then invited West Hempstead School District residents and Island Park residents to come forward with their comments and questions. One mother of three West Hempstead students, including two sons who play on the Rams basketball teams, recounted a"very sad" experience she had while attending one of her child's games this past Friday.

She said she walked out of the building to find a group of teens drinking outside on school property. She suggested the district beef up its presence of police or security on the premise to deter this type of behavior. Superintendent Hogan assured her that the school's athletic director responded to the incident, which only involved three teens who are not West Hempstead students, immediately and the district is working on taking steps to prevent this from occurring in the future.

Tax Breaks for Firefighters Fail

Ronald Magarie, a commissioner of the West Hemsptead Fire District, then addressed the board, with fellow Commissioner Robert Hockenjos, of the Lakeview Fire District, at his side. The men spoke of a tax exemption that many school districts throughout Long Island extend to their residents who serve as volunteer firefighters. West Hempstead is one of eight districts in the Town of Hempstead that does not offer this and the commissioners not only see it as a break that its volunteers have worked hard to deserve, but also think it could help the districts attract and retain new recruits.

The board put this proposal to a vote, but in the end it failed because it would result in an increase taxes to other district residents.

"While I would love to say 'yes' to this because of the job you do, I have to take into account the toll it will take on West Hempstead residents," Board President Pamela Lotito said.  For the full story, click here.

Feud Over Sports Facilities

An issue that the Board of Education has been wrestling with over the past few months has been its policy regarding the use of sports facilities to organizations outside of West Hempstead. During its policy meetings, they have flipped back and forth over an 80 percent residency requirement, trying to decide whether it should apply to an individual team requesting use of the fields and courts, or if it should encompass the entire organization. 

The last time this policy was addressed, the language was amended to say that 80 percent of the team requesting permission to play on district property must be residents of the West Hempstead School District, however, it was apparent on Tuesday night that not all the board members were on the same page regarding this regulation. Some felt the intent was to give preference to West Hempstead-based sports programs, who may have been forced to recruit outsiders to fill out their teams, rather than inviting organizations not affiliated with West Hempstead to request access to the fields because they have a team comprised of local players.

What really brought the policy into the spotlight at the meeting was a request from a boys soccer team, affiliated with the New York HOTA League based in Franklin Square. The application to use the district's sports facilities had been filled out by Anthony Brita, a member of the board, whose son left the West Hempstead soccer club to play on the HOTA team. Brita's team includes nine other children living in the West Hempstead school district, which means they fit the 80 percent requirement even though the league as a whole is not comprised mainly of West Hempstead residents.

"The regulation doesn't say that the team has to be based in West Hempstead, but that 80 percent of the team are West Hempstead residents," Brita said.

Lotito recalled the discussion that took place at the board's last policy meeting and said that the intent of the regulation was to have 80 percent of the entire organization comprised of West Hempstead residents.

"That's not what it says!" Brita responded.

The board's attorney advised them that they are not bound by the regulations they have crafted. These are only meant to serve as guidelines and to weed out proposals that don't meet the board's basic requirements, but ultimately the decision is up to their discretion. He did warn them though that whatever action they did take would set a precedent. Future applications could still be decided on a case-by-case basis, but they would have to justify deviating from whatever precedent they set now.

"This is a unique occurrence...not one I've seen before," Superintendent Hogan said. 

Board Vice President Walter Ejnes and Lotito expressed their desire table the request and review the policy again in February, at which point Brita proposed, "Let's just vote on it.

"If the board wants to deny fields to students who live in the district and attend the schools, I'll find some other way to take care of the kids," Brita said. "But let's not pretend we're here for the kids then."

After some additional queries from the board to its attorney, the board voted 5-2 in favor of granting the request, with Ejnes still petitioning to review the policy again at the board's next meeting.

The decision had one group of parents and coaches who are active with West Hempstead youth sports programs outraged.

Loraine Magaraci explained that it was already difficult for the current sports groups in the community to share field time. "This past season...we had to pay for lights out of our own pockets just to get kids who stayed and played for West Hempstead field time," she said. 

Brendan Smith, of the West Hempstead Chiefs Soccer Club, spoke up, saying, "I am very disappointed with the character of the people making up the board tonight."

Smith said that when he attended the last policy meeting the board had decided to require to grant access to its facilities to only those clubs based in West Hempstead, which had a majority of residents throughout the entire organization.

"What was done was manipulative," Smith said. "Taking your powers as board members and using them to foster your own teams is despicable."

Smith later said that Brita had pulled his son out of the West Hempstead soccer club last June, when he was 7 years old and left for the HOTA league, while also bringing other boys with him. 

This caused the remaining members of the team to have to play up in a higher age group because they didn't have enough players to continue their own squad.

"West Hempstead was not good enough for them, so they went to HOTA," Smith said. 

Steve Salmon, who supports the West Hempstead sports league, added that "there are a lot of kids [from other communities] who want to come play for West Hempstead, but can't because of the 80-20."

"We're a very small club," Chris McShea said. "We don't have a problem if people want to move on to better themselves, but don't recruit kids from our teams."

The parents said that HOTA has taken three groups of West Hempstead children away from their club now and viewed it as  "a slap in the face" that they are now taking away their field time.

Salmon suggested that Brita should be excluded from the vote, because it involves him. "You're letting your own board member with his own agenda dictate the vote," he said.

His statement caused the board to question whether there was a conflict of interest and called an executive session to seek the advice of their attorney.

When they returned, Lotito stated that they found no conflict of interest in this case because the board member in question did not have a financial interest in the matter. 

Thus, they concluded the meeting without casting a re-vote on the field use policy - or the firefighters' tax break, despite the sentiments from the public. Even after the exceptionally long meeting, the frustrated residents were not ready to leave as they continued to talk amongst themselves and approach the board members with their comments and questions, suggesting that these issues may be far from over.

The Three Tenured

During the meeting, Superintendent Hogan also announced that one teacher and two teaching assistants had been granted tenure. Hogan said he was pleased to add his name to the recommendation of Tracy Aull, a teaching assistant at , who works in an inclusion setting, and applauded the work of Irene Scavelli, a teaching assistant at Scavelli had worked in an ISS room in the high school last year, where she exhibited "calmness and patience," and continues to be "very attentive to the needs of the children," Hogan said. He also recognized, Gina Nappi, a West Hempstead High School social studies teacher, who was "thrown into the deep end of the pool," when she was hired to takeover an Advanced Placement class when one of the teachers resigned, Hogan said. 

Other Business:

• The board approved the 2010-2011 school district calendar with the addition of two contingency dates: April 12 and April 13 will be designated as make-up days should the school have to close due to inclement weather or other reasons.
• The board accepted two donations to the district - a $350 gift from Dr. Stephen Baker, a 1960 graduate of West Hempstead High School, who donates money each year to enhance the school's geography studies. These funds are used to purchase maps and other resources. Mr. and Mrs. Martin Kay also gifted nine books to the district for its new library in the Chestnut School in celebration of the birth of their first grandson.