Board of Ed denies pause; votes in favor of closing two elementary schools

The Northport-East Northport Board of Education voted 5-2 yesterday evening in favor of Adapted Scenario A, a plan that closes Bellerose Avenue and Dickinson Avenue elementary schools effective August 31, 2021.

The approved resolution will also reorganize the district into a K-4, 5-8 and 9-12 model for the 2021-2022 school year. Trustees Victoria Buscareno and Allison Noonan voted against the school closures and reorganization.

Trustee Buscareno, who is running for reelection, addressed her fellow trustees before the official vote. “I’m listening to important things and the conversations that are going on, and our community is asking us to pause,” she said. “They’re asking us to think about the effects of this pandemic and Covid, and what effects it has had on our children.” She asked the board to look at the entire picture and, while acknowledging the challenges the district is facing, argued that the district wouldn’t be able to achieve its high standard of excellence and quality “if the basic needs of students are not being met.”

Her comments were met with applause from community members concerned about the timing and implementation of the plan. Prior to the meeting’s 7pm start, a group of district parents rallied at the entrance to the high school, greeting arriving BOE members with chants of “BOE, pause, pause” and “Covid is real, pause, pause.” Leading the pack was current BOE candidate Tammie Topel. Tammie has been a vocal proponent of a pause in recent meetings and on social media.

She addressed the group, megaphone in hand, before going inside for the meeting: “The community needs time to recover, our kids need time to recover. And we’re not allowing that time by shutting down two schools.”

During the meeting, Trustee David Stein asked Superintendent Robert Banzer to address the possible impacts of a pause. Banzer responded that operating and staffing six elementary schools instead of four would add an additional $4.16 million in spending: in salaries, utilities, maintenance and supply costs, educational supplies and contract services. He spoke of the difficulty of hiring additional staff for just one year, then laying them off, adding that unemployment costs after the layoffs could total $700,000.

Banzer spoke of the burden that declining enrollment and decreased tax revenue from the LIPA settlement has put on the district. “Pausing does not eliminate the burden, it just shifts it for another year,” he said.

Trustee Stein voted in favor of the school closures despite his family being personally and directly impacted by them. His children are currently in fourth and fifth grade at Dickinson Avenue Elementary School. “I have the same fears and concerns as a parent as all of you,” he said. He is confident, though, in the “teachers, staff and administrations's dedication and ability to do this well and get it right.”

“My decision tonight is not easy, but I know it is right beyond myself and my own personal interests, for the benefit of the entirety of this district and community,” he added.

Longtime educator and BOE trustee Larry Licipoli served as superintendent for three districts that faced the challenges of closing schools in the past. He addressed the audience from his unique, personal perspective before voting in favor of Adapted Scenario A.

“Tonight you heard seven comments from our Board of Education reflecting on the issues we’ve been grappling with,” he said to the Journal at the end of the meeting. “We spoke from a place of concern, with a great sense of passion. I think we resolved and took apart the issues at hand in terms of our responsibility to the entire community, and yet at the same time, from the perspective of preserving educational quality for our kids.” While he believes the board is sensitive to the issues of the pandemic and disrupted learning, he said the plan the district has put in place is extraordinary.

“It puts our kids in an advantage that they would not have had before,” he said. “Our goal is to make the transition as smooth as possible.”

He and Trustee Stein both asked, with the implementation of Adapted Scenario A, that physical apparatus and activity equipment be made available at the middle schools, echoing an earlier question from Trustee Noonan asking if fifth graders will be afforded the same unstructured play settings that would have been available to them in elementary school.

While not accounted for in the current budget, said Banzer, the equipment is something the board can look into in more detail.

Katherine Epanchin-Butuc has three children in the district and has been actively campaigning against the school closures for months. While she’s happy the board “finally acknowledged how important free play and recess are for fifth graders,” watching the night’s events was agonizing, she said.

Katherine’s family moved from Astoria to Northport for the schools, and “specifically and thoughtfully” chose Bellerose after touring the school with principal Lori Beekman. Katherine shared her thoughts with the Journal after the BOE vote was officially declared.

“It goes without saying that my family is deeply disappointed in the board’s decision tonight, but I can’t say we are surprised,” she said. Her youngest, a second grader at Bellerose, turned eight on Thursday and her birthday wish was to save Bellerose. “This is a bitter pill to swallow.”

Through all the disappointments and frustrations this process has caused her family, Katherine is trying to learn from the experience. “I know how much these teachers and schools mean to my children and I have not been comforted by the actions this district is choosing,” she said. “But, through all of this, my older kids have been watching and commenting on these meetings, and we have all been forced to evaluate what schools and teachers mean to us, and I have been amazed to hear my kids’ discussions about these issues.”

“Being involved in this issue forced me to stop being complacent and use my own training as a lawyer and librarian/archivist to really slow down and read these minutes and think through these plans, without blindly trusting those in charge to do what is best for my family,” she said.