Overflowed BOE meeting adjourned after chaos erupts; reports of threats lead to police on scene

A board of education meeting at which the Northport-East Northport School District intended to share a presentation on the proposals for the district’s three available properties quickly broke into chaos earlier tonight, with audience members shouting and interrupting Superintendent Robert Banzer’s introductory remarks.

Just a few minutes into the presentation, members of the audience began calling out and cursing at the board, both about the information being shared by Superintendent Banzer and the overflow of people in attendance, many of whom were ushered into the building’s gymnasium to watch the meeting on a screen. They argued that the meeting should have been held at a venue large enough to accommodate the crowd in one room, and that the feed in the gymnasium made it difficult to see the slideshow presentation.

Some audience members directed their anger about the proposals at the board, before representatives from Newmark Realty, also at the meeting, had the opportunity to discuss them. The meeting would have been the first public presentation of the numerous offers received by the district since first hiring Newmark to market the properties in November 2022.

When order could not be restored, members of the board called for a 10-minute recess. But the meeting never resumed. According to BOE President Larry Licopoli, audible threats were made by audience members during the meeting, both toward board members and representatives from Newmark Realty. Northport Village police officers arrived on scene during the recess; when the board returned, Licopoli announced that the meeting was adjourned and would be held at a later date, due to concern for the safety of all those present.

“In this day and age, you just can’t take any chances and we felt that it was necessary to maintain a safe environment, where there was a lot of frustration and anger in the room,” Licopoli told the Journal after the meeting. He said several audience members reached out to him shortly after the meeting ended, confirming that they did not feel safe and believed adjourning the meeting was the best decision.

“This was an opportunity, we wanted to hear from everyone because we value what our community feels,” BOE Vice President Victoria Buscareno told the Journal. “They are the ones driving us, that are going to steer us in the right direction. This was just to provide information and see where everyone was at. And that’s the unfortunate part. It didn’t get to happen. It’s not fair to the rest of the community who were putting in their time to hear what’s going on. So here we are – you leave with a very disheartening feeling.”

Although disheartened, Buscareno said that the experience has motivated her to make sure that the information put out by the board is being received by the public. “The idea is to keep everyone informed and that every person’s opinion counts,” she said.

“We have to find the ways and means to heal from this, so that [Northport-East Northport] can be the community that everyone wants it to be – one that pulls together,” Licopoli added. “We don’t want what happened this evening to be something that divides the community more.”

A date for the rescheduled meeting will be set after the board has a chance to meet again, Licopoli said. The rescheduled meeting will be held in the Northport High School auditorium.