Residents rally for a pause on schools closures; others speak in support of redistricting

A rally urging members of the Northport-East Northport Board of Education to “press pause” on the closure of two district elementary schools was held at 6pm yesterday evening, just an hour before a public hearing in which residents spoke to the BOE about the reorganization and school closures one final time. The board votes on the plan this Thursday, April 29.

If approved, Adapted Scenario A would close both Bellerose Avenue and Dickinson Avenue elementary schools, and reorganize the district to a K-4, 5-8 and 9-12 model in the district’s remaining buildings.

“I’m very appreciative of all the work that has gone into preparing this and appreciative of the community feedback we have received,” Trustee Tom Loughran shared with the Journal prior to the hearing. “I, as I am sure the rest of the board, look forward to hearing from the public on this.”

Approximately 30 people, many with their children, gathered at Northport High School just as board members were arriving for the meeting. In an interesting juxtaposition, BOE candidate and rally attendee Tammie Topel, who has been vocal in her opposition to this year's budget, shouted “P-A-U-S-E” through a megaphone as BOE president David Badanes walked past the crowd and into the building.

Also in attendance at the rally was Danielle Winnegar, a political science major at Stony Brook University and aspiring lawyer. A Northport High School graduate, Danielle credited her Bellerose Avenue Elementary School teachers, and specifically her third grade teacher, Susan Moulton, for getting her out of her shell, and giving her the confidence to succeed. “Without her I wouldn’t be speaking here today,” she said.

Danielle’s sister, Cydney, is currently a second grader at Bellerose. If the school closures happen, she will go to Fifth Avenue for third and fourth grade. When she addressed the board, Danielle said that not only would students of Bellerose and Dickinson be affected by the closures, but every single child in the Northport-East Northport school district.

“By closing schools at this point in time, we’ll be adding children into classrooms during a pandemic when we are supposed to be social distancing and having smaller class sizes,” she said.

The prospect of implementing Adapted Scenario A has sparked continued dialogue and debate between district residents and administration at meetings for months now.

“What we’re trying to do here is continue to maintain and enhance the program that this community expects but also provide fiscal stability because we have been challenged,” said Superintendent Robert Banzer at last week’s Q&A. “We have been challenged with LIPA, we are being challenged with declining enrollment and we have to make sure that we keep the ship steady so that we can continue to do the kinds of things... provide the support for our community, provide the support for our teachers and all of our staff so we can provide this outstanding education for students.”

Nancy Walsh has a first grader and fourth grader at Bellerose, and has been a fixture at recent BOE meetings about the redistricting. She shared her concerns about the reorganization with the Journal before heading inside for the public hearing: “I feel like it’s a very rushed plan to actually implement. There are so many moving parts in a pandemic where our teachers are just trying to keep our kids safe, get them back up to speed because they lost six months, not only educationally but socially, too. I think we need to focus on how to get our kids back to where they were academically and socially before we’re closing schools and pushing this through.”

Asking the board to pause the redistricting plan was a common theme throughout the public hearing, which lasted three and a half hours. Speakers cited familiar reasons to request the pause, from concerns about the pandemic and adhering to CDC guidelines in more populated classrooms, to transitioning fifth graders to a new middle school environment.

Approximately 35 people spoke at the meeting, virtually or in-person. A noticeable difference from past meetings past, however, was the amount of men who addressed the board (almost one quarter of the evening’s total speakers), as well as the presence and participation of people from schools other than Dickinson and Bellerose, and residents there to show support of the redistricting plan.

East Northport resident Lisa DeNisco, a member of both the Future Study Committee and the School Closure Task Force Committee, spoke to “offer a different perspective,” saying that a pause to the redistricting would only pose more challenges for district children. “Let’s do away with the craziness of this year and start fresh next year where the children will stay, with or without Covid protocols in place, and we can all start the readjustment.”

A Dickinson parent of a fourth grader, Lisa will feel multiple effects from the redistricting. A pause would benefit her son, she said, in that he could go to middle school in sixth grade. “It’s not easy," she said. “But I recognize the need for this to happen. And I recognize that the restructuring is important for the district and will improve the district for years to come which is more important to me than a personal benefit. I fully support a ‘Yes’ vote and I look forward to the closure and beginning the process of unifying the district as it takes on a new look.”

The Board of Education votes on the proposed school closures at 7pm this Thursday, April 29. The meeting is open to the public, and will also be available via Zoom:https://zoom.us/j/91375570373/.