School Board Steps Up Fight

The Huntington school board stepped further into its struggle with the Monday night, voting to hire a lawyer to fight a proposed senior housing project and announced an effort to win funding to improve conditions in Huntington Station.

Board president William Dwyer, describing the plan for three board members and Schools Superintendent John J. Finello to meet with Justice Department officials to seek grants for the community, said the group would tell  the "story of where we are, how we got here, issues in our community, issues we are trying to address. Personally, I have lost faith in Town Hall doing anything like this.

"Like it or not,"he said, "until the election, we have the Town Board that we have."

Dwyer said the Washington, D.C., meeting was set for Feb.16.

Tuesday, Supervisor Frank Petrone's office offered this response.

"We have been trying for some time to work with the School District on issues affecting the community because, as Mr. Dwyer has said, we all need to work together to address Huntington Station’s problems.

"In cooperation with the Suffolk County Police Department, Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, our local County legislators, Rep. Steve Israel, our state legislative delegation and community leaders, we have made significant progress in reducing crime in Huntington Station and in continuing to implement the measures that will advance Huntington Station’s revitalization. We will continue to work cooperatively and once again extend our invitation for the school board to join us."

On a 5-2 vote, the board authorized the hiring of attorney Vincent J. Messina of Sinnreich Kosakoff & Messina, to "represent the district ad commence action against the in regards to the rezoning of 1 Lowndes Ave.," David Grackin, assistant superintendent for finance and management, said.

At issue is a plan by the Huntington Housing Authority to build or convert two buildings of housing for seniors on Lowndes Avenue.

Some critics complain that the plan would add dense housing to Huntington Station, while others charge that the plan would add children to the school district even though the Housing Authority says the buildings will be restricted to seniors and children would be barred. On Thursday, the zoning board is scheduled to take up the Housing Authority's request for variances to allow the senior project to advance.

Board members Christine Bene and Emily Rogan voted against the plan to hire a lawyer, with Rogan saying that though she opposed more dense housing for Huntington Station,  she didn't agree to hiring the lawyer because "It's not appropriate for the board to take a position. It's a crucial budget season. I'm opposed to spending the money."

And money was the common thread of several board discussions as trustees reviewed budget outlines, discussed the looming state property tax cap and took complaints about Woodhull students and the lack of an awning between the school building and modular classrooms.

This story has been corrected to change the vote total from 4-2 to 5-2.