Fireworks at BOE Meeting as Abrams Plan is Upheld

It seemed more like a sporting event than a meeting of the Huntington Board of Education Monday night, what, with the ear splitting cheering and booing that came from the audience.

The peak of last night's meeting occurred near the end, as Trustee Rich McGrath offered a motion – to wild applause and a standing ovation – for the board to vote to rescind the decision made April 19 creating a 6th-grade center at Jack Abrams Intermediate School. Trustee John Paci seconded the motion, again, to enthusiastic applause.

The motion, however, was defeated, 4-3, with McGrath, Paci and Trustee Liz Black voting to rescind, and the rest of the board voting against the motion. This was the identical makeup of the first vote.

McGrath said he made the motion to address the anger that many parents expressed regarding not only the board's decision to create a 6th-grade center at Abrams, but its decision to vote at a late hour on April 19.

Trustee Chris Bene noted that the board was not attempting to be secretive but rather was accommodating an extended public commentary period because the meeting was a joint meeting with the Huntington Town Board. More than 30 people spoke that night and the meeting lasted until midnight.

Parent Denise Stieve, who has circulated a petition that now has hundreds of signatures asking the board to change their minds, called the decision "short-term and haphazard with no educational benefit."

Parent Jim Daly said that the issue of placing 700 children plus teachers and staff in a building meant for 701 did not result in "a fair and equal distribution of resources."

McGrath also said that the issue of overcrowding at Woodhull until the portables arise had never been discussed thoroughly.

"In fairness, I know we've got to play nice in the sandbox," he said. "But I don't think the administration was leading us to the 6th-grade center solution that bubbled up. It wasn't driven from an educational standpoint. Those are the facts. There are a lot of things we didn't hear until tonight. If we did talk about them, we didn't do so publicly. A lot of the things said tonight are viable points. My problem isn't that the sixth-grade center isn't going to work great. It's that we never talked about the 720 students jammed at the Woodhull. I don't know, did we count the teachers or didn't we? I know it's hard because we wanted to make a decision. But we didn't really flesh this out. It did happen at midnight, in all fairness. I really think with everything we've heard tonight if we really want to have a 6th-grade center, let's do it right and get Woodhull ready in time to prepare everybody."

Other parents expressed frustration at those who they feel want to ignore the safety issue as long as their children aren't affected.

"I'm glad this lit a fire under everybody," said parent Shari Harris. "I'm sorry you're all hurting. But we were all hurting, too. Now as a community we have to come together and now there's no reason to point fingers anymore. We're all in this together."

Early in the night, Trustee Liz Black quoted a letter to the editor of local media outlets including Huntington Patch from Board President Bill Dwyer, Vice President Emily Rogan,  Bene and Kim Brown, in which they said they voted in favor of the creation of a 6th-grade center at Jack Abrams Intermediate School following "great consideration."

Black said she felt there was no discussion or vetting whatsoever of the issue.

Rogan reminded her that she made the motion to vote on the center at the meeting, a motion then seconded by Trustee John Paci. They both voted against it.

"I am confused about why you made that motion," Rogan said.

Black said she simply felt they needed to act.

Video of the Board of Education meeting to be posted soon.