In response to a Blank Slate editorial posted Aug. 4 electronically and in print Aug. 5, the Herricks Board of Education would like to respond to clarify the situation and correct some inaccuracies.
First, Herricks has always pursued possible illegal residencies. This is not something new. The Herricks Board of Education hired Joseph Wendling to help investigate certain cases of children attending Herricks Schools from families that do not meet residency requirements as defined by New York State law. We believe that his experience and expertise will significantly strengthen our efforts. Moreover, we will continue to look for other ways to strengthen our efforts to ensure that only the children of residents attend our schools.
It is New York State law, not Herricks school policy, that students attend schools where they reside with their families, not in whatever community they choose. It is our responsibility to the taxpayers of this community to ensure that we are putting our best efforts into the process of determining the legitimacy of all the students attending our schools. The calls from the public over the last year and the rise in instances of illegal rentals in our community, along with alleged “drop offs” and multiple families living in one single-family home, moved the Herricks School Board to take this action. The compensation publicized, although accurate, is reflective of the fact that this position is going to supplement already existing efforts in this area.
As a school board we are proud of the quality of education our community is able to provide the families that lawfully reside here. We dedicate ourselves to that task on a daily basis and it is for that reason that the strain on our resources of even one illegal student is unfair.
For Blank Slate Media to consider this a “hunt” is to use provocative language to distract from the underlying fundamental problems and incentives for parents to try to dupe the system. For you to be impressed that “parents of the ‘illegal children’ are involved enough and care enough” to break the rules is also troubling. Children learn by example – so what kind of example do parents set when they are breaking the law to ‘benefit’ their children.
We are sympathetic with the parents’ concerns about the quality of education in their home communities, but it is not the responsibility of the Herricks Board and by extension, the Herricks community, to compensate for this perceived lack. The choice is to either move into our district legitimately or to advocate for better quality in the schools in their own communities – that is the right way of providing their children a good education as well as a good role model.
We do agree with one thing in the editorial – our elected officials truly do need to take a look at the public school systems, not only in Nassau County, but statewide and nationally. That starts with an honest discussion with politicians at all levels of government, and we are willing to be a part of the conversation so “that every child is offered a quality public education” regardless of where they reside!
Herricks Board
of Education
Christine N. Turner, President
Richard Buckley, Vice President
Peter Grisafi, Trustee
Dr. Sanjay K. Jain, Trustee
James Gounaris, Trustee
