With the countless amounts of misinformation regarding the closing and leasing of the Cross Street School, I felt the need to get some facts out to the public.
You may ask who I think I am and where did these facts come from, so I will clear that up right off the bat.
I am a resident of the Mineola School District for 43 years. I attended Mineola public schools, and have been very active in following all the discussions regarding the re-configuration for the past two to three years. I have gone to board of education meetings, read the Mineola American and Williston Times and even Newsday, as well as visited the district website. All the information is out there for the taking.
With that said, on to the facts.
Some people are trying to stop the lease of the Cross Street building to Solomon Schecter Day School. They have come up with various reasons to stop the progress of this lease, as well as spread inaccuracies as to the impact and the details of the lease.
1) Since the beginning of the reconfiguration process, Cross Street School has always been a school that will close. At no time did the Village of Williston Park or St. Aidan’s made a request or an offer to lease the property from the school district. Even at this point, it is only the residents and parents who are speaking of wanting to lease the property.
2) It has been said that the rental income from Solomon Schecter Day School is equal to a savings of between $12 to $20 dollars per household. That may be the figure from the income, but the true savings is realized in the closing of the building and the excessing of staff. Any costs of improvements requested in the lease negotiation have been stated to be offset by increased rent for the first two years of the lease, thereby having no impact on the tax levy.
3) Some are worried that Solomon Schecter Day School will bring too much traffic to the area. There will be approximately 36 vehicles including one full-sized school bus and the remaining being small buses and vans, coming to the school.
The on-property parking will be expanded to accommodate 78 parking spots as well as a lane for buses to use to drop off and pick up. We need to consider the number of parent vehicles that drop off and pick up currently each day. Will there really be an increase in vehicle traffic? The result will be found in the traffic study.
4) The fields of Cross Street School have been used by St. Aidan’s and the Williston Park Little League for many years as a courtesy. Limited access to the fields that neither entity pays for is better then no access at all.
I encourage you all to attend a board Meeting, visit the website, read the local papers, use whatever type of forum or media you want, just please, please get the facts.
Do not be swayed by anonymous flyers and inaccurate posts on the internet. Get the facts for yourself.
Linda Ramos
Mineola
