Greater Babylon coverage is funded in part by The Argyle Theatre, where Broadway comes to Babylon. Click here for tickets to ‘Jersey Boys,’ Jan. 23 – April 6.
By Miya Jones
Some 50 Amityville community members gathered at Prayer Tabernacle Church of God in Christ on Sunday to discuss how to prevent the potential closing of the district’s Northeast Elementary School.
The idea was first presented during an April school board meeting to help make up for a district budget deficit that has reached into the millions.
“The school has been a landmark in this community,” Bishop Walter Willie Jr., the pastor of the church, said at the beginning of the meeting. “We want to do the right thing for this community and keep Northeast open.”
Sunday’s gathering came nine months after the district laid off 47 teachers and staff members from across the district to make up for a $3.6 million budget deficit.
Currently, the Northeast school educates about 120 students — and is the only one in the district that serves pre-K students, including those with special needs.
Community members like Reynolds Hawkins are still unclear as to why the school’s fate is uncertain.
“The question is still, ‘Why do they want to do this?’” said Hawkins, who attended Amityville schools and served as a coach and social worker for over 20 years. “What are the other options? I’m curious to know why they want to pick this school.”
“Why close the one building that sits right in the heart of the African-American community?” Willie said.
Amityville resident Patricia Hobson (pictured below), who often attends school board meetings, was given the floor and mentioned her concerns regarding how the school’s board meetings are run.
“They start their meetings at 7:30 and the board members ask a lot of bogus questions to prolong the time so that we become restless and go home,” Hobson said. “That’s something else that needs to be brought to their attention.”
One school board member, Christopher Nehring, and the principal of Northeast, Dr. Pauline Collins, both attended Sunday’s meeting but declined to comment.
Greater Long Island has reached out to the district with additional questions but has not yet received a response.
The Town of Babylon’s commissioner for human services and longtime Amityville resident Madeline Quintyne-McConney (pictured above) also argued a case Sunday as to why the school should not be closed, citing its historical significance.
“The Northeast Elementary School was built in 1952 to ensure that all of the district’s students would have the opportunity to attend all of its schools,” she said.
She also said the school is one of the largest polling sites in Suffolk County, with around 13,000 to 15,000 people registered to vote there.
Quintyne-McConney then cited a Newsday article and audit report from state comptroller Tony DiNapoli that pointed out “a lack of programs in schools for pre-k students with special needs,” within the district, and an increased demand for pre-K programs overall on Long Island.
But the main takeaway from the meeting was to encourage everyone to attend the next school board meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 11, at 7:30 p.m.
“Before we had Baltimore Park, we had Northeast school for years,” Willie said to close out the meeting.
“Let’s be unified as one group to show that we want Northeast school to remain.”
The author, Miya Jones is contributor for Greater Long Island, as well as the founder, editor-in-chief and executive producer of Shades of Long Island. All photos by Miya Jones.
