East Ramapo’s Scandal-Plagued (and arguably corrupt) haredi-controlled
school district finally has begun to act on complaints from parents and
community activists about trespassing on school grounds by non-students. But when East Ramapo’s school district finally got around to dealing
with the issue this week by calling a meeting to discuss school
security, the parents and activists were nowhere to be seen because the
meeting was closed to the public.
East Ramapo's school board president Daniel Schwartz
Baby Steps And Exclusion: Scandal-Plagued Haredi-Controlled East Ramapo School District Finally Gets Around To Dealing With Trespassing And Security Issues
Shmarya Rosenberg • Failedmessiah.com
East Ramapo’s Scandal-Plagued (and arguably corrupt) haredi-controlled school district finally has begun to act on complaints from parents and community activists about trespassing on school grounds by non-students.
The issue first came to head nine months ago when community activists and parents tried to help a principal stop haredi trespassers streaming through a school’s grounds during two days of a Jewish holiday as the school was in session. The school district’s security – which has since been cut – was not on scene on day one and was slow to arrive on day two.
But when East Ramapo’s school district finally got around to dealing with the issue this week by holding a meeting yesterday to discuss school security, the parents and activists were nowhere to be seen because the meeting was closed to the public.
Instead of a public meeting, East Ramapo chose to have an invitation only meeting, claiming to have invited elected officials and representatives from 45 community groups. But only about a dozen people reportedly attended, the Journal News reported.
Schools Superintendent Joel Klein claimed that no one was intentionally excluded from the meeting, and he told the Journal News that invitations were sent to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Padres Unidos and the PTA. Members of those three groups made up the bulk of the activists who tried to curtail the haredi trespassing last spring.
The NAACP and Padres Unidos told the Journal News that they did not receive invitations. Neither group knew about the meeting until a reporter told them about it on Tuesday.
Klein said he hopes the school district will get state and federal grant money to boost security.
The school district did not move to deal with the trespassing issue and related security concerns until it was strongly challenged, primarily by the excluded activists, the NAACP and Padres Unidos, in the wake of the Newtown, Connecticut school massacre last month.
No school board members, all of whom are now haredi or Orthodox and none of whom have children in the district’s public schools, attended the meeting.
[Hat Tip: Devorah.]