Message in Mineola school district: keep schools open

Voters in the Mineola school district sent a clear message in striking down a $6.7-million bond that would have resulted in the closure of three elementary schools: "They don't want this configuration," Superintendent Michael Nagler said Wednesday.

The proposal defeated Tuesday would have closed Cross Street in Williston Park, Meadow Drive in Albertson and Hampton Street in Mineola while expanding classrooms in Willis Avenue and Jackson Avenue.

"This board will honor and move forward with what the residents want," said trustee Christine Napolitano, who was in favor of the bond.

Due to declining enrollment, the district still must close at least two schools, Nagler has said.

The district's next step will be to ask voters to approve a $4.4-million bond that would keep the middle and high schools intact and build more classrooms at Jackson to make it a school for grades 3-5. Prekindergarten through second grade would be split between Willis Avenue in Mineola and Meadow Drive. Voters also will have an option to approve an additional $1.7-million bond that would close Willis instead of Hampton, Nagler explained.

If voters reject those bonds, the default configuration will be: pre-K to second grade at Willis and Meadow, grades 3-4 at Jackson. Fifth-graders would go to the middle school, eighth-graders to the high school. Cross and Hampton would close.

Nagler said he believes the $4.4-million bond option is a "truer compromise." A date for voting hasn't been set, he said.

Board member John McGrath, who is against closing any schools, said he's "thrilled" with the vote results: "I think we really may need to slow the process down."

After Tuesday's rejection, he said he's confident voters will vote down another bond proposal. "It was the perfect storm of 'No,' " he said. "There was something in there for everybody to hate."

Some parents didn't like moving fifth-graders to the middle school and eighth-graders to the high school, while others were opposed to building a rooftop playground at Willis.

Dara Perlow, co-president of the parent-teacher association at Jackson, said she's one of the moms who didn't like the rooftop playground. But closing three schools was the deciding factor: "It doesn't make sense to me that we were going to close schools and then spend a very large amount of money."