Parents face dilemma in Mineola schools vote

The Mineola school district, faced with having to close two buildings because each houses fewer than 200 students, is turning to voters to decide on a configuration plan.

But closing schools is a touchy topic for parents, and arguments abound against both plans the district has proposed.

On Oct. 26, residents will vote on a $6.7-million bond in a proposal to cluster prekindergarten through first grade at Willis Avenue School. Grades 2-4 would be at Jackson Avenue School. Both schools would require additional classrooms, accounting for the bulk of the bond.

However, that plan requires closing three schools, said Superintendent Michael Nagler: Meadow Drive in Albertson, Hampton Street in Mineola and Cross Street in Williston Park.

If voters reject the bond, the district proposes a default plan that splits grades pre-K to 2 between Meadow Drive and Willis Avenue. This is called the "north-south" plan because Meadow is in the northern part of the district, while Willis is in the southern part.

Grades 3-4 would be at Jackson Avenue. Hampton Street and Cross Street would close.

Both plans move fifth-graders to the middle school and eighth-graders to the high school, Nagler said.

Nagler said each proposal has its opponents. Some argue the first option is unfair to those in the northern part of the district because two of their buildings will close, leaving students with no "neighborhood" school and bigger distances to travel.

Others say the north-south split is unfair because the north - which includes Williston Park, Albertson, and parts of Roslyn Heights - is more affluent and tends to have smaller class sizes and because the majority of students are in Mineola, the southern part of the district.

"The community has to make tough choices," Nagler said.

Nagler said two buildings proposed to be shuttered could be rented out to generate revenue for the district.

"I'm not happy with either of the two options," said Debbie Beatty, co-president of the Meadow Drive parent-teacher association. She's concerned about students making multiple transitions to new schools and neighborhood schools being closed. She also wants to avoid having fifth-graders at the middle school or eighth-graders at the high school.

Irene Parrino and John McGrath, the board members who voted against pursuing the bond, said they don't want to see three schools close. They decry the loss of neighborhood schools. Parrino said she doesn't want young students to travel as much and doesn't like too many transitions.

"This bond doesn't have a hope of passing because it's way too radical," McGrath said. "We need to go back to the drawing board to come up with a better plan."

"None of the answers are easy," said trustee Christine Napolitano, who supports the bond issue. "I understand that people are reluctant to change."

She said closing schools is sensitive, especially to those whose children are in those buildings now. "I can't look at it as, 'My kids went to Cross so I have to do what's right for my little part of the neighborhood,' " she said. "I can't be tribal that way. I have to look at the whole thing."