Parents want fully on-campus option for children in Smithtown district

Frustrated Smithtown parents held a rally Wednesday outside the Smithtown Central School District administration building to demand a fully on-campus option for their children during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In interviews, many said they had no confidence in the district's plan to mix in-person with remote instruction that would have students in school two to three days a week. Several parents criticized the district’s remote learning efforts after the pandemic struck in the spring.

Remote learning has often left children watching assigned videos instead of interacting with teachers and other students, the parents said. Some, angry that other Long Island Island districts were calling for a full return to in-person instruction, demanded that administrators reopen two disused elementary schools — Branch Brook and Nesconset — to allow for more students to safely attend.

“Remote learning is not working in Smithtown,” said Katie Healy, a supply chain manager with two children, 9 and 12, in Smithtown schools. “Kids don’t learn from papers and watching videos. They learn from a classroom setting.”

Healy's daughter Abbey, a seventh-grader, said it sometimes took days for teachers in larger remote classes to respond to emails. Some classes — chorus, for one — simply didn’t work remotely, Abbey said. For that class over the spring, she sang alone in her bedroom and sent video to her teacher for a critique, she said.

Thomas and Corry Doherty said their 5-year-old son Thomas, who has a rare vocal disorder called apraxia of speech, needs five days of in-person schooling a week. Without it, said Corry Doherty, her son was regressing.

“He’s lost syllables. He’s repeating things,” she said. “It’s scary.”

In a statement released before the rally, superintendent Russell Stewart said the district “remains committed to following the guidance issued from NYSED and the Department of Health with fidelity related to the reopening of schools. All decisions are made in the best interest of children and their well-being. Therefore, at no point will we unnecessarily jeopardize the health, safety of our students, staff or their loved ones at home.”

In a document posted on the district website Wednesday, administrators said it was impractical to use vacant buildings for schooling in the fall because they would not provide enough space for students and the district would have to hire roughly 170 new teachers as well as staffers.

Under the district’s plan, the Smithtown district's roughly 8,635 students will be divided into two groups by last name, with one group attending school Monday, Tuesday and alternate Wednesdays, and the other attending Thursday, Friday and alternate Wednesdays.

Students will receive live instruction at school and prerecorded instruction at home. Students on individualized education plans will get services live or “in person to the greatest extent possible.”

Stacy Murphy, an Amityville schools guidance counselor and rally organizer whose two children attend elementary school in Smithtown, said she planned another rally next week. Administrators should consider opening cafeterias, gyms and even the New York Avenue administration building, she said.

“Figure it out for these kids,” Murphy said.

Angela Messana, a dental hygienist whose two children are entering first and eighth grades, said her family had moved to the area specifically for the schools and after- school activities.

A single mother, she said the district’s hybrid plan put her in an impossible position: “give up a salary or pay for child care and a tutor.”