Yeshivas Drop Fight Against Rockland Fire Inspections

Rockland County Executive Ed Day announced Monday afternoon that yeshivas in Ramapo and Spring Valley have agreed to be inspected by county fire inspectors.

"We received word through their attorney that these schools that initially refused to be inspected have acquiesced to our demands," Day said.

Inspections will begin again at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Inspectors were not allowed to conduct inspections in any of the 13 schools that they visited Monday.

Lawyers for Rockland County were prepared to go to court to get warrants to enter the premises when Dennis Lynch, the attorney representing an organization called the School Religious Freedom Coalition said the group had changed its mind.

"The real winners here are the children who will now be going to schools that are safe," Day said.

Last week, as word of the schools' organization in opposition to county inspections surfaced, Day said, “Our goal is to make sure that children and first responders are safe. We have never heard of the School Religious Freedom Coalition but we would welcome the opportunity to work with this organization or any other that shares the goal of school safety.”

By June 1, seven schools on the state's list had been inspected.

However, Lynch had already sent a letter on behalf of the newly formed School Religious Freedom Coalition to state Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia informing her that the yeshivos would not be allowing Rockland inspectors into their buildings, Hamodia.com reported.

The letter condemned so-called anti-Semitic rhetoric from Day. Yeshiva leaders told Hamodia.com they believed Day's ulterior motive was to gain control over the local school system and stem the growth of the Hasidic community.

According to Hamodia.com:

One of the schools is a yeshivah for mentally disabled children, which is located in an old shul building built 46 years ago. There were several exits, one of which was shut with a deadbolt, which is illegal.
The yeshivah head said that the locks had been broken. They had ordered a piece of hardware to fix it but were nervous that in the meantime, leaving it open may allow a child to run out. So they shut it with a deadbolt for the day.
The day of the inspection.

In fact, the state Education Department had almost shut down the Rockland Institute for Special Education in March after it sent its own people to check the Ramapo fire inspector's work. The scathing letters from SED to town officials about the many serious safety violations they found at the local schools they checked led to the suspension and demotion of the fire inspector.

RELATED:

• Ramapo Disciplines Fire Inspector
• Ramapo Shuts Down Yeshiva After Fios1 Report
• Rockland Firefighters, Officials Call for State to Intervene in Ramapo, Spring Valley Code Enforcement
• Letters to Ramapo About 'Severe Violations' at Private Schools

With inspections about to move forward, the county will follow up on the results to make sure that any violations are corrected, Day said.

"This victory shows that the rule of law will be applied to all in Rockland," Day said. "No one is above the law."

The county was empowered by the state Department of Education at the end of May to conduct inspections at 49 schools, mostly yeshivas in Ramapo and Spring Valley, that either never filed required paperwork showing they had inspections or schools that were inspected by the Ramapo fire inspector, since his work was shown to be inaccurate.

The state provided Rockland with the list of schools and deputized the county to perform the inspections.

A team of current and former fire chiefs certified by the state to perform inspections will be doing the work.

Lynch is assistant town attorney for Ramapo -- where the town attorney and an assistant town attorney are under indictment and the fire inspector was demoted -- and Special Counsel for Spring Valley, where the building inspector was recently indicted; as well as Special Counsel for the town of Stony Point, the Rockland County Times pointed out.

SEE ALSO:

• Spring Valley Building Inspector, Businessman Indicted
• Ramapo Town Officials Face Charges in Fiscal Fraud Case
• SEC Charges 4 in Ramapo

“The law has always been clear: private schools must be inspected for fire safety. Hopefully today's announcement brings us a step closer to ensuring the safety of Rockland students," said Assemblyman Kenneth Zebrowski.