Protests Continue over East Ramapo Schools

Following two successful protests at Superintendent Joel M. Klein’s home, a growing coalition of students, parents, community members and concerned citizens moved to the home of an East Ramapo school board member.

They said they were taking their calls for equality and justice to other figures involved in and responsible for the destruction and state of the East Ramapo school district.

“We’re here today to continue to let the members of the board that we will not be silent regarding the separate-and-unequal nature of the East Ramapo Central School District, said Eric Grossfeld, organizer of the protest and founding member of “Get Up, Stand Up East Ramapo. “Following reports of Dr. Klein’s imminent removal, we ask that the public have a front-and-center role in selecting his successor.”

Sources told The Journal News that Klein, who is in the last year of his contract, would be replaced by the board.

The district was also a topic of discussion at Monday’s meeting of the state Board of Regents, according to TJN, and the chancellor and New York Education Commissioner said the state will intervene in some way or ways.

However, Commissioner MaryEllen Elia said what would be best is not within the purview of the Regents or the department.

Fiscal monitor Hank Greenberg had told the New York Education Department in November 2014 that he believed some form of state intervention was needed to repair school system and reverse bad decisions by the East Ramapo Board of Education.

“The district’s finances teeter on the edge of disaster,” he wrote in his report, East Ramapo: A School District in Crisis.

The district, which includes parts of the communities of New City, Pearl River, Nanuet, Spring Valley, Suffern, New Hempstead, Chestnut Ridge, Monsey and Wesley Hills, has 9,000 students in its schools. However, another 24,000 school-age children live there, and go to private schools—mostly yeshivas.

Legislation to appoint a monitor for East Ramapo passed the state Assembly but failed in the Senate, where GOP leaders work closely with the private-school lobby.

That infuriated Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski, who wrote to both the education commissioner and the State Comptroller, requesting immediate action including a forensic audit of the district.

“I sent a letter to Comptroller DiNapoli requesting that his office conduct a forensic audit of the district to determine whether there has been any fraud or misappropriation of funds over the years,” Zebrowski said in a prepared statement. “This type of thorough financial review will help identify any areas of concern and provide recommendations on how to improve the district’s finances. I believe this multi-faceted oversight framework is the best approach and look forward to working together with SED and the State Comptroller to improve the district and restore educational opportunity for students.”

He asked the education department to install a temporary monitor who would be in the district on a day-to-day basis, with responsibilities that would include: attendance at board meetings and executive session, access to the district’s documents, the ability to hold public hearings, the ability to provide feedback on board decisions, and the power to publicly object to board decisions that the monitor deems inappropriate.

RELATED: Letter to the Editor: Working for Solution in East Ramapo

State Sen. David Carlucci also called on the education department to begin greater oversight of the district using its authority under current state laws.