'Not Enough': BOE Member Resigns After 'Harmful' Brentwood Comments

RIVERHEAD, NY — Laurie Downs, vice president of the Riverhead Central School District's Board of Education, has resigned. On Monday, Downs apologized for comments she made at a recent civic association meeting, during which she expressed concerns about crime in town and reportedly said, "I don't want us becoming a Brentwood."

On Tuesday, Downs issued a statement, saying that she was resigning immediately from the Riverhead Board of Education.

"I think this is an important first step in bringing about the healing of the pain my words have caused," she said. "I don't want my behavior to further distract the leadership of these school districts from providing quality education to all students."

Downs added: "I want to again apologize for the hurt and pain I caused the Brentwood, Riverhead, and other school communities across Long Island. I recognize the harm that my words have caused, and I am truly sorry for that."

Downs said she understands that her words were "harmful, hurtful, irresponsible, and not representative of the communities I named. I have heard incredible youth activists, political representatives, alumni, and parents, and I recognize that I was perpetuating stereotypes and stigmatizing already marginalized communities. For that, I am remorseful and deeply, deeply sorry."

And, she reiterated that her words did not represent the thoughts or values of the other six Riverhead Board of Education members, the superintendent, administrative staff, teachers, parents, or students in the Riverhead School District.

"When I ran for the school board, I never imagined I would hurt a child," Downs said. Both Riverhead and Brentwood School districts exemplify diversity that strengthens their communities, not weakens them, she said.

"I should have instead used my platform to highlight the positive effects that Latino heritage and culture have had on the school districts," she added.

According to a post in Riverhead Local, Downs was speaking about her concerns about possible gangs, and that students were getting jumped and robbed; Riverhead Town Police Chief David Hegermiller said the data did not support those fears.

The comments were made at a Heart of Riverhead Civic Association meeting on March 18 during which Hegermiller was engaging in a dialogue with the public.

Her remarks sparked a response from the District 1 Youth Advisory Board in Brentwood and other: "By sensationalizing the issue of gang violence, Downs has contributed to a harmful narrative that perpetuates fear and misunderstanding," the group said. "This type of rhetoric only serves to reinforce negative stereotypes and promote discrimination against communities like Brentwood. While it is important to address the issue of gang violence, Down's statements only serve to stigmatize and further marginalize already vulnerable communities."

A press conference was held Tuesday at Riverhead High School with Suffolk County Legislator Sam Gonzalez, Riverhead Town Supervisor Yvette Aguiar, Riverhead Central School District Board of Education President Brian Connelly, and others, including Minerva President, executive director of OLA and Tia Fulford of the Butterfly Effect Project speaking out.

Gonzalez said he wanted to address the "offensive and unfortunate statements" made by Downs. "I am not clear about the motivation behind it," he said. "I do not know if she makes them out of ignornace. I do not know if it's racism or malicious intent."

But, he said, her message was "hateful," filled with "segregation, racism, and racial profiling," and demeaning to students in both districts.

While he said he was "joyful" about Downs' resignation, the moment was bittersweet because he could not believe he had to stand in a room talking about racism in Suffolk County. He also spoke passionately about Brentwood, which, he said, "is successfully making great efforts to protect its students, to give them the tools and resources and conditions that allow them to keep up in this competitive labor market."

Graduates of Brentwood High School, he said, are going to Yale, Harvard, Columbia. Gonzalez said he had demanded Downs' apology and resignation.

He said if her statements had been based in ignorance, that could be cured. "That's why I am extending an invitation to Ms. Downs to come to Brentwood. I'll pick her up myself," he said, adding that he'd walk her through the streets and in the schools so "she can see for herself what Brentwood is cultivating."

And, he said: "Don't label our community."

If her comments were based on racism, Gonzalez said, "There is no cure for her."

Gonzalez alleged that the comments made by Downs weren't the first time; he said he'd gotten calls from colleagues who claimed she'd made such statments in the past. "It was the first time she got caught," he said.

To Downs, he said: "Thank you for your apology. Maybe in your heart you truly meant it. But for me, I don't believe so."

The country is building upon hate, he said, and it needs to end. "We are not going to tolerate this," Gonzalez said. "You go after one, you go after all."

Aguiar, as the first Latina town supervisor in Riverhead or on the East End, said the best thing about Riverhead is its diversity. Downs' comments, she said, were "divisive, deliberate," and "unfairly targeted the Hispanic population in RIverhead."

Aguiar said she has worked closely with the school district and police and if the issues Downs had mentioned existed, she would have known, and the police would have responded.

"School leaders cannot engage in unproductive fear mongering," Aguiar said. Her apology and resignation, she said, "are too little, too late."

Connelly, BOE president, said he believed Downs' resignation was the first step in a necessary healing process. He also reiterated an earlier statement that the BOE that her words did not reflect the feelings of the board in any way.

Gonzalez added that he believed Latino members of the community should run for the school board so that there is equal representation. He also thanked the Riverhead police and said he thought they did a great job.

Aguiar agreed, saying police department members worked and lived in the community.

Ana Flores of the Guatemalan Consulate i nRiverhead also spoke and thanked officials present for being the voice of the Guatemalan people.

Perez said, with 24 school districts on eastern Long Island reflecting an average of 50 percent Latino student population, those students look to parents and adults for protection, ethics, and love. "Children of color have a hard enough time walking through the streets, to feel proud of their skin color, of the language in their mouths and their parents' mouths," she said. "We need to be here to help. To have that confidence broken down, there's a harm that's done."

Of Downs, Perez said there needed to be acknowledgement of accountability and resignation.

But, she said, while those two actions were good, they were "not enough."

All school districts need now to look at what needs to be done next. She suggested prioritizing three actions and steps, including having the technology so that school board meetings could be held in Spanish, as well, hiring individuals who are bilingual and bicultural, and looking at the priorities of all districts and asking, "How's it going, and who is accountable?"

Fulford said while she has known Downs for years and said she has advocated for children, it "does not negate the hate she spewed. You can be a good person and do a bad thing."

She said Downs' resignation wasn't enough. "It's too easy," she said, to Downs. "I need you to own your own mess, to educate yourself. This is not enough."

If Downs were to stay, she could sit at the table and have the difficult and couragous conversations that need to be had if change is ever going to happen, Fulford said.

"This is not a win. It's a loss for the Bridgehampton and Riverhead communities and the Latino community — it's another missed opportunity for us to have the conversations to resolve something that's happenened behind closed doors more than once," she said.

When asked about the incident regarding a teen assaulted and cut with a knife on the way home from school Tuesday, the same day Downs resigned over her comments regarding crime, Aguiar
said she was aware of the situation but the case needed to be investigated.

"It doesn't happen often here," Aguiar, who is also the town's police commissioner, said. "Most of the crime that happens is not stranger to stranger."

She said maybe the crime was a "copycat" act but "all possibilities" were on the table and the investigation was ongoing, adding that the Riverhead police force was the most active of all East End towns and very effective.

"One incident should not define what's going on here," she said.

Gonzalez said Downs' comments inferring that people were "chopping heads" in Brentwood "went a little bit too far." He passionately defended the changes that have been happening in Brentwood and said the days of MS-13 recruiting kids on Brentwood streets are not the reality now.

"We've been busting our humps to change the status quo," he said. "We are doing things to hange that stigma."

The YAB added that they are committed to promoting inclusivity, diversity, and equity and will continue to advocate for marginalized communities and against all forms of discrimination.

Downs, they said, earlier this week, "should immediately apologize and retract her statements made concerning the community of Brentwood. We call on Ms. Downs to publicly apologize for her comments and to take steps to educate herself on the realities and strengths of the Brentwood community. We also urge the Riverhead School Board to take appropriate action to address this matter and to ensure that all board members uphold the values of diversity, inclusion, and respect."

Downs spoke with Patch Monday. She said she was at the civic meeting as a resident. "I was not speaking for the Riverhead Board of Education," she said. "With that said, I sincerely apologize to the Brentwood community and to the Latino community as a whole and the Latino community of Brentwood. I didn't mean any harm — however, unfortunately, it did. The words I used were derogatory and harmful, there was no need for them. Violence has no color or community."

Downs said she reached out on her own volition to the Riverhead Anti-Bias Task Force, asking for guidance and to further educate herself, "to expand and grow and learn. I also want to learn more about other diverse and vital communities. "

The ABTF told her they would work with her to help facilitate that process, she said.

"I also would like to thank the District 1 Youth Advisory Board for bringing this forward and showing me my wrongs," Downs said.

A change.org petition was created to demand Downs rescind her comments.

"We stand together as members of the Brentwood community and also Brentwood alumni and we will not tolerate any form of discrimination or prejudice. We hope that this incident will serve as a reminder of the importance of embracing diversity and promoting mutual understanding," the YAB said.

Brentwood School Board President Eileen Felix also weighed in: "It is absolutely deplorable and unconscionable, a community leader, board of education vice president, at that, would perpetuate the false narrative that Brentwood is a crime ridden and gang infested community! How dare you!”

New York State Senator Monica Martinez, a 1995 Brentwood alumni, added: "As an alum and former educator of the Brentwood School District, I am appalled by the remarks made about Brentwood by Riverhead School board member Laurie Downs. Ms. Downs should know better than to stereotype and make discriminatory remarks toward a community she knows very little about; a community of hardworking families. Ms. Downs owes Brentwood an apology and should take the time to learn the beauty of diversity Brentwood encompasses."

Many Brentwood alumni and students also spoke out. Class of 2023 student Ericka Henriquez said: "Laurie Downs’ insensitive comments about our amazing Brentwood community will by no means go unnoticed. It’s time to abandon these false and insulting narratives about Brentwood and instead focus on the fact that our community is overflowing with creative and persevering students and residents."

Added Class of 2022 student Juan Delagdo: “You owe not just the community of Brentwood an apology, but the students that walk through your own hallways, as well.”

Recently, the Riverhead Central School District Board of Education also issued a statement. "The comments attributed to Ms. Laurie Downs at a recent Heart of Riverhead Civic Association meeting, about the level of gang violence in Riverhead and about the community of Brentwood, do not represent the Riverhead Board of Education, its members or the Riverhead School District. These comments were made by Ms. Downs as a private citizen," the BOE said.

"The comments about our growing Latino community and the Latino community in Brentwood were especially concerning to us," the BOE added. "To attribute gang violence to one ethnic group is dangerous, discriminatory, and marginalizes communities whose makeup is largely Latino."

Members of the Riverhead Board of Education said it was their commitment and promise to do everything possible to promote inclusion, acceptance and understanding in their schools and in the Riverhead community. While they agreed gang violence is an issue that needs to be addressed, "in no way can it be used to denigrate or give credence to false and harmful stereotypes that inhibit our ability to move forward in positive and meaningful ways," the BOE said.

The BOE said they appreciated the strong sentiments expressed by the District 1 Youth Advisory Board in reaction to Downs’ comments.

"We want the members of that organization, and most importantly, the Brentwood community, to know that we are strong supporters of the Brentwood community and the laudatory efforts that community has made to champion inclusion, equity, respect and understanding. Your efforts stand as a role model for communities across Long Island," the BOE said.

On Monday, Destiny Eusebio, vice chair of the District 1 Youth Advisory Board, issued a statement in response to Downs' initial apology. “I want for this to be a lesson to all communities on Long Island. Not only is this a lesson on the impact that words have, but this is also a lesson on taking accountability," she said. "Accountability is more than issuing an apology to the press; it’s directly reaching out to the community that you’ve offended and taking the time to unlearn fear, discrimination and bias that you carry with you. Accountability is the Riverhead school board taking a step back as a whole, and evaluating what made Ms. Downs so comfortable making those hateful comments to begin with. In a generation where accurate information can be at your disposal within a matter of seconds, it can only be inferred that this sort of behavior is a choice."

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