Parents Express Concern on Construction of Possible Strip Mall Next to Local Elementary School

Several local parents have recently expressed their concerns after learning that the Syosset School District sold the land directly adjacent to a local elementary school to a developer hoping to build a strip mall.

In September, the District sold a portion of the property it owns at the corner of Woodbury Road and Jericho Turnpike, next to the Walt Whitman Elementary School in Woodbury to the Basser-Kaufman Development company.

The developer then asked that the District consider amending the contract to sell a larger parcel in exchange for additional compensation and improvements to the school.

The 2.4 acres of land was eventually sold to the developer for a total of $5.35 million and the developer apparently wants to use the land to build a strip mall.

The district claimed they held two public forums on the selling of the land on Nov. 29 and Dec. 7, but parents have said that they were not aware of the sale, according to a report in ABC7.

"By the time they entered into the sale transaction, most of the public did not know," parent Melissa Breitstein told ABC7. "We were not aware, or as you see would have mobilized."

The school district has not yet released information on the specific type of businesses that will be constructed in the proposed strip mall.

"The only thing is no vape shop, and no liquor store. They do not tell any specifics," parent Robin Greenstein. told ABC7. "We want to scrap this whole deal - start over. Full transparency, community involvement."

At the last Syosset school board meeting, the agenda does not include a resolution to amend the Board's sale of a property at the corner of Woodbury Road and Jericho Turnpike.

According to a statement from the district, neither the administration nor any member of the Board has requested that the amendment appear on the agenda so there was no reason to give the proposal further consideration.