Jack Abrams Intermediate
The Huntington Chapter of the NAACP will hold a press conference to address the July 19th decision by the Huntington Board of Education to close the Jack Abrams Intermediate School. The conference will be held at 1pm today at Jack Abrams Intermediate School, 155 Lowndes Avenue, Huntington Station, NY The NAACP is concerned that the “Knee-Jerk” taken by the Huntington School Board, if allowed, will be replicated in other communities. Together with other community leaders, they are standing together and demanding the School Board revisit its decision. “This is not the time to further isolate a community based upon social demographics, race or ethnicity. Our press conference is an effort to bring Huntington together. We are committed to work cooperatively with the community including Town and County officials, law enforcement and the School District in order to bring unity and joint decision making to an important process that undoubtedly will have a significant impact on our children’s education and wellbeing of ALL families in the Huntington community,” said Dee Thompson, President of the Huntington Chapter, NAACP.
Speakers include:
· Dee Thompson, NAACP, Huntington President
· Senator Carl Marcellino
· Assemblyman James Conte
· Huntington Housing Authority Chairman of the Board William Spencer
· Rebecca Sanin, Huntington Parent
· Legislator Jon Cooper
· Huntington Town Supervisor Frank Petrone
I could not have said it better.
I fail to see why moving ALL children out of Jack Abrams is a problem. The building will not be abandoned. On one hand the people that live in the neighborhood say it is perfectly safe then on the other hand they need more police, neighborhood watches, etc. Why is the NAACP involved anyway? This has never been a race issue until a certain parent in Huntington made it one. Aren’t all our schools in the district equally diverse in race, ethnicity and economic status? This school is simply put in a very volatile area. People that live there say they are afraid of what will happen if CHILDREN are moved out, what will happen to their neighborhood..do they only stay in their homes during the day? What do they do at night? How do CHILDREN make their neighborhood safe? There will still be ADULTS in the building, not to mention the POLICE changing station.
What the heck is Rebecca Huntington President of? Trouble making?
This is not the Huntington I love. This press conference smells.
I guess this will be more of the “racist rhetoric” we saw on News Channel 12 after the meeting. While Rebecca self righteously proclaims she is saving Hutington Station, she is actually destroying the town and district. When Avalon Bay goes up, we can blame her for the division and distractions that will have enabled the project.
This is the final nail in the coffin for re electing Jackson and Berland. THey are part of this pitiful crew!
This is not a racism thing or even an issue between the “haves and have nots”, it’s about a neighborhood that needs more help and we need to make sure it gets it. Just because nobody has gotten shot during school hours YET doesn’t mean we should wait until such time to do something drastic.
A family recovering from a loss of a child is extremely difficult and takes many years if not a lifetime, losing your child when you knew there was a danger and that you could have prevented it is a non-recoverable event. Let’s stop the diversions and ALL focus on getting Huntington Station safe for everyone.
We would like to see a plan for short and long term goals, funding sources including private and public, and action items that we all can contribute to the realization of. Some are working on these issues but we need everyone to work on these issues, let’s stay focused and united.
FYI is correct-unless the school board does something fraudulent you can’t sue them for making what you think are bad decisions. The NYS Department of Ed gives the local BOE a lot of leeway and futhermore there is not a statutory law requiring them to hear public opinion. In all fairness there are not many individuals on any school board really qualified to deal with issues like this.
There are other issues that have inhibited ALL of the Suffolk County Police resources from being mobilized in Huntington Station. The major issue is that HS is not as bad as other areas of Suffolk County like Central Islip, Brentwood, Wyandanch and Bellport.
The residents don’t make it easy for the politicians to “do the right thing”, residents are always so diametrically opposed on virtually every topic. If we were all politicians we would have two concerns- 1. Care for the area/people we govern 2. Get re-elected. These are the concerns of our politicians too; plus keep taxes low. If someone were to get elected and made decisions solely based upon facts and the premise of the needs of the many outweight the needs of the few, he/she would only last one term.
I once thought that I would like more transparency from the School Board and the Town Board, but I don’t know how that would even work and would probably result in a Jerry Springer show at every meeting.
The current recession and high unemployment is exasperating the problems we are seeing in Huntington Station today and these problems are not soley the faults of the School Board, Town Board and the Police.
Tiffany this is the year 2010 your comments belong back in the 1950s. A white board? Why don’t you or someone please step forward and run for office. It was the white people that voted Glenda Jackson to Huntington Board. You and others act outraged and carry on chanting “racism” you also imply that the black and minority students are left behind with no school to attend. This is not so instead of the white students being bused to your crime filled neighborhood (and most of the crime is by your own people against your own people) your children are being to a safer neighborhood – what is wrong with that. Start with yourself and next time 200 peeople are having a party on the street with booze and guns at 2 am in the morning call the police and then maybe one of your neighbors or friends children would not be dead or be in the hospital with gun shoot or knife wounds. It is 60 years after Selma take responsibility for yourself.
HS mom, You are wrong most of the crime that happened around the school are by people that do not live in the community. However the people that live in Huntington Bay, do not want their children to go to Jack Abrams because the area have a lot of shootings this year.However I do not shoot people, or drink at all. Glenda Jackson has nothing to do with this. However closing the school is not the answer.I am going to see if there is a lot of crime in Huntington Village and see if the board will close the school. This is racism Columbine shooting happened in April 20, 1999. Which wew a lot of shooting of innocent students, the school did not close at all, racism.
HS mom,Martin Luther King JR, would not like this at all. The children will suffer, there will be 25-30 students in a classroom. I not think many students will learn at all. I am not a predjuice person at all, I have white friends come to my house. I can smell racism here. Closing a school is a big, big decision.
The minority parents are planning to boycott the schools. Rosa Parks boycotted the buses. The district will lose a lot of money. The state sends the district money for the students to get a education. When we boycott by the hundreds, the district will lose a lot of money.