Parents upset over vandalism at Newbridge Elementary School

Vandalism incidents over the summer brought a group of upset parents to the North Bellmore Board of Education meeting last Thursday. Parents of students at Newbridge Road School attended the session because they heard through other parents that needles were recently discovered on the playground.

Superintendent Arnold Goldstein confirmed that there were vandalism incidents, and administrators called the 1st Precinct when they learned of them. In a later interview, Goldstein told the Herald that the incident involving a bag of hypodermic needles found on Newbridge Road’s playground occurred earlier in August while school was out. Needles had not been recently found on any playground in North Bellmore, according to Nassau County Police, he said.

Parents like Michael Quinn appeared most upset to have not been informed that drug paraphernalia was found on the school’s playground. “My child does not need to find a needle on the playground,” he said.

Other parents also wanted to know why they had not been informed of the incident and what steps were being taken to prevent similar situations from occurring in the future. Goldstein encouraged parents to call the police and the school district. In the follow-up interview, Goldstein noted that when there were vandalism incidents in the spring of 2009, the administration organized meetings with police, Board of Education members and local officials like Nassau County Legislator Dave Denenberg. The meeting resulted in increased police patrols and a decrease in vandalism. If the incidents continue, Goldstein said that he would look into setting up similar meetings to those in 2009.

Goldstein also noted that police told the administration that loitering and vandalism on school grounds are not isolated to North Bellmore, but are issues in school districts across the county. The first step toward prevention is to alert the police and principal if parents see any potential criminal activity on school grounds, Goldstein emphasized. He added that the custodial staff is on heightened alert and checks the grounds every morning, especially on Monday mornings, to ensure that students never find anything that they shouldn’t.

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