Herald Schools

Parents of Lynbrook special education students wary about transitioning children to new schools

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When Abby Manasakis went to the Lynbrook School District’s budget meeting on Feb. 15, she expected to learn more about the school board’s plan to move special education students from Marion Street Elementary to schools closer to their homes. Instead, she was told that there would be a private meeting after the proposed budget is adopted on March 8 to discuss the transition of special education students to new schools.

“Mid-March we’ll have a committee together of teachers and administrators,” said Melissa Burak, the superintendent of Lynbrook schools. “They will be charged with developing a smooth transition, which would include a plan for a smooth transition for students because students are first and foremost.”

The transition would affect first through third-graders in integrated co-teaching classes, in which students with special needs are taught alongside general education students. According to the proposed budget revealed at the meeting, these special needs students would be sent to the school that is closest to their home address, even though some may prefer to stay at Marion Street, where all of the integrated classes are currently housed.

Manasakis said she and other mothers would prefer their child to stay at Marion Street, because it is the only elementary school in the district that offers more individualized classes for special needs students. “Each year school gets harder and harder for every kid, not just kids with special needs,” Manasakis said, adding that a child may need to move from an integrated classroom to a more individualized one.

Other parents said they would like their child to stay at Marion Street because the transition for them may be more difficult than it is for other students, even if other students have been at the school longer. “There might be one fourth- or fifth-grader out there that might not have as great of an impact on some first- or second-grader,” said one mother who wished not to be named due to security concerns.

Burak, however, said that Marion Street would not be able to sustain all of the special needs children as well as a projected increase in overall students. According to the school board’s projections, Marion Street is expected to gain 500 students over the next four years. “Marion Street cannot sustain 500 students in that building,” Burak said.

But parents of special needs students do not know how they feel about having the program at another school without more information on the transition process. “I feel like it’s like buying a house,” said Manasakis. “I wouldn’t buy a house without knowing more information.”

What is known is that the teachers who are currently teaching the integrated classes at Marion Street will be divided among the elementary schools, so that students will still see a familiar face. “We’re not going to short-change any child,” Burak said. “This is a good thing for students.”

At least one mother agrees with Burak and the school board. Antonia Tomayo stood up at the end of the budget meeting and began to tear up. “My children deserve to have everything and this is what this is about tonight,” she said. “It’s scary to make a step forward, but I think it’s a step in the right direction.”