Sewanhaka, Bellmore-Merrick school districts combat racism

The Sewanhaka and Bellmore-Merrick school districts are working to educate students after a recent racial incident during a junior varsity girls volleyball match on Sept. 27 was brought to administrators’ attention.

At a junior varsity girls volleyball match between Elmont Memorial High School and Bellmore’s John F. Kennedy High School, athletes on the Elmont team were verbally taunted with a racial slur from two boys in the stands from the Bellmore school. Tom Dolan, interim superintendent for the Sewanhaka school district, said this was not the first occurrence of a racial incident between the schools.

The girls reported the incident during the Sept. 27 game and the two boys were removed from the gymnasium. Dolan said the student who made the comment was subsequently removed from the volleyball team he played on at JFK, suspended for five days and was referred to the Bellmore-Merrick school district superintendent for “subsequent consequences.”

Kru Patel, Sewanhaka school district athletic director, said that administrators from both the Sewanhaka school district and Bellmore-Merrick school district were notified of the incident when it occurred.

In a message sent out to families involved in the Sewanhaka school district at the time of the incident, Patel said that incidents of this nature are “taken very seriously and will not be tolerated.”

On Sept. 28, Michael Harrington, Bellmore-Merrick school district superintendent, spoke to the Bellmore-Merrick board of education about the incident.

“As you know, the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District does not tolerate any type of insensitive or hurtful behavior,” he said. “Such behavior is not reflective of who we are as a school community. We are fully committed to providing an instructional setting that promotes an environment that is respectful and inclusive of all, and does not accept racism, intolerance or discrimination of any type.”

At the time, Harrington said the district could not comment on the individual student disciplinary matters. However, he said that the student responsible for the “reprehensible behavior” would be disciplined and receive appropriate consequences in accordance with the district’s code of conduct.

“We deeply regret the hurt and harm that this incident caused the Elmont community, and members of our own community as well,” Harrington said.

Dolan also said he shared a letter of apology written by the JFK student that was delivered by Harrington with the board of education prior to the public portion of the Oct. 24 meeting.

At the next match between the same two teams on Oct. 16, administrators from both schools “carefully planned” for the event. According to Dolan, the Bellmore-Merrick school district provided identical warm-up shirts for both teams bearing the logos of both schools as “a message of unity.”

“Remember, our athletes are not the perpetrators here,” Dolan said. “However, we hoped that they would be able to convey a message to the community — one of hope, unity and appropriate competition.”

The schools will both participate in a conference at BOCES involving 20 students from each of the school districts on Nov. 8.

“The goal of the conference will be to build a bridge of understanding between these young people and then ask them to return to their schools and amplify those efforts,” Dolan said. “We’ve contemplated the possibility of another spring event.”

The students will participate in a workshop led by Dr. Nancy Kaplan, a member of the Bellmore-Merrick board of education. Dolan said she is a seasoned presenter in this field. Tiffany Capers, a member of the Sewanhaka board of education, will also be at the conference.

“This plan may or may not address all of the concerns that every party holds,” Dolan said. “It is a next step, and as a district we will continue to be attentive and responsive. I welcome continued conversation with Bellmore-Merrick.”