Valley Stream Central High School District petitions education commissioner as District 24 lawsuit threat looms

The Central High School District Board of Education passed a resolution on June 6 to ask the New York State Commissioner of Education to intervene if board members from District 24 do not recuse themselves from future meetings concerning possible litigation against District 24. The resolution passed by a vote of 5-to-3, with only District 24 board members voting “no.”

According to Bill Heidenreich, superintendent of the high school district, the commissioner would decide whether the three board members from District 24’s presence at these meetings constitutes a conflict of interest.

Tony Iadevaio said that he, John Maier and Lisa Pellicane do not plan to recuse themselves. “We were told by our attorney not to leave the room, so I don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Iadevaio, who added that he understands why the other Board of Education members would not want them to attend the meetings.

Ed Fale, the superintendent of District 24, disagreed that their presence at the meetings is a conflict of interest.

“When they go to a [high school] board meeting, they are going as representatives of the high school district, and not as representatives of District 24,” Fale said. “They’re members of the high school district just like everyone else at that table.”

He also said that the district is also planning to contact the commissioner and tell her not to grant the petition “because it’s illogical.”

This decision comes after officials from District 24 withheld about $2 million from its final payment to the high school district, which was due on May 18 — contesting the high school district’s calculation of taxable property in each component elementary district. The discrepancy comes after the Green Acres Mall was removed from the county tax rolls in October as part of a payments-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement, or PILOT incentive, which was revoked by the Hempstead Town Industrial Development Agency in April. The $2 million would have been used to fund the Central High School District’s operating budget, but is now being held in an escrow account.

Attorneys representing District 24 argued at a joint-boards meeting on May 4 that if the high school district considered PILOT properties in its assessed valuation of each district, District 30’s share of the high school district’s revenue would return to the rate it was prior to the Green Acres Mall tax breaks. As a result, districts 24 and 13 would again pay less.

On June 13, the Central High School District’s Board of Education also voted on June 13 to move forward with litigation against District 24. The three Board of Education members from District 24 abstained from the vote.