By Scott Brinton
Many in the audience of more than 700 had come to show support for the school and Didden in the wake of allegations that three Mepham football players sexually abused three junior-varsity team members at a Pennsylvania camp in August.
The three-hour meeting at the Brookside School in North Merrick suddenly turned silent when Jim Rullo addressed the Central board of education.
subhed: Calls for resignations
Rullo, of North Merrick, is a friend of one victim's family, which asked that he read a statement. In the letter, the family called on Mepham's football coaches to resign because, the family charged, they failed to protect the three JV players from their alleged attackers.
In the letter, the victim referred to the five coaches when he said, "They did not come to help me. I kept thinking they would come to help me and they never came."
The victim's mother also spoke by way of the letter, saying, "My son is just as upset with the coaches as he was with the perpetrators..."
The parent called for an outside investigation of district officials to determine whether they handled the case as they should have. And the parent charged that the three JV players were abused "over several days and nights" and "without proper supervision."
Victor and Kristine Reichstein, of North Bellmore, also came to the board meeting seeking resignations. They want Didden, who has served as Mepham principal for 11 years, and head football coach Kevin McElroy to step down. The couple said they had warned them that one of the alleged assailants had threatened their son before football camp. They wanted the player barred from camp, but Didden and McElroy allowed him to attend after meeting with him and securing his promise not to bother other players.
Victor Reichstein told the board he was disappointed because he couldn't ask the two to resign that evening. The board isn't permitted by law to hear "personnel matters" in public. So Reichstein asked what the procedure was to have them removed from their positions, a question that district officials declined to answer.
In an interview with the Herald before the meeting, Kristine Reichstein said she believes the responsibility for protecting the JV players at camp lay with the coaches. "If I'm a babysitter and the baby falls out the window in the next room, I can't say, 'I'm just the babysitter,'" she said.
Martin Blum, of North Bellmore, said he was appalled that Didden and McElroy had allowed the alleged assailant to attend camp if he had threatened another student. Blum, a New York City school administrator, said education policy "mandates students be in good standing academically and have no disciplinary infractions" to attend sleep-away camp.
He also said that "standard protocol" requires coaches to perform bed checks "throughout the night" at camp. The Mepham coaches said they checked on players until 11:30 p.m.
"Each coach should be fired," Blum declared, a statement that drew a mix of applause and boos from the audience. The boos prompted Debra Elkin, of Merrick, to stand and shout, "Are you all against protecting your children?"
subhead: Support for officials
Clearly, Didden and McElroy had their detractors in the audience, but they appeared to have many more supporters. Lorraine Poppe, the Kennedy High School principal, read a statement from the Nassau County Principals Association that offered its "unwavering support" for Didden and described him as the "ideal person to lead the district through this tragedy."
Jonathan Wright, the Mepham football team's volunteer statistician, whose son played varsity ball under McElroy, said, "First and foremost, I absolutely, positively applaud the cooperation of Mr. Didden. He did everything right and he did nothing wrong."
Wright also spoke about the 2001 season, when his son played for Mepham. "For me as a parent, 2001 was the proudest year of my life," he said.
And he noted to the board, "You gave a glowing support for John Didden, and rightfully so. I didn't hear such a glowing support" for coach McElroy.
Brian Mulligan, a 1994 Mepham graduate who played football under "coach Mac," spoke on McElroy's behalf. Mulligan described the head coach as "the pride and tradition of Mepham football," adding, "To this day, I live by his words."
David Myones, a Mepham senior, said that without principal Didden, the school community would be unable to "heal" after the attacks. He also said, "I have never heard a horrible thing about that man in my life."
Central district reacts
Charles Reinhardt, president of the Bellmore-Merrick Central District Board of Education, took a vow last Wednesday night.
He pledged that attacks such as those allegedly carried out by three Mepham football players would "never happen again." Reinhardt said the district was reviewing its policies to develop a plan for ensuring student safety in the future. He declined to offer specifics, however. Superintendent Dr. Thomas Caramore said an expert from North Shore University Hospital had been brought in to help with "long-range" planning.
The school board also threw its support behind Caramore and Mepham principal John Didden, who has come under fire because he reportedly knew that one of the alleged assailants had threatened a student before camp.
In a letter to all Central district residents last Thursday, Caramore said that, before camp, "a concern" was raised by a parent regarding "a dispute, not a specific threat," between two players during a practice at Mepham. "This would not be considered particularly unusual in any high school," Caramore wrote.
In the letter, the superintendent said district officials were meeting with student athletes "to talk abut how they can help to prevent incidents in the future." He also said teachers would take part in workshops during a November emergency-preparedness day, when students will be released early and the district will hold staff-development meetings.
Last Wednesday, Reinhardt said the board remains proud of the "overwhelming majority" of Mepham students who are young people "of substance and character."
Caramore, who made a statement in support of the victims, said the attacks were "upsetting to all of us." And he said that Tempo Group, a Bellmore-Merrick substance-abuse treatment center, is offering counseling for students who need help in coping with the tragedy.
