By Scott Brinton
She posed the question during last Wednesday's Central Board of Education meeting at the Brookside School in North Merrick.
Charles Reinhardt, the board president, said school officials hadn't yet heard from Pennsylvania law-enforcement authorities about whether additional players would be charged in the case. Witnesses would have to come forward to identify the potential suspects in order for them to be suspended, he said.
Thus far, three players have confessed in juvenile court to sexually abusing three younger teammates while at a pre-season football camp in Preston Park, Pa., this past August.
After speaking at length, Reinhardt made an off-the-cuff comment that caused a commotion among a group of about 30 Bellmore-Merrick Parents members who had assembled in one corner of the Brookside auditorium.
The board president remarked that Bellmore-Merrick Parents, whom he described as "you people," were "over there" having a "good time."
The statement, many group members said, was hurtful and demeaning, particularly because Bellmore-Merrick Parents for Change includes two victims' parents.
Paule Pachter, a group member, stood to defend Bellmore-Merrick Parents. He told Reinhardt, "We have not maligned you or this community. We have called upon the state Education Department to investigate the actions of this district [in handling this case]. That is all we have done."
Most all of the group, minus a handful of parents, then walked out of the Brookside School auditorium, fuming over Reinhardt's statement.
Pachter insisted that Reinhardt owed the parents' group an apology.
Grace Cramsie was among the Bellmore-Merrick Parents who remained at the meeting after the walkout. She implored the Board of Education and district administration to hear what the group has to say.
"People do want to join together," said Cramsie. "I hope you'll apologize to these people who left the room ... You feel this group is putting your back to the wall. Just see what they're about."
Cramsie said the district should reach out to Bellmore-Merrick Parents. Dr. Thomas Caramore, the district superintendent, said that through Bellmore-Merrick's state legislators, he had offered to meet with the group, but no parents' group representative had called to set up an appointment, and he didn't have a name and number to call.
Cramsie said the group has a Web site where the superintendent could have e-mailed a message. The superintendent said he wouldn't e-mail to someone whose identity he did not know.
Norbert Billig, a board trustee, thanked Cramsie for her "sobering and sensitive remarks." He also noted that the ongoing Mepham football scandal has taken its toll on school-board members over the past three months. "It's very hard to sit here and take the slings and arrows," he said.
Many said they hoped the board president's remarks and the walkout would lead to a peace treaty of sorts between Bellmore-Merrick Parents and district officials, and that eventually they could work together for the Central district's betterment.
Toward the meeting's end, Cheryl Pastuch, of Merrick, said, "We all want the same thing [the best for the students], and that should be a huge unifying force."
Earlier, North Bellmore resident Martin Blum, a former high-school principal, again lashed out at the five football coaches for allowing the attacks to occur. The five men were relieved of their coaching responsibilities during last month's school-board meeting. Now Blum would like two former coaches, who are also Mepham teachers -- Kevin McElroy and Art Canestro -- to lose their tenure. If that were to happen, they could be fired from their teaching posts.
Blum wondered why the district hasn't undertaken a 30-20A procedure, which is a set of hearings needed to remove a tenured teacher. The school board said that, by law, it couldn't comment on personnel matters.
There were also those who supported the coaches and would like to see them reinstated to their duties. John Van Name said, "The firing of the coaches is a demoralizing message to send to the cadre of great teachers and administrators at Mepham. It appears to be a political move to state politicians and parents unwilling to analyze the facts and be objective.
"I will continue to champion the reinstatement of the football coaches," Van Name said. "I will continue to support the teachers in the school district. And I will continue to support the administration at Mepham High School. Will the ultimate step be to fire the superintendent and replace the school board?"
District committee in action
By Scott Brinton
The Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District is moving ahead with a district-wide committee to address hazing, bullying and ethical behavior. The district formed the committee in the wake of the recent Mepham football sex-abuse case.
The group, made up of district administrators, teachers, parents and community members, was to convene on Wednesday, Dec. 10, after press time, and will continue meeting through next May, said Arnold Goldstein, the district assistant superintendent for instruction.
The committee, which now totals close to 80 members, will be divided into three subcommittees. The group will discuss district trip and hazing policies and character-education curriculum, and will issue recommendations to the Board of Education next June.
The assistant superintendent said there was some confusion at the last school board meeting. Many who signed up for the committee believed they had been excluded from it. In fact, Goldstein said, no one was prohibited from joining the group. Letters announcing when the first meeting would be didn't go out until last Thursday, the day after the board session.
Goldstein also said there is a Mepham crisis committee that has been working to help students at the high school cope with the tragedy. The committee includes Goldstein; Barry Wilansky, executive director of Tempo Group; Bernie Stein, a retired Mepham teacher and Project Liberty representative; Arthur Daley, Mepham's assistant principal; and guidance counselors, school social workers and psychologists.
Goldstein said Mepham's guidance counselors meet often with the sexual-assault victims to ensure that their needs are met. He also said that, contrary to media reports, they are not being taunted by other students.
And the district is holding meetings with parents to help them through the crisis. The district has already brought in Dr. David Pelcovitz, New York University's chief child and adolescent psychiatrist at North Shore University Hospital, and Dr. Rona Novik, who is a bullying expert with the Long Island North Shore Mental Health Alliance.
Additionally, on Feb. 5, the Community Wellness Council of the Bellmores and Merricks is planning a forum to address students' "resiliency" with Dr. Robert Brooks, a renowned author.
