By Anthony Rifilato
At a PTA Candidates Forum last week, incumbents B.A. Schoen and Mary Jo O'Hagan -- both up for re-election on Tuesday -- said that the rash of threats has prompted the district to revamp certain safety procedures while implementing new ones in order to prevent more incidents. "We are constantly evaluating and re-evaluating the situation," said Schoen, explaining that more security cameras have been added in the high school and that more personnel are present in the hallways at both schools.
O'Hagan said that the incidents should not reflect poorly on the district, and that a mailing would be sent out to parents detailing what is being done to address the issue. "We are conscious about what goes on," she said.
The statements by the board members follow a week in which there were three threats in Baldwin, two at the middle school and one at the high school. Last week police arrested a 12-year-old middle school student for allegedly writing one of the threats in a bathroom
(see story, page 4).
The police said they are continuing to investigate the threats, and they and school officials stress that the consequences for such acts are severe. Making a bomb threat is a felony.
Stanley Gittleman, the challenger for a seat on the school board, said he believes that more needs to be done to teach students to calm themselves before they act out. "When they get upset, all of their moral training goes out the window," said Gittleman.
He reiterated the two main issues he would tackle as a potential board member: creating a community action plan to reduce school property taxes, and devising programs to reduce school violence.
The board members discussed a variety of other issues at the forum, including special education and the budget. Paulette Palmer, president of the Special Education Parent Teachers Association (SEPTA) asked the candidates what was being done to address the needs of the district's special-education students. O'Hagan said that the board routinely seeks out programs developed either within or outside the school district to meet the needs of those students. She also explained that next year's proposed budget includes an additional language, speech and hearing teacher and more special-education staff.
Schoen noted that the district has an active special-education committee that makes recommendations to the board, and that board members receive a report each month.
Palmer also asked how the candidates would handle what she said were overcrowded classrooms at some schools. Schoen said that the budget contains funding for a demographic survey to address long-term planning and population trends in the district. "There are many students in our schools," said Schoen. "We constantly work to achieve equitable opportunities for all of our students."
O'Hagan explained that schools like Milburn Elementary are at student capacity, and that the study would enable the district to "better project down the line as to what we're doing with our buildings."
Gittleman said that he would fight to make sure students receive a "proper education."
School taxes were also on the minds of many residents, and one asked what could be done to reduce them. Gittleman said there are ways to combat increased taxes, including closing corporate tax loopholes.
O'Hagan and Schoen said that the best way to effect change in the district is to lobby state and federal lawmakers to increase state aid and funding for mandates such as the No Child Left Behind Act. The incumbents touted the increase in state aid this year -- $21.2 million, over $2 million more than the district anticipated. The increase would be used to reduce the tax levy to 5.02 percent next year, they said, attributing the additional aid in part to aggressive lobbying and receptive lawmakers in Albany.
"[Lobbying] is really where we need to put our efforts," said O'Hagan.
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