By:Scott Brinton
But school board agrees to examine matter anyway
Central High School District officials last week denied a 300-signature petition from residents seeking creation of a Child Safety Zone for students living south of Sunrise Highway. The decision came during the May 2 school-board meeting.
A Child Safety Zone would allow students in that area to receive busing to middle school and high school. Many now must walk, ride bicycles or be driven, as they live closer to school than Central's 1 1/2-mile minimum for busing.
Officials rejected the petition on technical grounds. It failed to define geographic boundaries of the proposed safety zone, as specified in Education Law requirements, they said.
Additionally, residents filed it too late for consideration this year. Creation of a Child Safety Zone would require a separate resolution in the May district election, officials said. The petition for the zone thus had to be handed in to the Central district months in advance to get on the ballot.
Denise Malderelli of Merrick, who organized the petition, told the Central Board of Education: "I believe the children south of Sunrise need a bus." She said students who cross the six-lane Sunrise face numerous traffic hazards on their way to school. The crossing becomes particularly treacherous during winter, when students must traverse the road through snow and ice.
Michael Schwartz, vice president of the Old Lindenmere Civic Association, which supports Malderelli's effort, presented an August 1998 traffic study from the state Department of Transportation.
An estimated 54,000 cars pass through Merrick daily along Sunrise Highway, according to the study. Some 23,000 cars, or 42 percent of the total, drive through during hours when students are making their way to school. Schwartz, however, said he did not yet have accident statistics but would get them.
Central Trustee Sherry Skolnik of Bellmore recommended that the district provide residents with the necessary information to file their petition properly and in time for a vote next year.
Dr. Thomas Caramore, Central superintendent, said that wouldn't be necessary, because the board of education agreed to look into the Child Safety Zone despite denying the petition.
Trustee James Rooney of North Bellmore recommended studying the matter and returning to it in 60 days. Central officials said they needed more time to investigate. The issue could be addressed in the fall, they said.
Malderelli, a mother of five, none of whom receives transportation to school, said she isn't asking the district to add buses to pick up students, simply to make use of the ones that already run through her neighborhood. She often sees buses with empty seats passing near her home. "A couple of extra stops isn't going to kill them," she said, meaning the bus drivers.
Caramore responded that Malderelli was "making an assumption that no buses are needed" to create a safety zone. That might not be the case, he said.
Central officials said parents have previously requested a Child Safety Zone south of Sunrise and the district has examined the matter but never acted on it. "Every year it's come to us," Rooney said.
Board trustees said they must study the proposal thoroughly before they might put it up for a public vote. "We need a lot of information," said Michael Weinick of North Bellmore.
Residents said they left the board meeting confused. They aren't sure what is required of them now, they said. Joe Kralovich, president of the Old Lindenmere Civic Association, said, "We don't know what we have to do, and they [district officials] are keeping it that way."
Malderelli said she plans to return to school-board meetings in June and September to continue applying pressure for the safety zone. She will also try to get Bellmore parents involved in the issue, as all of her petition signatures were from Merrick residents.
Busing south of Sunrise affects numerous students at Grand Avenue Middle School in Bellmore, in addition to Merrick Avenue Middle School and Calhoun High School, Malderelli said.
