Racist behavior called out by Elmont parents during games against Bellmore-Merrick

Sewanhaka School District is calling out the Bellmore-Merrick school district for its students repeated racist behavior against Black students from Elmont during sporting events. In an effort to protect their children from continued abuse, Elmont parents said, they are demanding the offending school district be removed from their game schedules going forward.

On Feb. 26, the Elmont PTSA hosted its monthly meeting at Elmont Memorial High School, where they conducted a public forum to discuss their children’s experiences of being subjected to racism from other students and parents during games.

Lynette Battle, a Sewanhaka board trustee and former PTSA president, took to the podium and cited a long list of offenses, ranging from racial slurs to physical attacks, which occurred between 2019 and 2025.

Among the incidents were white players calling Black players “monkeys,” taunting them by yelling “bananas,” making gorilla sounds, whispering racist comments during huddles, calling students the n-word and refusing to shake hands with Black players.

Amaya Haley, a Black student on the Elmont high school girls’ basketball team, walked up to the podium and shared an incident she was involved in earlier this month. She explained that during a game against Bellmore at John F. Kennedy High School, she and a white player from the opposing team were fighting for a loose ball. When Amaya took control of it, her opponent hit her and pulled her hair, to which Amaya fought back.

Amaya was immediately ejected from the game, but the player that attacked her was allowed back on the court and wasn’t told to get off until later in the game. She recounted how upset she was when the girl who attacked her started acting like she was the victim, throwing her hands up as if she didn’t know what she did.

“When she put that image out there,” Amaya said, “it looked like I started it. And the referees took no time to see what actually happened.”

In March 2022, Sewanhaka parents called a meeting with Section VIII, a membership organization that oversees scholastic sports in Nassau County, and collaborated on a plan to address the behavior. The plan included a list of action items, such as community workshops and suspensions for discriminatory behavior. However, Battle said this plan never came to fruition.

“It was a pretty good outline with promises made, but no delivery,” Battle said. “We’re in 2025 still looking for delivery, and it’s not okay.”

Elmont Principal Marya Baker, Sewanhaka Superintendent Regina Agrusa, and members of Nassau County’s Section VIII Athletics attended the Feb. 26 meeting. They listened to parents’ concerns and discussed what the school district and supervisory board could do to address the problem.

Parents were dissatisfied with the answers they received, saying it was all talk and no action.

“We’re past the point of dialogue,” Laura Harding, the former president of ERASE Racism said. “You can’t talk about race without talking about race.”

Harding noted how she proposed mandatory training for referees, officials, coaches and athletic directors to educate them about interpersonal and structural racism that affects Black and minority students.

No one took advantage of her proposal, she continued, and instead implemented “Unity Day,” which she said perturbed her.

“You can’t have unity when you haven’t addressed the underlying issues that are causing disunity and harm,” Harding said. “You have power, and I want you to execute it.”

Matthew McLees, the Sewanhaka district’s athletic director, spoke on initiatives the school has implemented to address the issue of racism in scholastic sports. The items included unity statements that must be read before games, removal of spectators for discriminatory behaviors and partnering with school districts to work together on policies.

During the following Q&A session, parents said current initiatives espoused by the district and Section VIII are meaningless because they are not enforced. They said they were tired of coming to meetings over and over again, just to for no concrete action to be taken.

Jon Johnson, president of the Men of Elmont mentorship club at the school, said true progress wouldn’t be made with only words.

School districts need to bring in former players who have experienced racism, Johnson said, as well as implement drastic measures such as removing offending players and districts from the schedule.

Agrusa said there should be zero tolerance for hate, but she had no experience removing a school district from the sports schedule.

When she began explaining how this action could potentially affect athletes’ statistics, one parent expressed frustration that she seemed to care more about numbers than the wellbeing of their children.

“It’s clear that it appears you’re more concerned about keeping records and looking good to the state and county,” Luciana Griffith, an Elmont parent, said. “If they don’t want to abide by what we do, then we won’t play them, and your record just won’t be what it is.”

Agrusa promptly defended herself, pointing out that she felt this was a mischaracterization. She reiterated that she didn’t know what impact this course of action would have on the district and its students, and she was concerned because of the implication it had for students’ college scholarships.

When parents asked what the diversity of the Section VIII board was, Patrick Pizzarelli, its executive director, said that the organization is comprised of representatives from 56 Nassau County school districts. He admitted that all five board members were white.

“I understand there’s been incidents with Bellmore-Merrick,” Pizzarelli then asserted. “Unacceptable incidents. But to my knowledge, this last incident was an athletic incident.”

“The claim that the district has been unresponsive to concerns about racism in athletics is untrue,” said Michael Harrington, Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District superintendent. “The district does not tolerate racism, intolerance or discrimination of any type. We have extended our deepest apologies and held ourselves accountable for unfortunate behaviors that have occurred in the past with Elmont Memorial High School.”

Elmont resident Sheldon Meikle advised Section VIII members to take parents’ suggestions and relay them to the board.