By Evan Nemeroff and Paul Shapiro
As students returned on Monday after a week off, counselors went to each classroom in the Number Six School to make sure students understood what had happened. Victims Andrea and Susanna Vanegas were both students at the school.
"It's been a real sincere outpouring of support for the family, and we're doing everything we can to help them through this terrible tragedy," Lawrence Superintendent Dr. John T. Fitzsimons said. "We made sure that the faculty, staff and children who needed to received counseling that was made available to everyone."
Number Six School Principal Erin Malone and Bracha Katz, the district’s special assistant for community relations, were overseeing the outreach effort. "The entire community has stepped up to the plate," Katz said. "We have raised money, and the members of our community have opened their hearts and are giving what they can. From money to clothing, funds are being raised through various temples and organizations to help pay for the funerals. Of course, counseling is being provided by our staff as well. Many of the Jewish families and other locals are giving an abundance of clothing, some money and offering other means of support as well."
"The principal, the staff and the entire Number Six School have been incredibly responsive to what happened," Fitzsimons said. "[Erin Malone] was here on the day of the fire and again over the weekend. They've been meeting with the father and an aunt and one of the children who survived. The community at large has been very responsive as well. I've gotten e-mails from people asking, 'What can we do?' They ask where they can send checks for the families."
The school district's Board of Education has asked local rabbis and temples for their help, and Temple Beth Sholom in Woodmere has already raised $3,000 to help the families rent apartments. According to Lawrence school board Trustee Dr. Asher Mansdorf, the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway and the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach have also expressed their willing to support the families.
"Whatever the families need, the schools will be able to provide it," Mansdorf said. "As a school board, we need the schools to tell us what they need, and we will be there to give it to them."
