By Nick Buglione
Gathering at a PTA meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 15, parents accused school officials of downplaying a serious incident that potentially put their children in harm's way.
"They're supposed to be caretakers, and our children's lives are in danger," said Virginia Brintz, the mother of a Bowling Green student who sometimes walks home from school. "We never heard that something happened at the school."
A Bowling Green fifth-grader was nearly abducted while walking home on Monday, Sept. 29, according to school-district officials. The girl was approached by a dark-haired, heavy-set, Spanish-speaking man driving a gray car with black striping. The man asked the girl to get in the car, but she ran away.
The Herald reported two weeks ago that the school district sent a letter home to parents urging them to discuss what their children should do if approached by a stranger. But parents said the letter, generated and sent out two days after the incident, simply issued a blanket warning and failed to mention that an attempted abduction had taken place.
"It's the same letter they send home every year," said one Bowling Green parent who attended the PTA meeting but asked not to be identified. "Nobody knew anything about this."
A number of other parents at the meeting said they found out about the incident only through word of mouth some four days after it took place.
Adding fuel to the fire, East Meadow School District Superintendent Dr. Robert Dillon and Assistant Superintendent Leon Campo were scheduled to address the issue at the Oct. 15 PTA meeting, but pulled out at the last minute. Their failure to show up, which at the time was attributed to a "district emergency," angered many parents in attendance.
"I came to find out what they had to say about what took place at school," Brintz said. "I don't think it looks good for them. How much longer do they want us to wait?"
It was later revealed that the presence of news media at the meeting was what made Dillon and Campo change their minds about showing up. "Our purpose was to [talk] to the people -- we weren't going there to be put on camera," Dillon said, adding that another meeting with Bowling Green parents will be scheduled later.
Dillon and Campo maintain that the district made a concerted effort to notify parents of the near-abduction. Though the incident took place on a Monday, the district didn't find out about it until the girl told school staff Tuesday. At that point, a notice was immediately posted on the school district's hotline.
Some parents, however, complained that they would never call the hotline unless they were first notified to do so.
The letters reminding parents about child safety went out that Wednesday. "After this letter went out, we met with all the heads of the PTAs," Dillon said. "We addressed this issue, and we said we were cooperating with police."
PTA representatives present at that meeting, however, said the superintendent told them that police asked them to keep the incident quiet while they investigated.
A police spokesman denied that detectives ever instructed the district to keep the incident under wraps. "With something like this, obviously you want parents to be aware," said Detective Sgt. Tony Repalone. "I'm not going to fault the school district; I don't know what went on there."
Just a few days after the incident, several parents at the soccer field on Salisbury Park Drive said a suspicious Hispanic man pulled into the parking lot in a gray car with black striping. One parent said he parked his car, slid down in his seat and watched the children play soccer. When the girls started to leave the field, the parent said, the man hung around, purportedly to see if any were leaving alone. Police were notified of the incident.
Meanwhile, police said they have stepped up patrols near Bowling Green.
If parents see anyone suspicious, they should call the police. The 3rd Precinct can be reached at (516) 573-6300. "If they can get a plate number or any kind of description, that's great," Repalone said.
