Friday, November 19, 2021
Vol. 99, No.2
FOUNDED 1923
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Fire Committee urges changes to GCFD operations
A TERRIFIC YEAR
BY RIKKI MASSAND
The Garden City High School Field Hockey team made it to the state finals for the first time in 39 years. Unfortunately the girls suffered their first loss of the season in the semi-finals, but still had an amazing year. See page 50
Parents debate: Critical Race Theory or Culturally Responsive Teaching? BY MEG MORGAN NORRIS Although a large number of residents attended the November 16th meeting of the Garden City Board of Education to discuss the district’s curriculum, the meeting remained calm as residents expressed their views on the teaching of racial topics. Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kusum Sinha told parents at the meeting that it is important that children be able to see themselves in books that they read in the classroom. She
noted that elementary school students often take six to eight books home a week. Dr. Sinha said that the district reviews books that are available to students, and in some cases books have been removed after review. She said that she would like to strengthen the review process and will be forming a committee that will include parents as well as teachers, administrators and two high school students. She said that the district will also be offering parent sessions to
allow parents to review classroom materials. Dr. Sinha said she has read a report by resident Frank Napoli concerning the teaching of “critical race theory” in the Garden City Schools. In his report, Napoli quotes emails and other documents from teachers and administrators regarding the selection of materials for classrooms. Napoli contends that the district may be using an “anti-racist” educational model to indoctrinate See page 41
As all of Garden City has learned, a matter of seconds is all it takes for a house fire to spawn into a hellacious, life-claiming tragedy. Former Village Trustee Bruce Torino, who presented the lion’s share of a special Village Fire Safety Committee report on Wednesday, November 17th, warned that a delay of only three minutes for the fire department to respond to a fire scene could cost precious lives. Torino, Garden City Mayor Cosmo Veneziale and Deputy Mayor/Appointed Fire Commissioner Tom O’Brien and members of the Garden City Fire Department agreed on goals to increase fire safety and emergency preparedness for the all-volunteer GCFD. The goals outlined by the Fire Safety Committee were structured as an overarching Primary Goal, as well as Secondary Goals. The Primary Goals are to ensure that the GCFD has the facilities and equipment necessary to adequately address first responder incidents in the village, and “to protect residents, property, operations, and the volunteers themselves.” Secondary Goals, as Torino described, are to support volunteer GCFD recruitment and retention among those able to serve the community; to reduce response times to fires or emergencies; to anticipate the future needs of the Fire Department, including ‘standardizing fire apparatus, equipment and facilities; and to incorporate flexibility, and a focus on enhancing the village’s firefighter training capabilities. “The Garden City Fire Department is fully volunteer (and has been for the last three years) and within the organizational operation, on a paramilitary basis you have the fire chiefs, captains, lieutenants, firefighters, and companies -- all of these are within the guidelines of the rules and regulations of the GCFD. It is its own separate organization operating under New York State Law. Some of the recommendations coming forward suggest the response patterns based upon the locality of where the firefighters actually live,” Torino noted. The GCFD Headquarters’ fire company is at the west side of Village Hall, 351 Stewart Avenue, with Fire Station No. 2 on the border of the West and the Estates’ sections at Edgemere Road and Stewart, as well as Station No. 3 in the village’s East at St. James See page 41
Garden City Schools honor veterans PAGE 22 GCJC gets ready for Chanukkah PAGE 16