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SEPTEMBER 29 - OCTOBER 5, 2022
Snow days or virtual learning?
2878 MERRICK ROAD BELLMORE, NY 11710 TEL: 516.613.3600 BLUEISLANDHOMESNY .COM
1185776
September 29, 2022
With a focus on
Prioritizing safety, parents are in favor of weather-related closures By JORDAN VALLONE jvallone@liherald.com
Following news earlier this month that New York City public schools would no longer have snow days thanks to the availability of virtual learning, parents, teachers and students across Long Island were left wondering whether the same thing might happen in their home districts. On Sept. 6, Chancellor David Banks, of the New York City Department of Education, told anchors on Fox 5’s “Good Day New York” that, technically, city schools no longer have snow days built into their calendars.
“With the new technology that we have, it’s one of the good things that came out of Covid,” Banks said. “We want to make sure our kids are continuing to learn, so, sorry kids, no more snow days, but it’s going to be good for you.” But in Bellmore-Merrick, an area served by five different school districts, snow days are a go. On the websites of the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District, Bellmore Public Schools, the North Bellmore School District, the Merrick Union Free School District and the North Merrick Union Free
Katrina O’Brien/Herald
Power-wash, paint and plant Members of Merrick’s Boy Scout Troop 225 were hard at work last weekend, helping complete the labor for Joseph Ciniglio’s Eagle Scout Project. The troop power-washed, painted and planted around the Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall in Bellmore on Saturday. Story, more photos, Page 5.
Continued on page 2
Graffiti discovered on school grounds in Merrick Administrators, elected officials, religious leaders respond to wave of antisemitic incidents By JORDAN VALLONE jvallone@liherald.com
F
ollowing a number of instances of antisemitic graffiti found in Wantagh and Seaford over the past few months, district officials in the Merrick Union Free School District announced earlier this month that graffiti had been spray-painted on the grounds of Birch School. The markings included the Star of David, the word “Jew” and the date 9/13. It was sprayed on trees, bleachers and the school’s gaga ball court. District Superintendent Dominick Palma said the graffiti was discovered on the morning of Sept. 13,
and was likely spray-painted overnight. “The district takes matters such as this extremely seriously,” Palma said. “The Merrick Union Free School District does not tolerate bias.” Birch School is one of the district’s three elementary schools, with students from kindergarten through sixth grade. It is on Central Parkway in Merrick, not far from Lakeside School, which is on the south side of Merrick Road. Chatterton School is across Sunrise Highway, on Merrick Avenue. Palma said the buildings and grounds crew worked to remove the graffiti by midday on Sept. 13, and that the incident was reported to the Nassau County Police Department.
T
he district takes matters such as this extremely seriously. DOMiNiCk PALMA
Superintendent, Merrick UFSD He added that the district was cooperating with the police in their investigation by providing video surveillance footage. He asked that anyone with information about the incident contact the NCPD. Similar incidents have occurred frequently in the surrounding area over the past year. There were two
reports of antisemitic graffiti at Forest City Park in Wantagh in April and August. Over the summer, antisemitic flyers were left on the doorsteps of a number of homes in Freeport and Rockville Centre, and this month, hate symbols were found at Cedar Creek Park in Seaford. Town of Hempstead officials, including Councilman Christopher Carini, whose district encompasses parts of Wantagh, Seaford, Bellmore and Merrick, condemned the incidents. “Hate and antisemitism has no place in our society, and will not be tolerated,” Carini said. Rabbi Shimon Kramer, of the Chabad Center for Jewish Life in Merrick, also spoke out. Kramer Continued on page 4