________________ OYSTER BAY _______________
HERALD $1.00
St. John’s fair this weekend
First day of school in O.B.
Thrill of winning big in triathlon
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VOL. 123 NO. 39
SEPTEMBER 24 - 30, 2021
Mask mandate divides district Parents say lawsuit includes lies and misrepresentations ment of Health’s mandate that masks be worn indoors by all students, faculty, staff — and visThe division among parents, itors — it fell to board President school administrators and resi- Brian Nolan to enforce it at the dents was clear in Locust Valley meeting. He did not. Reached the High School’s auditorium on next day by phone, Nolan said he Tuesday night. There for a Board had spoken to the district’s legal of Education meetcounsel before the ing, at which the meeting, and was focus of discussion a dv i s e d o n l y t o was a lawsuit filed make the public on Sept. 10 by the aware of the mandistrict against the date, which he did state in response to by posting it on the its school mask manscreen. date, a large group “I didn’t want to of mask-less people engage in any consat on one side of flict at the meeting, the auditorium, and and didn’t want to a smaller g roup, have to adjourn the wearing masks, sat meeting,” Nolan on the other. said. “I don’t have an Board trustees, answer as to why with the exception Laura Lane/Herald M a r g a r e t d i d n’ t of Vice President MARISA FRIEDRICH, wear a mask. We Margaret Marchand OF Upper Brookville, will be following up and Lauren Themis, supports the lawsuit with counsel.” wore masks, as did against the mask Themis appeared Superintendent Dr. to be eating a snack mandate. Kenneth Graham during the meeting. and other adminisWhen she wasn’t, trators sitting nearby. Behind she put on her mask. When them, on a large screen, was the Nolan was asked afterward if directive, “All visitors must wear eating was appropriate at a a mask while indoors.” board meeting, he said no. “The Although the district is complying with the state DepartCONTINUED ON PAGE 4
BY LAURA LANE llane@liherald.com
Lee Goldstein/Herald
GRENVILLE BAKER BOYS & Girls Club members Jasmine Thomas, left, and Cooper James cut the ribbon at the ceremony last Friday, when the club officially opened after nearly two years of renovations and construction.
Grenville Baker Boys & Girls Club reopens in Locust Valley BY LAURA LANE llane@liherald.com
A jubilant crowd gathered in front of a royal blue ribbon that stretched across the entrance of the Grenville Baker Boys & Girls Club, on Weir Lane last Friday. The occasion was the completion of the club’s Building Great Futures expansion and renovation project, which began
in 2019. Despite construction and fundraising delays due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 42,000-square-foot, state-ofthe-art facility opened to area children on Sept. 13. “This is a very special day in our club’s history,” said two-time board President John Campbell. “Seventy-one years ago, a group of people like us stood outside this building to change Locust
Valley forever. This continues to afford children with a place that they call their second home. We have changed with the times, but what has never changed is our belief in our children.” The club serves roughly 1,200 children ages 5 to 18, offering them everything from after-school homework help and college prep to culCONTINUED ON PAGE 9