The-Leader_1984-02-23

              Otiicial
Newspapei
• Village ol
Freeporl-
,z
jm
FnrEroR? VEKOSIAL LIBRARY
Fl'ZUOav H Y ll5r.O 6
Fre«port
SchoolD.slnci , y FREEPORT.NESV YORK, FEBRUARY23.1984
Baldwin
Scfiool Dislfici 1^1 48th YEAR. No. 44
\
•J . PRtCE_2SiEER I^EX-ii
•JJ
Red Devil'' Decision Due In March
No Decision Before Legal Action Threatened
If Name Isn't Changed
TtpnTOiTSawyers
Patton Vows To
Save Stadium
Baldwin School District
Hearings Are roytiplefeil
—— ~—. •— -by CiiSilvenrun—
FBEEK>IT • As Uw coltt^>vefty ovet the use of tbe Eed Devil u the
Freepott'k (cfaool'dMcCt ouaoot teatfraet, Ihe FiMport l i a mn
EeUtkms Comfidt^oa b u dedded not (a tike'tldetlo the matter
Qslesa thoae'oppbclilt the mascot S e com^Ulnts of religious discrisi-inatkm.
At its montUy meeting last Tbonday night, February 16, the
canoisiion disaissed the laane
of whether the Esd Devil mascot
is rellgioasly offe'naive, as
daimed by Freepotle'r John'
A^iet, w ^ has pteased ' the
Ihft.
White To Apin
Seek "Home Rule"
FTilEEPORT - CaSEiig the Free-port
Stadium one of the \-i04ge's
"most important laudmsrts,"
.Assemblywoman Barbara Patton
has called upon village officials to
save the structure.
In a statement released last
week, Patton — a Freeport
l3y Joan Delaney
BALDWIN - The public hearings in the case of the Baldwin School
District against tenured Industrial Arts teacher Robert Sawyers have
been completed and atlonieys for the two sides have until March 30 to
complete-th^ written briefs;- After that, the hearing cfficen will
confer and decide the outcome of thncharges.
On the final day of hearings —
Monday, Febmary 13 — Jerome
Ehrlich, the attorney foj- the
school district, called rebuttal
witnesses Richard Marsh, chair­man
of (he Baldnin Senior High
School Industrial Arts Depart-.
reaffirmed her. intentions of
blocking state legislation which
would allow the village to seD,
for industrial or commercial use,
the land on which the Stadium is
located.
Such home rule legislation Is
needed if the village government
wants to either sefl or lease
the land for any but "recreational
purposes. In fact, a village
spokesperson points out.ihe leas­ing
of the Stadium to a private
operator for commercial purposes
(such as has been done for
many years) was not legal.
lo- a - Ietter_»-rittcn - to - Mayor
William H. White. Peter Appel-baom,
associate attorney for
the New York Sute, Office of
Parks, Recreation and Historic'
Preservation, noted that "in my
opinion...a lease of land acquired ,
by a municipality for public parks
purposes constitutes an alienation
of sudi land to the same extent
that a conveyance of the fee title
thereof would constitute an alien­ation.
Snch action," wrote
Appelbaum on July 27, 1983 ini
response to a query from Mayor
White, "may only be under­taken
pursuant h> a specific act
ofthe State Legislature." -
Appelbaum also i>oted that
"the courts have consistently
held that municipal park land is
held in trust for the use and bene­fit
of the general public. The
transfer of the right of control
over such' land, whether by
deed or by lease, is clearly
in vWation oir the public Imst."
VUlage officials have ex-
(Conl. on Page 4)
Cnambers;jnd Kon
Nolfo an Industrial Arts teacher
at Baldwin Haihor JuMor High
School. Robert Sawyers' attorney
Robert Oearfield then had the
opporlunily to question these
witnesses and he returned his
client to the stand briefly To
comment on several of (he
remarks rnadejy . one_ of. the_.
'"»Ttnesses.
Marsh's testimony was brief
and concerned what he remem­bered
of the one meeting he
attended about hazardous sub.
stance <»mplaints. He indicated
that it was not he who bad called
the meeting, but said that the
meeting took place because the
Industrial Arts teachers were con­cerned
regarding "what they
were hearing regarding Sawyers"
and were "buzzing about it."
Marsh indicalcd that the teachers
thought that there were "a lot of
exaggerations': and were con­cerned'
because they felt that
parents and students were being
told ftightening things con­cerning
hazardous conditions.
Marsh noted that as a member
of the supervisors' association, he
did not atlend^ the two later
meetings at ^which Baldwin
Teichers' Association "(BTA)
officials were present. When
asked if he heard Chambers say
anything about Sawyers at the
first meeting. Marsh answered.
"I don't .remember," pointing
out that the meeting was almost
(wo years ago. When questioned
regarding statements which
previously had been attributed (o
Assistant Superintendent Howard
Schhera, Marsh also said that he
. did not remember, indicating that
he had heard some mention that
Sawjers' methods were being
used in Massapequa, btit he
couldn't recall when he heard it
or who said it.
trfarsh indicated that the
complalflli; accordiinngg lo
teachers, j»ere .^'affecting pro.
gram'* aiid he' said that the
teachers thought that "things
were being blo«-n out of all-proportion."
He indicated that
Sawyers, Mark Glatman and Ron
Mclntyre were not invited lo the
meeting since they were "doing
the same things and thinking jhe^
5ara«"way';""Acoofaing to Marsh,
(he teachers are still "aggravated
over the situation."
After Marsh's . testimony,
teacher Tim Chambers was
recalled for questioning. 'Wh^
Clearfield objected, saying that
. Ehriich had the opportunity under
questioning and re-direct to
complete the testimony—of
Chambers. Ehriich objected
saying thai he wanted Chambers
io testify again "because some of
his slalcThcnls wete attacked and
rebutted. Jonas Silver. Panel
Chairman, allowed Chambers to
return saying, "the District runs
the risk of the consequences
which can go cither way once he's
brought back."
Undcer Ehriich's questioning.
Chambers sUled that the light
fixtures were on, not off as
indicated by Sawyers. He refer­red
lo the steel door incident
noting thai in pointing out (he
problem. Sawyers had kicked the
door, loosening possible asbestos
and toud>ed it without nsing
glcnes or any mask. He also
indicated that at one time Saw­yers
had shown him a bag con­taining
a substance, which
Sawyers alleged lo be asbestos.
Regarding Chambers' meeting
with James Morrow of the BTA
(Cont. on Paga 16)
Board of Educf tion lo ban
SO-year-old nickname. ^ .
"Until the Board o( EducaUon
determines what will be done;"
said Michael E. Kirwan, director
of the Human Relations' Com­mission,
"we-have no right (o"
isletfere. If (Aabet] doesa't get
a reaction from' the Board of
Education, then let him come
back lo OS and take it bom
there."
For two months, Asbet has
sought to enlist the support of
vartous ctunmsoity atia-clergy
^—lead«n4B4iis (tnigg}»-to change -
""* the mascot. Asher, who ttys be Is .
aciitig on his owii behalf, has
died the word "devil" as having
evil coniuiatioiis and, therefore,'
is an inappropriate nickname to
symbolize the school disttict and
ita children.
The Freeport' School Board,
however, has delayed nuUng any
decision ooUl its March meeting
and has, in the meantime,
solicited opinioiu'&oin some of
the same commusity groups
contacted by Asher.
"Mtat board members have
their minda made up,"" said
_schod board-president James
farola. "But we'd still like to see
what responses we gel (beforel
we make ottr decision at the
March meeting."
Parola decUned to specify what
dedaioQ the board will reach, bul
sources say that correspondence
received from community and
religious leaden has been
running In favor of retaining the
. mascot. It was further added that
the board Is expected lo deny
Ashet's request, bu't Parola
would not comment od these
reports.
A meeting held eatUet that
same day by the Freeport Inter-faith
Qergy Coundl also failed to
produce any recommeodallrai,
according U> thoa^in attendance.
But some council memWn, who
- have reeelveJ le tiers from boih
. Asher and the school board, have-separately
begun issuing opinions'
on the mascot issue.
"We jtbe Oergy Couadl)
pretty much decided to voice our'
individual i^inion*. Instead of
speaking as a collective," said
Reverend Nannene G<»wdy, of the
South Nassau Uniurian Church.
'"My personal feeling is that I
have no problem with the use of
the IRed Devtll lume."
Said Reverend Burton Davison
of the Freeport United Methodist
Church: "My Immediate teactioa
lo the correspondence (from the
school-board) was that this Is aa -
tmlottaiiate deflection on an Issue
(Cont.onPaseie)
THANK& FROM NEFCA. At • recent d)nn«r.d«ne« held al lh« FrM-port
RecrMtion Ceflter, Iha North East Freeport dvic AsaocUtkm
(NEFCA) praaented tpaclal ciutlons to eight Fraaporl village polioa
cffk»n and Asaemblywoman Bartiara Patton. Shown al tha eyanl are
(I. to r.) Polica Ofdcar Michael Caprlola, Polica Sgt. Arthur Burdatta,
AsaemWywoman Patiin, NEFCA praaldant Fran Campion, P.O.
Qaorga Dowdall and P.O. Robert Cailaon. On duty that avanlng and
unable (o attend tha dinnei' vara P.O. Raymond Eustace, P.O. John
Kilbride, P.O. Robeft Paullk and P.O. MacArthur Strugar. Tha polica'
men were honored for thair "axcellani parformanca of police duties
In northeast Freeport;" Mn. Patton, a Freeport resident, for her
"excelliHit representation and deep eonearn for the northeast area."
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