The-Leader_2008-02-28

              ^»WHb»«»M«M«WMM»NWW«4MM>N«>M4iMM««wmM
IF^'^^ [S_SJ^
;"^iB^^^
^9
0.
\ai
"1 13S20
o
^?§Mi ^teei7o Rteb © aii3©(p®(7Sp BOo^Zoaaga®
TO© ©CEmED[nB9Bs7 f>3©^5^^
mrsMi^^.msmmTs m, mm
iJiiiiiiliiiM teiim^i
kvi
wf^W
STAMP OF-'APPROVAL:, From left are New Visions Principal Renee. Crump, Freeport.-Deputy, IVlayor Reriaire' Frierson/ Joysetta . Pearse, Freeport Postmaster Dermott Tuohy, • post office customer service representative Roxanne Green, Douglas Mayers, president, Freepprt/Rooseveit.NAACP, Superintendent Dr. Eric Eversley and Julius Pearce.- •
The Freeport
Memorial Library was the
site for the unveiling of the
2008 Black History Month
stamp. This year depicting Charles W.
Chesnutt. The event was officially
opened by the children from the color guard
from the New Visions elementary school, and
featured a recitation by the students directed by
instructor Ruth Breidenbach. The stamp unveiling
was sponsored'by the Freeport branch of the U.S. Post
Office and the African Atlantic Genealogical Society,
which was founded by Julius and Joysetta Pearse.
. Charles Waddell Chesnutt was bom in 1858 in
Cleveland, Ohio, and went on to become a lawyer and
prominent writer, publishing several short stories in the
A'dantic Monthly. He later wrote longer pieces and
non-fiction works, including the novel "House Behind
the Cedars" and a biography of Frederick Douglass.
Julius Pearce described the hardships that Mr. Chesnutt and his family endured and his struggle to obtain aiiediication.. After his father died, Mr. Chesnutt became a stiident-teacher to.help support his mother and younger siblings. Later in life, he served on the General Committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Working side-by-side with W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington, he became one of the era's most prominent activists "and commentators. In 1928, he received the NAACP's Spingam Medal for his hfe's work.
Baldwin school payments questioned
The Baldwin School District is under scrutiny by state and federal officials for reportedly claiming that attorney Lawrence Reich worked for the school district full-time as an attorney -r while Mr. Reich was in fact contracted on retainer for those services - entitling him to a pension and health insurance from the state for life. However, Mr. Reich vvas .an; employee of, Ingerman Smith Jaw firm. ' ' .; • -
The "Leader -tried. before the February school vacation to receive a comment from school officials. However, the school district did not return our call for comment until Monday, February 25:
'The Baldwin School District is coop- • erating fully with both federal and state
agencies and has provided the reqiiested informatiort regarding the district's for­mer attorney Lawrence Reich's employ­ment and the law firm of Ingerman Smith. Because this is a legal matter, the disfrict cannot offer fiirther comment at this time. . We are awaiting further instruction from the government agencies."
Ingerman Smith is one of three promi­nent law firins'that handles school legal issues on Long Island, remarked Mike Raab, a former Freeport school board president who ran unsuccessfully for Freeport mayor. He also said tiiat the Freeport School District has Ingerman Smith under retainer, even as Mr. Reich has; left the law firm. •. _. The" state audited the Freeport
School District last summer, giving it a clean bill. However, in nearby Merrick and Bellmdre, their high school dis­trict, the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District, along with three other school districts, is under scrutiny for. clainiing Mr. Reich was a fiill-time employee. The interim superintendent of Baldwin Schools, Dr. Thomas Caramore, was also superintendent of the.Bellmore-Me.rrick Central High School District.
A spokesperson for .state Comptroller Thomas Dinapoli's office said tiiat letters were sent out to both the Baldwin and Bellmore-Merrick school districts February 14 and 15 to inform them that they will be audited, based upon pub­lished
reports of irregularities in classifi­cations of employees.
"We will be auditing Uie Bellmore-Merrick and Baldwin school districts specifically to determine if. the districts are properly classifying employees and contractors appropriately," said the spokesperson.
"We are concerned that only those enti­tled to a state pension get one," the spokesperson concluded.
Meanwhile, the Federal Bureau of Investigation would not disclose whether subpoenas has been issued to any of the parties involved. "We do not comment on any investigations," said an FBI spokesperson.
- Douglas Finlay
A piODTig §©!hi®[!giii' inr©rai FfesipFft
pages
^A-^'-'f'
pages
page 12