SB24 Makes Pledge Of Allegiance Mandatory
By Bob BALOGH

A six-year-old student wandered through the construction-filled back yard of P.S. 91, Glendale, and five blocks to his home without being stopped by school security, the student's mother charged at the October meeting of School Board 24. Photo Lisa Desimone

Boys and girls from P.S. 88 in Ridgewood formed a color guard in front of some 200 people in the school's assembly room. The crowd recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the country's flag, and followed with renditions of "God Bless America" and "The Star Spangled Banner" to piano accompaniment. Minutes later, members of Community School Board, District 24, seated on the stage, passed a resolution directing the district superintendent to enforce a law that requires children to recite the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of each school day. Of the seven board members in attendance last Thursday night, all voted in favor of the resolution.

Daily recitation of the Pledge is mandated by section 802 of the State Education Law and by the central Board of Education's resolution 20, which was passed on October 17. "This is nothing new," Board Member Frank Borzellieri pointed out. "We just implemented a policy that is already state law and it's been mandated by the Chancellor in accordance with state law. The problem is that the state law over the years has not been enforced." Students who have a good reason for not participating in the Pledge will not be disciplined. For example, a child may be exempted because of his or her religion. If a teacher will not lead the class in the pledge, an alternate teacher will be provided for that purpose.

The board also passed a resolution to name P.S. 58 in Maspeth "The School of Heroes." The elementary school is currently under construction on Grand Avenue. The name was chosen to honor the firefighters of Hazmat 1, Squad 288 in Maspeth along with all the other uniformed service personnel in District 24 who were killed on September 11. In addition, the names of the deceased will be listed on a Wall of Heroes to be erected in the entrance of the school

Acting District Superintendent Joseph Quinn read the names of 154 recently tenured teachers, most of whom were in the audience, and praised them for getting the schools back into full swing following the World Trade Center tragedy. Richard Farkas of the United Federation of Teachers said teachers throughout the city are heroes for having had all children accounted for on that tragic day. He also reminded the teachers of the deeper meaning of their status. "Tenure is a milestone that really signifies basic American rights and that is the right to due process," Farkas said. "And there are many people out there today that would like to see those rights taken away. So while you've achieved this great milestone, you're going to be the generation of teachers that are going to be fighting these attacks on due process, and fighting the attacks on tenure."

Also recognized were two new appointees to the Committee on Special Education: Chairman Victor Bellini and Assistant Chairperson Thomasina Vignogna. Bellini reported that District 24 ranks as one of the top districts in the city in integrating students with special needs into the general education population. "We have many inclusion programs," he said. Early data has shown favorable scores for students in the new continuum program, according to Bellini.

The mother of a P.S. 91 student vented her frustration about the security, or the lack of it, at the elementary school at 68-10 Central Avenue in Glendale. Sandra Caradonna told the board that her six-year-old son became disoriented, left the building and walked home on the second day of the school year. At the time, only one security guard was on duty. "He went up to the third floor bathroom and got lost coming back down," Caradonna said of her son whose classroom is on the second floor of the building. "He was walking up and down the stairwells. He ended up coming out into the basement and went out through the back door leading into the schoolyard where all the construction is. And he ran all the way home five blocks." The board agreed to register a complaint in writing to the Central Board of Education, whose formula for allocating single security guards to school buildings with more than 900 children was blamed. The board also said it will push for other security measures such as alarms on all doors in district schools.

Mary Crowley, a former board member and executive director of the Ready to Learn Preschool in Middle Village, questioned the site selection process for Universal Pre-Kindergarten in the district. She noted that a number of parents in Middle Village have been forced to send their pre-school kids to other neighborhoods because no facility, public or private, has been approved for use as a program provider in that area. Crowley's facility, which is licensed for 35 children, has been inspected by a district committee but has not been approved. In a letter dated October 1, Quinn informed Crowley that the district "does not require additional service providers. Existing contracted vendors were able to provide adequate space."

Crowley complained to Quinn that she is still waiting for a copy of the district's evaluation of her facility, which would explain why it was not approved. "The Board of Health has approved me, the New York State Education Department has approved me, but Mr. Quinn hasn't approved me," Crowley said after the meeting. "It's personal and it shouldn't be."