Ossining residents vent frustration over pace of student re-registration

Ossining residents vent frustration over pace of student re-registration

The Journal News
Marcela Rojas • mrojas@lohud.com • February 26, 2010

OSSINING — Tensions flared at a Board of Education meeting this week during a discussion about the district's student re-registration process.
More than 60 residents showed up to Wednesday night's work session, many of them venting their anger and frustration about the cost to taxpayers and what they called the "inexcusable" length of time it has taken to complete the recertification plan that started in the fall for grades one, three, five, seven and nine.

"There have been no timelines, no consequences," said resident David Barry at the meeting. "This process has been a joke."

Barry's comments followed a lengthy presentation by Schools Superintendent Phyllis Glassman about the re-registration effort that included information about admissions regulations and the legal implications of removing a child from school.

As of Monday, Glassman said 131 of the 1,288 households asked to re-register had not. The figure represents a total of 159 students who have not been re-certified, she said.

The district has reached out to those families one last time, setting up interviews to show proof of residency, officials said.

Non-compliant students will be excluded between Feb. 25 and March 8, she said.

Glassman stressed had they begun excluding students after the first registration night the district held in October, some 828 students would have been wrongly removed. Several rounds of letters, certified letters, phone calls and additional registration events were held in December and January.

The district's legal counsel advised school officials to repeatedly reach out to families, they said.

It is not a privilege but a right for a student to get an education and every effort must be made to "protect the child," said attorney John Gross.

"The burden of proving non-residency is on the district," Gross said. "Due process isn't something that happens immediately."

Even so, residents were still angered by a process they saw as too slow.

"We, as taxpayers, should not have to pay for a parent or guardian who is lazy. There's no excuse why they couldn't do it in a timely fashion," said Franco Iamiceli. "Everyone is angry that it wasn't done completely from the beginning."

Aggravation also turned to distrust as some questioned what measures are being taken to ensure that those students who were re-registered are, in fact, living in Ossining. Others argued that the money spent on non-resident students would better serve those students who live in Ossining.

Board President Alice Joselow said she did not understand the lack of trust.

"We are absolutely committed to the goal that every student is a resident of Ossining," she said.

Some in the room applauded the district's efforts and agreed that re-registering students should not be rushed.

"Be sensitive and think about the children," said resident Deysi Briones to the crowd. "I'm here because I'm part of you too. Please let's get together and be proactive."