The Jericho Union Free School District will not be participating in state’s regionalization initiative after a unanimous vote from the board of education on Dec. 20. The district will pursue legal action against the state for failure to meet its demands.
“I believe our board is unanimously committed to fighting this to the end,” said Board President Christopher Foresto
The school board has taken a strong stance against the initiative since its announcement. Regionalization aims to bridge regional gaps through shared resources, according to the state website.
Elected officials and community members said the plan threatens local and district control.
“The Jericho Board of Education absolutely opposes any attempt by the state to control who we entertain,” Foresto said at the November meeting.
“Our responsibility is to educate students who live within the Jericho Union Free School District and support our families,” he said.
At the November meeting, the school board said it would seek legal representation if the state did not meet its concerns. At the December meeting, Foresto said the district has spoken with outside council regarding the state’s plans.
“The board of education has been diligent in researching this,” said Board President Christopher Foresto.
He said the representatives the board has spoken to affirm to the board’s stance, which is the “most rigorous and aggressive position that we could take.”
Since the board’s last meeting, the state has clarified the initiative’s language.
A committee of the state Board of Regents voted unanimously on Dec. 9 to change the language of a regulation to confirm that regionalization would be voluntary and that districts would have the option of not participating in the planning process.
Neighboring districts, like Syosset, have already opted out of the planning process. Districts who do not wish to participate in the initiative must opt out by Jan. 15.
Superintendent Hank Grishman said three of Nassau County’s 56 districts have opted into the planning process.
Additionally, the state changed the language regarding the power of the state and the BOCES superintendent, the school’s regional representative.
The initial plan said the state and BOCES superintendent could “compel” district participation. That verb has since changed to “request.”
“It is my personal opinion that the BOCES superintendent should have no authority that supersedes the Jericho superintendent and certainly no authority that supersedes local control and the Jericho Board of Education,” Foresto said.
Foresto said the Board of Regents did respond to the board’s concerns at its meeting.
“Unfortunately, their verbal assurances fell short of what the Jericho Board of Education was looking for, and we will promptly be moving toward retaining legal representation,” Foresto said.
The board unanimously voted to opt out of the state’s regionalization plan and join legal council with Rigano, LLC, who represents neighboring school districts.
Jericho’s legal representation is “in conjunction with the other school districts,” said trustee Samuel Perlman.
“This is the most aggressive stance that we can take right now, and if something else becomes available to us, we will communicate that, and we will evaluate it,” Foresto said.
The board said Grishman would send a letter to the state on Dec. 20 to officially opt out of the program.
Grishman wrote that the school board’s decision “exempts the district not only from participation in the planning process, but also from any obligation or initiative under any resulting regionalization plans.”
The letter reserves “all rights and remedies should it prove necessary to preserve.”
The district now joins neighboring districts in its decision to opt out of the planning process.
“I just want to thank the board of education for working swiftly and transparently to get this done in the benefit of Jericho,” said trustee Jennifer Vartanov.
“So thank you to all of my board member colleagues and Mr. Grishman and the rest of our central administration,” she said.
Jericho schools will not participate in the planning process and will be exempt of future regionalization plans, according to its adopted resolutions.
“We’ve heard the community,” Foresto said. “We are part of the community.”
