Rockland County, NY – Calm was restored today at the Grandview Elementary School in the East Ramapo School District after a week which saw flaring tempers and increasing tensions between public school parents and the Orthodox Jewish community.
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Local parents said they were concerned that Jewish strangers were trespassing on school grounds and using it as a shortcut to their homes or synagogues during the Jewish holidays. At one point last week, the conflict became so bad that local police were called to intercede.
Newsday reports (http://bit.ly/QbHqjb) that there was no trespassing during the latter part of the Sukkos holiday owing to intervention by the school district. “We spoke to community people and said, ‘Don’t walk through the grounds,’” said Joel Klein, Superintendent of the East Ramapo School District. “People called and we called residents, religious people, a whole collection of people, to remind them.”
Klein added that the district is working on a long-term solution to the trespassing issue. “We’ve been working this for months,” he said. “People want to get together to come up with a solution.”
Bored people with not much to do!!!
why cant they designate a path for the ortho to use during holidays a put a gate around it
Stop the xenophobia.
educate the principal, teachers and students about diversity.
banish whoever called the tv news and then let them into the school to further the xenophobia.
acknowledge that the school and the local residents all need tobe good neighbors.
this no reason it had to come to this chilul has-m
dont give in to them next they will demand other things . What ever you call it its just pure anti semitisim.its not about trespassing its about hatred seeing a frum person,
I think that during school hours nobody should be allowed to trespass because it can be very dangerous
It is 100% legal for any citizen to walk through a public school property during school business hours.
Joel Klein is working for Rupert Murdoch AND as Superintendent of Ramapo Public Schools? What a joke. He is no educator. My heart goes out to Ramapo Public Schools and Ramapo public school students. How very short sighted it is to privatize public schools; at this rate, we will soon be no better than a third world country. This whole scenario is a fiasco and but a symptom of the big disease. As for the “trespassing” issue, common sense should prevail; no trespassing during school hours. This is standard procedure in public schools everywhere to ensure the safety and well being of the students.
why doesnt joel klein have pitty on his fellow jew??
The frum community is obligated, according to Halacha to obey the laws of the country, which it lives in. This includes adhering to No Trespassing signs. The school administrators have every legal right for safety reasons, to restrict whom may enter the school grounds, during school hours. I can’t understand why some of the frum community members are being so obstinate about taking a short cut, which is illegal.
When my kids were in elementary school, their playground was fenced. If an adult would walk through when the kids were playing I would expect the school to call the police. The children need to be protected.
This is the same situation from the other side. YOU know and I know that frum Yidden pose no danger, but why should they? Why should they trust that some pediophile would not dress up like us just to gain access to their children. Sorry guys, for the sake of the safety of their children, and our children I side with them.
Local parents said they were concerned that Jewish strangers were trespassing on school ground
This was racially motivated and organized by a member of the NAACP.
The community should commended for not lowering themselves to the level of these rabble rousers whose only agenda was drawing the frum community into a confrontation just so they could get visibility for a school board gripes that they can’t get a forum for via legitimate channels…that and showing they have access to convicted 60 year old sex offenders who don’t have day jobs…
the whole confrontation was arranged by peggy hatton who is nothing more then a rabble rouser like al sharpton north
you see if they would have told us nicely before hand this whole confrontation wouldnt have happened ..it shows they were looking to make a fight..
Dont worry this will work out just fine and we will have a legal path after all the town knows we are good and caring neighbors and to all this people on this forum that just spit hate on us they will have to find another topic and another neighberhood where to take their …
yes it wasn’t handled in a neighborly fashion, some history with latest school board goings on, however, that being said, while school is in progress, strangers should not be allowed on school grounds. Some people love to yell anti Jewish, we would not be comfortable if strangers would walk through our yeshiva property no matter who they are when our kids are in school, either in the building or on school grounds playing ball etc. Not being able to see the other side of a situation and just having a knee jerk reaction is juvenile.
n the wake of the discovery that a registered sex offender was on the grounds of Grandview Elementary School last week, Ramapo Councilman Daniel Friedman has asked that the school district open an investigation into the matter
We pay. School. Tax.
It’s. our property. Just like there
“I am certain that parents and activists who are genuinely concerned about the safety of our schoolchildren share my interest in getting to the bottom of this issue and learning how the presence of a sex offender on school grounds was allowed and perhaps encouraged by others. I believe that answers need to be given and those responsible for this incredible safety breach need to be held accountable,”
Trespass is trespass. Orthodox would be opposed to seculars trespassing through an Orthodox school ground, so they should understand and be sympathetic to the public school trying to protect its students. Shame on those Orthodox who shouted ugly slurs against school officials and volunteers who were trying to protect children. Bigger shame on those Orthodox who accused those school officials and volunteers of anti-Semitism. That belittles true anti-Semitism and undermines legitimate efforts to fight real anti-Semitism.
That the school is tax-payer funded does NOT make it public property. Army bases and police stations are examples of publicly funded places where the public is NOT allowed. Public libraries have the right to exclude people who are loitering or misbehaving, etc. Just because something is public property does NOT give anyone the right to trespass. In this particular case, it is for the safety of the children. These trespassing adults need to GROW UP and show some respect for the law. AND STOP MAKING EVERYTHING INTO AN ARGUMENT ABOUT ANTI-SEMITISM!