Community members were outraged that neither the Board, nor the Superintendent canceled the public hearing and also by the lack of notice regarding the hearing. FreeportNYNews could find no one who supported the Board’s decision not to cancel the meeting, in light of the tragic events in New York City the morning before.

Your reporter asked the Board if they ever published a legal notice in a local newspaper advising the public about the public hearing.

Board member Muscara said, "There was a notice about this hearing."

An examination of the Leader, the official newspaper of the district, reveals that in the past six weeks, there was never any mention regarding the "public hearing" and only one brief mention of a "discussion" buried in a news by press release blurb titled "Change School Board meeting," [as written] which was incorrect.

In the September 6th edition of the Leader, a press release blurb titled "Freeport Schools September Highlights" failed to mention one word about the upcoming public hearing regarding the District-wide Safety Plan or the Code of Conduct.

The district’s own agenda for the meeting, which was posted on the internet, also failed to mention that the district was having a public hearing and soliciting comments, as required by NYS law.

On Wednesday, September 6th and Thursday, September 7th, students from both the High School and the Jr. High School were given letters to bring home to their parents which claimed, "This Code of Conduct has been adopted by the School Board ..." The letter that the district claimed was sent to all the parents explaining that the code was not adopted was not received by many of them. Others received it after the World Trade Center tragedy in New York city.

Your reporter asked the Board if there were ever public notices announcing the meetings of the District-wide Safety Committee, as is required by NYS Open Meetings Law.

Muscara responded, "I don’t know if there was or weren’t."

Your reporter asked, "Does anybody know?"

The Superintendent, Board and Administrators sat silent.

Your reporter followed up, "Dr. Ciaglia, you were the head of the Committee, do you know?"

Ciaglia responded, "Public notices were not made."

When your reporter asked why no record was being kept of the meeting, newly elected Board member Michael Raab claimed that he personally called the NYS School Board’s Association and they said it wasn’t required.

Your reporter told Raab, "They said it is not required, I don’t agree with that, but you are required. How are you or anybody else going to know what went on here tonight?" There was no answer as the Board and Superintendent stared into space.

Approximately 48 percent of the district is Latino. The Code of Conduct was only made available in Spanish the week before, with no notification to the parents. While the district posted the Code of Conduct on their web site in English, it failed to post it in Spanish.

When your reporter pointed out that English was not the official language of the district, as it was purported to be by Dr. Ciaglia, the superintendent would not allow Ciaglia to respond, telling Ciaglia as he began to speak, "Tony, Tony. No."

Your reporter also shared with the Board the sentiment that the code was not reader friendly, telling the Board, "I have a reasonable command of the English language and I found it difficult to read."

Your reporter also questioned the lack of attention to nothing but a meager explanation of parental responsibility in the district’s code, telling the Board, "You are always claiming that the parent must be involved in their child’s education, yet you make no attempt to explain how. I will read you my suggested additions to the Code of Conduct". (Go to list in English) (Go to list in Spanish)

Before your reporter could finish reading the list, he was told he ran out of time. Muscara and Raab both asked that the list be submitted in writing. I pointed out that was the reason why they needed to have a court reporter there to transcribe the meeting, as not only was there no public record of my comments, there was no record of anyone else's either. I told the Board, "Everyone should be able to access a record of what went on at this public hearing, especially you."

As your reporter was walking away from the microphone, Board member Cattano spoke.

MR. CATTANO: I would like to make a comment.

MR. LILKER: Yes sir.

MR. CATTANO: I think that the intent of this document is to present it to the community. This is not etched in stone. It is a document that can be modified to a certain degree. No document is all inclusive, whether it is the Magna Carta, the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence. All documents are subject to interpretation. It is a code of student conduct, not parental conduct. If you are asking or making a statement that student conduct is tied into parental conduct, your point is well taken. I don’t know if it belongs incorporated into this document.

MR. LILKER: With all due respect Mr. Cattano, let me ask you this. Does the parent have to read this?

MR. CATTANO: Yes

MR. LILKER: Then the parent has certain responsibilities in regard to this document. I suggest that the parental responsibilities should be there, because the responsibilities of the parent should be just as clear to the parent, as the responsibilities of the student. I remind you that both the parent and the student have to sign the document.

MR. CATTANO: I think that point is well taken and it deserves to be considered.

MR. LILKER: Thank you.

The Board then went over the District-wide Saftey plan.