The proverbial rubber hits the road this evening when the East Ramapo School Board meets for a special meeting at 7 p.m. to “consider matters lawfully coming before the board. It is anticipated that the Board may enter an executive session to discuss matters lawfully to be so considered.”
A protest rally by an East Ramapo School District advocacy group, Save Our Schools Coalition, is planned before the ER board meeting.
The board meeting comes amid calls from across the Rockland County political spectrum to take immediate action on a Tuesday, July 2, incident that saw ER school district attorney Christopher Kirby unleash a mouthful of obscenities at a group of parents who have also been among the district’s most vocal critics.
Kirby’s disturbing pre-Fourth of July fireworks were caught on video and immediately went viral, with publications both regional and national playing the video where an agitated Kirby is seen repeatedly confronting a small group of people, cursing at them, while several in the group openly video his actions.
In the widely circulated video, Kirby appeared to pointedly pick out district activist Peggy Hatton for several especially harsh epithets. The ferocity of the whole scene shocked many around Rockland, with State Senator David Carlucci, D-New City, calling for the termination of both Kirby and the Long Island, NY law firm Minerva and D’Agostino, currently under contract with East Ramapo at a reported $250 per hour plus $125 an hour travel expenses.
The firm was hired by the ER BOE partially for its expertise in public special education school funding, according to board member Yehuda Weissmandl.
Minerva and D’Agostino principal Albert D’Agostino shouted down East Ramapo District graduate Lorenzo Labitigan during a 2010 board meeting related to budget cuts. Labitigan, a freshman at Yale University at the time, made comments regarding the district spending on legal fees while school program cuts were reportedly under consideration.
(March 2010 Video of East Ramapo School Board Meeting, LuckyLouProductions)
East Ramapo has been under enormous financial stress in recent years and has experienced widespread community division related to the direction of the district, including budget and program cuts, staff layoffs, and the sale of district properties.
The Christopher Kirby incident appeared to be rooted in the public comments part of the district’s Tuesday meeting, when parent Peggy Hatton recounted a personal incident related to the recent Regents exam and her child, who is in special education. Hatton expressed concern at what she considered the district’s “lack of communication” with parents regarding options for students who scored poorly on the Regents exam.
The Ramapo Central School District, which serves western Rockland communities, clearly informed parents on student report cards that went out districtwide at the end of the school year, noting in a special announcement options available for students who scored a 64 or below on Regents exams.
