Last week the Sewanhaka Central High School District Teachers Union members picketed the school board meeting. At issue was the accusation that a teacher in the district was denied tenure because she was on maternity leave.

The group, at the time, received a great deal of media attention and the following is a response to that media attention by Sewanhaka Central High School District Board of Education President, Martin Cernese:

During the past few days certain people have attempted to impose their judgment in areas that legally and ethically belong exclusively to the elected representatives on the board of education. These people are concerned about a decision on tenure that, in fact, the board has not yet made! In spite of this, they act as if they know what the decision will be and have tried to convince the public that this imagined decision is based on discrimination. These people are wrong on both counts. No action has been taken, this district has never practiced any form of discrimination and in the case of pregnancy, we have a record of accommodation and concern unsurpassed among Long Island school districts.

To avoid confusion or misinformation, we would like to publicly clarify all the relevant facts:

First: Under State Law, the board of education is prohibited from discussing any individual personnel issue in public-never, under any circumstances, for any reason. If an individual raises a question concering a particular staff member, it is our obligation to obey the law and not respond. Therefore, the board of education will say nothing to the media concerning any particular individual employed by the district.

Second: Without mentioning any individual employees in any of our five schools, we can certainly clairfy a number of facts to all of our staff in all of our buildings.

With regard to rights and opportunities afforded to women...Sewanhaka has had more than 15 years of record and reputation in providing women with greater opportunities for professional growth and advancement than almost any other district on Long Island. At this moment, four of our five high school building principals are women and every one of these four has been in the district for at least 10 years and risen to their positions after a record of well-deserved promotions. Four of our 11 assistant principals are women and the same patterns hold in the appointment of central office adminsitration, district directors, coordinators, chairpersons and the entire professional staff. Furthermore, no woman has ever been denied a job, a promotion or any entitlement because of time taken from work due to the obligations of pregnancy, birth or child care. In this area, the district does far more than follow the letter of the law, it is a model for other districts and workplaces to emulate. The accusation that we discriminate is a perverse distortion of the truth. To cite only the highest profile cases, two of our four female principals have availed themselves of the district's provision for maternity leave, returned to work after a period determined entirely by their own personal needs and were later promoted to the principalship. None of the large number of women in this district has ever expressed concern over their job security or opportunity in regard to pregnancy. It has simply never happened.

Our outstanding principals and administrators deserve to be protected from these public abuses. In particular, the board of education stands behind every one of our principals and honors their exceptional work with the teachers and staff in their schools. We regret that, in this case, a small minority of union leaders have decided to invent an issue that does not exist in order to gain the political advantage of media attention.

The Sewanhaka Board of Education will continue to obey the law with respect to never speaking publicly about any individual employee and we urge anyone concerned with the fair treatment of any individual staff member to do the same.

The New Hyde Park Little League dedicated this year's celebration of its 46 successful years to its loyal and generous sponsors who have made the program, of now more than 400 children, work over the years. In the Merillon Journal, dedicated to the sponsors, the board of directors said, "We take our caps off and salute these wonderful people for their generosity and commitment to our community."

The number of community businesses and organizations that have consistently sponsored teams are vast, but the sponsors onboard from the beginning of Merillon are: State Bank of Long Island, Nuzzi Fuel, Kiwanis and Residential Lumber, forced to closes its doors, after 50 years of serving the community.

Sponsors for 25 years include: Bruno's Barber Shop, Cellini Lodge, New Hyde Park Elks Club, Stutzmann Funeral Home, Meldon Silverman, Fleet Bank, Waste Management, Knights of Columbus.

This year the 1998 Joe Roy Coach of the Year Award was presented to Steve Denison who started with Merillon in 1988 coaching his daughter, Stefanie, in the Instructional Division and from that time on he has been heavily involved in the operation of the Merillon Little League. He has been its president, equipment manager and while doing all these chores he has also found time to coach his daughters in the girls softball program.

In the journal this paragraph aptly described Denison, "In addition to all these tasks, Steve can always be counted on to help with special projects that come up in the course of running a baseball program with more than 400 children. His easygoing disposition and knowledge of the game makes him a very special person who can always be counted on to give advice or mediate a problem."

However, Merillon would not be in existence today if it was not for the hard work, persistence, devotion and love of one man and his supportive wife and that man is Merillon Chairman of the Board Tony Camilleri and his wife Anne. They are definitely the force behind the scenes that makes everything come together in operating this complex program.

Possibly the biggest surprise was the last page of the Merillon Journal...a tribute to this writer, very kind, very thoughtful and very humbling, but very much appreciated....thank you Merillon Board of Directors for your kind words and thank you Tony Camilleri for being such a nice person to work with....