The Levittown Community Church on Periwinkle Road recently sent a letter out to congregation members informing them of the church's intention to lease space to the South Shore Christian School, a high school, which is losing its lease in Island Trees. Neighbors of the church heard about these plans, and voiced their objections at a church meeting on Tuesday.

This decision to lease the space, where Kiddie Junction Preschool and Camp is currently located, to the South Shore Christian School was made by the 13 member consistory of the church, according to Howard Appelbaum, who has been a member of the congregation for over 40 years. "The consistory voted to do what they felt was in the best interest of the church," added Appelbaum, noting that the vote was 9-4 in favor of the proposal.

Neighbors expressed their concerns that bringing a high school into that location would be detrimental to the immediate neighborhood. Jeanne Hallman a member of the Levittown Community Church's Women's Guild spoke about some of the issues that have been raised about bringing South Shore Christian to the Periwinkle Road site. She explained that some of the details of the proposal include that there will be 75-100 young men and women, aged 14-18 years old attending the school; there will be at least 15-25 buses transporting the students to and from school and to outside recreational facilities during the day; with permission from the Town of Hempstead, the baseball field and basketball courts at Azalea Park may be used. Hallman noted that the residents in the area bought their properties knowing there was a small church in the community, but with no thoughts of a high school going into that church. She also expressed a concern, felt by many neighbors that an additional high school would create further competition amongst the schools as well as the concern about the safety of the children in the area because of the increased traffic and the pollution from the many buses.

Steve Kalenborn, while stressing that he is not an enemy of the church, noted that he and residents had many concerns about this proposal. He told those gathered that he took petitions around the immediate neighborhood and was able to get 300 signatures opposing the lease of space to a high school. He stated that an overwhelming percentage of the neighbors were opposed to this proposal.

When asked by Appelbaum if neighbors understood this was a temporary lease, Kalenborn responded that they are aware that the proposal was for a two year lease with an option for a third year. He went on to state that neighbors were afraid that once the school was there it would be very difficult to get them out. Kalenborn noted that the major concern of all the residents he spoke with was the increase of traffic and the dangers that traffic presented to the neighborhood.

A neighbor who lives very close to the church stated that as it was there are problems with high school students fighting in the neighborhood at night, that there were often fights occurring between students from MacArthur and Division and he said he feared adding another high school in such close proximity would only make the situation worse. He stated that last Saturday night there were between 60 and 70 high school kids fighting across the street from his house. "This is just going to add to the mix. There is an element here that may not accept them," he added.

As residents and consistory members each stated their side of the issue, Tom Wyland, headmaster of the South Shore Christian School, pulled aside Reverend James Reid, of the Levittown Community Church. Shortly after their brief conference, Wyland made a statement to those gathered. He noted that the school has been located on Farmedge Road for 17 years, and has had a great experience. He said that he understands that Island Trees had an opportunity to lease the building to BOCES for a preschool program, which was too good an opportunity for them to pass up, thus necessitating South Shore Christian School to find a new location. In an attempt to do this, the headmaster explained, the school submitted a series of proposals to area churches, which is how the proposal for a lease at Levittown Community Church came about. He noted that one of the things the school was looking for was positive church leadership, which the Levittown Community Church had, and mutual blessing. He said that in the past the school has liked its neighbors and the neighbors have liked the school. "It seems we are not getting off to a good start," said Wyland.

The headmaster explained that it is his job to keep his students safe and he didn't want to bring them into a neighborhood that did not wish to have them. He explained that the thought of high school students "rumbling" at night was very disturbing to him and noted he did not want to bring his students into that situation. In light of these concerns, the South Shore Christian School withdrew its proposal to enter into a lease with the Levittown Community Church.

Rev. Reid offered his apologies to the community for the problems this proposal caused and explained that he was just trying to do what he felt was best for the church. He stated that the church has a lot of property and not much money but the congregation and consistory do their best to keep it up so it looks presentable for the neighborhood. "Financing is very difficult," added the minister. He said that the church would like to have a full-day daycare facility which could serve the entire community ,but that they may need the community's help to get that off the ground. He suggested that the church and the neighbors help each other. Reid noted that the church will do whatever it can to help ease any problems in the neighborhood, such as the fights amongst local students, and asked that the local community do what it can to help the church in any way possible as well. "Maybe we can walk out the door with a glimmer of hope that we can do something positive," said Reid.