Last week the Daly HSA held our monthly meeting. We invited Dr. Roy Nelson, school board president, to come and discuss the comprehensive facilities plan that was presented at the previous week's school board meeting. Dr. Nelson brought along Sandy Ehrlich, school board vice president, to help field questions. Richard Sussman and John Zimmerman decided to surprise my co-president and me, as well as their fellow board members, by showing up uninvited. Once there, I personally asked them to join Dr. Nelson and Mrs. Ehrlich in front of the room to participate in the Q&A session. They told me they were just there to listen. I made the mistake of insisting they join the other board members and answer the audience's questions. Within a matter of minutes, the meeting deteriorated into the Richard and John show with Mr. Sussman and Mr. Zimmerman informing the Daly parents that the plan being put forth by the school board is not any good, that they will not support it and that they will be revealing their own $30 million plan in the coming weeks. How Dr. Nelson and Mrs. Ehrlich maintain their professional demeanor, I'll never know.

When I personally posed a question to Mr. Sussman, a verbatim repeating of something he said at the previous week's school board meeting, Mr. Zimmerman (not Mr. Sussman) turned red-faced, pointed his finger at me and shouted on the top of his lungs, "That's a lie!" Mr. Zimmerman, for the record, please review the audio or videotape of that particular school board meeting. You will find that I repeated word-for-word what Mr. Sussman said. My question didn't seem to bother Mr. Sussman in the least. I then informed Mr. Zimmerman that another outburst like that and the police would haul him out. I would not allow our meeting to be conducted in that way.

To all of the clear thinking, fair-minded and caring people of Port Washington, how much longer are you willing to put up with this divisive and revolting behavior?

When I decided to write this letter, I didn't plan on touting the reasons why an $85 million facilities plan would be a good thing for this district, but, in my opinion, the plan does have some merit.

Have you been in an elementary school classroom lately? Learning doesn't take place with children lined up in rows at their desks with the teacher in front of the chalkboard. Learning takes place on area rugs, on couches and pillows, in the hallway, in small groups, in pairs and in large groups, too. Daly was built in 1927 and its learning spaces haven't changed since!

In the two years that I've been attending school board meetings, I've heard other school board members ask Mr. Sussman to put his plan or his thoughts on the table, if this plan that has been developed doesn't appeal to him. He never seems to take them up on that offer. Now, of course, that we are less than one month away from the school board making a final decision on the facilities plan, Mr. Sussman says he will present his plan. There are two sides to every story and I have no intention of trying to mediate a settlement here ­ it's too far gone for that.

I do know that an $85 million bond is a lot of money. Most worthwhile investments are expensive. In the next several months, other school districts on Long Island will be floating large bonds - from $90 million in Hewlett to $200 million in Sachem. It's our time. It's our time to provide acceptable facilities for the growing enrollment expected over the next 10 years. It's our time to improve our curriculum and programs to achieve educational excellence for all of our students. It's our time to reach out and provide facilities and programs for our community so gym space will never again reach the current crisis level for PYA, PAL, CYO and adult continuing educational programs. There is something in this plan for almost every member of this community, with school-age children or not.

Come together as a community. Find tax relief for those truly in need, and let's move forward before portable classrooms are a fixture at every building in this district. Time is running out.

Pamela Goldman

Co-President, Daly HSA