The issue of the abandoned Alva T. Stanforth School in Elmont has long been a controversial one and has even been the subject of tension between Elmont and Floral Park. That tension was made evident after a Jan. 28 Sewanhaka Central High School District Board of Education meeting.

At that meeting, the board voted to keep all of the property under the ownership of the Sewanhaka Central High School District and demolish the building, using the entire premises for athletic fields. The motion passed by a 5-3 margin with the Elmont representatives to the board, Deanna Doreson and Aubrey Phillips, voting against it. Doreson and Phillips preferred to find a use for the building that would benefit Elmont and some of its surrounding communities. For instance, a new Elmont library had been the subject of discussions.

Prior to the vote on Jan. 28, Phillips read a history of the Alva T. Stanforth, which included the reasons why it closed. Phillips' speech seemed to irk the Floral Park representatives to the Sewanhaka Central High School District Board of Education, Archie Cheng and Robert Burke.

Burke followed the meeting with a letter printed in the Floral Park Dispatch, criticizing Phillips, who then responded, with a letter printed in the same newspaper, to Burke's letter. The following is Phillips' statement at the Jan. 28 Sewanhaka Central High School District Board of Education, Burke's letter and then Phillips' letter in response.

"I have been a resident of Elmont for almost 10 years, and a member of the EUFSD Board for four years. I mention this time line because I believe that tonight context is important. Time alters perception. On the matter of Alva T. Stanforth and the Sewanhaka Central High School District (SCHSD), the passage of time has deepened the desire to see this board heal a 17-year-old wound.

"For the benefit of our guests that are not aware of the context of this debate, lets begin in June of 1926. The communities of Elmont, Floral Park - Bellerose, Franklin Square, and New Hyde Park (Component Districts) voted 288 - 18 in favor of forming the SCHSD. On Sept. 8, 1930, this building, the first and only building opened at an approximate cost of $900,000 and serviced all of the Component Districts.

"The Floral Park - Bellerose Board of Education drafted and presented a 1950 paper titled "Withdrawal of District 22 From Sewanhaka." The title summarized then the wishes of the presenters.

"In 1954 the SCHSD, on the strength of voters from Elmont, Franklin Square and New Hyde Park, approved a $15.5 million bond to build five schools. Those schools are Elmont Memorial High School, H. Frank Carey High School, Floral Park Memorial High School, New Hyde Park Memorial High School and Alva T. Stanforth. The Floral Park community rejected the bond. In 1956 four of the five schools became operational and in 1957 Floral Park Memorial came on line.

"By 1958, a persistent Floral Park Board relied on a Rutgers University study on decentralization to substantiate its continued desire to withdraw its children from the SCHSD. The SCHSD Board rejected the plan.

"Early in 1973, the component districts sent letters to New York State Education Department requesting a study on decentralization. In Dec. 1973, a 94-page report from the state made it clear that in addition to its various observations, decentralization required a public vote. A 1985 position paper prepared by the Floral Park- Bellerose Board of Education titled "The Case for Withdrawal from the Sewanhaka Central High School District" further illuminates the reasons for closing Alva T. Stanforth. Among its many findings were, and I quote "in order for Sewanhaka to function, compromise, often to the lowest common denominator" has become the "ethos of the district."

"Official decentralization was not to be. However, a plan to close Alva T. Stanforth moved forward siting "declining student enrollment and building utilization." Interestingly, a second argument articulated in the 1985 paper suggested, "Sewanhaka Central High School District is charged with the [burden] of meshing four differing educational philosophies." These arguments coupled with Floral Park's effective defeat of school budgets forced unofficial decentralization on the Sewanhaka Central High School District. Alva T. Stanforth was closed. At that time many believed that "declining student enrollment and building utilization" was nothing more than a smoke screen designed by Floral Park and executed by the SCHSD Board. The passage of time appears to have validated my community's suspicions. Since closing Alva T. Stanforth several capital expenditures to expand the Floral Park facility stand as a monument to the truth.

"The insult and indignity felt by my district residents burn to this day. Alva T. Stanforth is not merely a physical eyesore, it is not simply a matter of wasted public assets, it is a deep scar on the collective psyche of my community. Though difficult to hear, understand that I am merely putting in context the issues as they relate to the closing of our middle school and the genesis of my community's feelings regarding the property known as Alva T. Stanforth. My colleague, Mrs. Doreson, and I have listened to our community. For me it is the mix of quiet reflection and heated public debate. The communities that together are called the EUFSD are united as it says:

"Yes - to a community multifunction facility for all ages and all Sewanhaka taxpayers.

"Yes - Keep the entire property as a single non-commercial parcel.

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· Inter-generational programs

"A community is only as strong as its institutions - let us put institutions in the community that promote positive identification.

"Our district residents appreciate the fact that in spite of Alva T. Stanforth's geographic location, the property belongs to Sewanhaka. You must also appreciate and acknowledge by your actions that the property is in our backyard; that a negative disposition will disproportionately affect our community. Consideration must be weighted as such.

"Board members Mr. [Martin] Cernese, Ms. [Patricia] Rudd, Mrs. [Jean] Fichtl, Dr. [Roger] Roess, and Superintendent of Schools Dr. [George] Goldstein, as you consider, or more accurately, reconsider your respective positions - take this opportunity to say to Elmont, the Incorporated Village of South Floral Park, those areas of North Valley Stream, Stewart Manor and New Hyde Park, that business as usual ends tonight. As we move forward, remember that the measure of our goodness is not in how artfully we cloak our intent but in what that intent is.

"Mr. Cheng and Mr. Burke, if it appears that I have been unduly harsh toward your community, forgive me. Understand that I am, like you are, an instrument of and for those we represent. Tonight I say, let's put Sewanhaka first. Help me show my community that you are not the enemy at our gate and I will help you see that we are not the enemy at your gate.

"I close by recognizing that this month Elmont and New Hyde Park are especially blessed. Dr. Maria Palandra, our Elementary School Superintendent and Mr. Kenrick Louie, a student at New Hyde Park Memorial High School received the Adult and Youth Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Awards for 2003. Mr. Cernese and Ms. Rudd, let Kenrick's light shine through you tonight. Listen and act on behalf of those who are marginalized, those often left behind. Let us lift the cloud of public skepticism from this body - tonight let us begin to dismantle the Tale of Two Sewanhakas."

"In Mr. Phillips' statement at the Sewanhaka Central High School District (SCHSD) Board of Education meeting, he declared publicly and I quote, "Mr. Cheng and Mr. Burke ... Tonight I say let's put Sewanhaka first. Help me show my community that you are not the enemy at our gate and I will help show you that we are not the enemy at your gate." Quite frankly Mr. Phillips, I really don't care if "your community" has the misconception of me that I am your community's enemy. The shortsighted, narrow-minded, pre-judgmental people who may think that are wrong.

"I am sure you are proud to be a member of the Elmont community for all of "almost 10 years." I guess that makes you an expert and historian on Elmont, Alva T. Stanforth and the SCHSD.

"In your public presentation you stated "time alters perception." Well it hasn't altered mine. You also mentioned dates like 1956, 1957 and 1958. I remember exactly where I was in 1958. I was in the first grade at the Clara Carlson Elementary School on Belmont Blvd. in Elmont. My parents were teaching me values while they both worked and volunteered to protect the Elmont Union Free School District (EUFSD), which, based on test scores, has deteriorated drastically since then.

"In 1958, my father was a patrolman in the Fifth Precinct in Nassau County. He walked the beat up and down Plainfield Avenue from Hempstead Turnpike to the Floral Park border. He was well liked and respected by the South Floral Park and Elmont communities. I will never forget in 1958 when my dad became friends with the only African American patrolman in the Fifth Precinct. His fellow patrolmen wouldn't speak to him for it. I remember vividly when this wonderful man and his family would come to our house for dinner on Kirkman Avenue in Elmont and some of our neighbors wouldn't talk to us. Most importantly, I remember the lesson my father taught me then - don't judge a book by its cover. It is a disgrace that you, Mr. Phillips, your colleagues and some of your community consider me their enemy. Maybe you should learn, then teach your children the lesson my father taught me.

"I disagree with your statement - "A community is only as strong as its institutions." Mr. Phillips, a community is only as strong as the values set and taught by its families, which are then merely reinforced by its institutions.

"I consider South Floral Park, Floral Park-Bellerose, Elmont, New Hyde Park and Franklin Square to be "our" communities. It's in these communities that I live and work. Why must you insist on driving a wedge between them?

"As I stated at the board meeting, as a board member I am responsible for the education of all the children within the district. Spending taxpayers' money to build a community center in Elmont is not in the best interest of all our school children and it is not in the best interest of all of our communities.

"When my dad and uncle (Joseph Prisciantelli) moved to Elmont after fighting in World War II, the VFW needed a place to meet so they helped build Post 144 on Meachem Avenue. Mr. Phillips, if you "need" a community center or library in Elmont, stop blaming other people for why you don't have one and go build one somewhere in Elmont."

"Clearly, Burke et al. are unable to refute the material facts presented on Jan. 28, 2003. Unsubstantiated, incoherent, 45-year-old, reflections and recollections of one's father are touching but not responsive. In fact, the innuendo-filled words of the Floral Park - Bellerose representative are offensive to good people everywhere and remind us of Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart. The 1950 paper, the 1954 vote, the 1958 Rutgers study, the 1973 New York State Education Department report and the 1985 paper remain unimpeachable.

"I thank the right-minded men and women of the Elmont Union Free School District and the Sewanhaka Central High School District for their continued support. Our work and our commitment to educate our children continue unimpeded by personal attacks and the low expectations of some."