An attorney is calling for an investigation into Freeport Public Schools and the Hempstead Union Free School District for what he said is the shortchanging of students’ education by not providing the required amount of tutor time to those who are out of school for extended periods of time.

Melville-based Kenneth Mollins said he has heard from three Freeport and two Hempstead families that say students have not been receiving their legally-mandated 10 hours of home tutoring each week while they are suspended or out of school for medical reasons. Mollins said that the districts are not giving the tutors the necessary textbooks for students and are giving assignments late or not at all, prompting him to call for an investigation into the two districts. He added he does not plan to sue—unless the alleged problems are not corrected.

In one case, Jahmaine, a 13-year-old 8th grader at John Dodd Middle School, who was suspended for the rest of the school year first started his home tutoring in November 2009 but the tutor was only teaching him half of the required weekly time, his mother said. As a result, his grades have slipped, she said.  

“As a parent, it’s stressful and very difficult going through this because my son, I want him to get the best education possible and he’s not receiving that,” said his mother, Lynnette Lawrence, 33, of Freeport.  “And he’s going to be behind. For a student who received grades in 90s and 80s he’s now receiving 70s in all his subjects and that’s a big problem.”

Lawrence, a billing representative for Winthrop University Hospital, said the district told her when the tutoring began that her son would get two hours a day, but the tutors then complained to her that they don’t get the resources they need from the schools to teach the kids the required time. She said since November her son has received two weeks worth of material. 

Freeport district spokeswoman Theresa Giusto said, “Our district makes every effort to provide alternative instruction to students who are entitled to receive it. At this time, we are conducting a review to ensure that all procedures are being followed.”

In Hempstead, special education students are mixed in classes with students in need of after-school tutoring but the classes aren’t taught by special education-qualified teachers, Mollins said he has found. Hempstead school officials did not respond to calls for comment. 

Mollins sent out a letter to New York State Attorney General and the New York State Education Department suggesting that the alleged tutor issues be investigated and called them a violation of the students’ civil rights. Neither agency returned calls for comment.

One tutor told students, “don’t worry about anything, I pass everyone,” according to Mollins. A parent told him that in some cases, tutors tell students to read a magazine for a half hour and call that a study session.

“I spoke to numerous tutors and teachers in both districts and they both tell me that it’s almost impossible to tutor for 10 hours a week because the schools are not supplying the tutors with the instructional material that is necessary,” said Mollins. “The students in these two districts are not getting educated but the taxpayers are paying for the education that is not occurring.”

Lawrence fears that her son won’t be able to graduate once the year is over and may have to go to summer school. Jahmaine was suspended in November because he hit his friend in face with his keys while the two were horsing around, according to his mother. Then when he returned earlier this month he was in school for two days and was suspended again after telling a student who was pulling on his earring that he was going to “knock the green off your shirt,” Lawrence said. Jahmaine was then suspended for the remainder of the school year. 

By Rashed Mian