As many of you are aware, there will be a bond referendum vote on Dec. 17. The district has proposed two separate bonds.
1. A $6,990,791 bond to fund a renovation of the music wing at Oyster Bay High School. The district would like to renovate the building and upgrade the facilities.
2. An $826,000 bond for security upgrades. Basically the district would like to install a “mantrap” in each of the schools in an attempt to improve security. (The district is now referring to the mantrap as a “security vestibule,” but don’t let the name fool you).
Originally, the district had planned to combine these two expenditures into a single bond referendum, but a number of parents (including me) complained about the “mantrap.” So the district wisely split the bond referendum into two parts in order to let the community decide.
As a parent of Oyster Bay children, I have never once voted against any school budget or bond referendum that the school has put out for a vote. But I am definitely going to vote against the “mantrap.” I think we are letting emotions cloud our sense of fiscal responsibility. A “mantrap” is a system that requires everyone entering the school to have his/her driver’s license scanned before gaining entry. The system checks the person’s background and decides whether that individual can gain entry to the building. I travel to schools throughout Long Island on a regular basis and I have never once had my driver’s license scanned in order to gain entry to any school.
Yes, we did have a security threat with an employee at the Vernon School and I suspect that everyone involved has learned something from this and will be far more diligent about managing any such threat in the future. But unless we choose to educate our kids in a prison-like environment, there will always be risks. A “mantrap” is not going to make our kids any safer. I can’t rationalize spending more in real estate taxes when the proposed solution will only serve to placate parents. Someone with bad intentions will NOT wait in line to get their driver’s license scanned. The whole idea is preposterous. This is simply a knee-jerk reaction to an emotional board of ed meeting and it is not an environment I want my son educated in.
I am not against the district spending money wisely to upgrade security. Certain things like panic buttons or better video surveillance systems make perfect sense and even having a security guard behind the front desk in every school is reasonable. However, none of these solutions will cost the district $826,000 and they will not saddle the district with costly maintenance in future years.
I have no doubt that we will all receive letters from the district in the coming days explaining how this “security vestibule” will only cost taxpayers a few pennies per day. I don’t buy this argument… it is close to one million dollars! It won’t help our kids and it is financially irresponsible.
I am a big supporter our district. We have some amazing administrators (Dr. O’Hara is among the best in all of New York), many dedicated teachers, some great athletic coaches, an awesome guidance department, and school board members that volunteer their time to make Oyster Bay a better place. I often think that people take what we have in Oyster Bay for granted, it is an amazing little community. So let’s educate our kids in the School by the Bay, not in Alcatraz.
—Rich Cameron
