The members of the Port Washington School Board discussed a number of important issues, including graduation gowns, the boys’ locker room ceiling caving in at Schreiber High School and enrichment programs, at their meeting on Tuesday, April 19.
The meeting began with the fourth-grade students from Salem performing “Fireflies” by Owl City. Next, the members of the board opened up the meeting to allow comments from the community. It is a Schreiber tradition at graduation for girls to wear white gowns and boys to wear blue gowns. Many students spoke against this tradition, voicing their opinions about how these graduation gowns make students who don’t specify with a gender feel uncomfortable since they are forced to wear the gown of the gender they were born with.
Because it is late in the school year, the students weren’t sure how to approach changing the gowns. This idea has become even more important since Mayor Bill DeBlasio passed the gender neutral bathroom law in New York City. Since gowns must be ordered on Friday, April 22, students were pushing for a change in tradition.
First to speak was Kayla Harris, a 2011 graduate from Schreiber. “To accept things the way they are based on fear of change or tradition is wrong. The color our students wear during graduation does not matter. The way people feel, however, does matter,” said Harris.
Joy Grasso–Krebes, a chemistry teacher at Schreiber, also voiced her opinion at the meeting. “In my mind, it’s about everyone achieving a high school diploma, not whether they are wearing white or blue. As a faculty member who has attended the graduation, I often thought of this myself. It doesn’t make academic sense to me as an educator.”
Anthony Capozzi, a father of a senior, spoke against changing the gown colors. “The tradition of blue and white is what keeps us connected to each other. To what extent do we continue to erode traditions, when you have a minority of folks who for whatever reason want to have something different to suit the needs of a few,” he said.
Karen Sloan, president of the school board, said, “Everyone should be treated equally. We are looking out for all students and are trying to do what’s best. We are currently working with the school administration and faculty about this matter.” No decision was announced.
Next on the agenda was news about a steam pipe bursting in the boys’ locker room at Schreiber, causing the ceiling to cave in. The locker room is now sealed off for safety purposes and parents and students were notified by email that it would be closed for the remainder of the school year. No students or faculty were harmed when the ceiling fell. The board members reassured parents that the students’ belongings were returned to them.
The school plans to renovate the locker room during the summer. The renovation will include emergency asbestos abatement. The board confirmed that there is currently no asbestos in the building, but that the asbestos abatement will be done as a precautionary measure. “The asbestos abatement has been included in renovation plans since the beginning,” said Sloan.
The board also stated that while a full renovation of the locker room is needed, they will only be renovating the room partially due to the fact that they need state approval for a complete project to be undertaken. The school community can reach out to the director of facilities at Schreiber High School for further information and questions.
Along with the discussion of the graduation gowns and Schreiber locker room, there was also a PowerPoint presentation given about enrichment programs for grades 6-12. Programs are being implemented such as the robotics team, Science Olympiads, the a cappella group, as well as the College Pioneer, which is a program where students get a mentor which helps them further their education and do better in school.
These programs are designed with the intent to enrich the students’ school experience. Administrators spoke about some of these programs and answered questions from board members and parents.
The meeting ended by leaving the floor open to comments. Many community members continued the discussion about the graduation gowns by taking turns in voicing their opinions. The meeting was adjourned with the board members thanking the community for voicing their thoughts on such a sensitive topic.
