Early buzzer angers district resident

A Lawrence School District parent said he was the victim of a "degree of prejudice," after being cut off by a timed buzzer subsequent to having a sharp and public exchange with a board member during the July 6 Board of Education meeting.

Barry Ringelheim, an Atlantic Beach resident, claims Director of Facilities Christopher Milano only rose from his seat to activate the two-minute buzzer when he began to speak — not when two employees of the school district addressed the board just before him. "Don't be upset with me personally," Ringelheim recalls Milano saying to him after the meeting.

But Board Vice President Dr. Asher Mansdorf says Milano told him the clock was ticking for each speaker — even the two Lawrence administrators who spoke to the board deferentially. Milano could not be reached for comment by press time.

Ringelheim had come to the microphone to raise that Lawrence had not been profiled in Newsday among elite Long Island high schools who had made a list of top public schools nationwide.

He also aired his thoughts that Superintendent Dr. John Fitzsimons should not be signing off on checks, transferring funds or making purchase orders. Ringelheim was cut off by the buzzer, and a female security guard rose to escort him away from the microphone.

Ringelheim made public protestations about being selectively timed, to which a district official responded that the timer was on for the previous speakers, but did not go off because they had spoken for fewer than two minutes.

Based on meeting notes taken by the Nassau Herald, Ringelheim, during his two

minutes of comment, was told by Mansdorf; "Do you read Reader's Digest to get medical advice? I wouldn't take education advice from Newsday, and I certainly wouldn't take it from you."

"They're not supposed to answer anyone — that's board rules," said Ringelheim. "They have had a grudge against me. They say I'm a liar, an antagonist, whatever."