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Letters to the Editor: Lynbrook, East Rockaway

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Veterans to Lynbrook school officials: Stay away from our parade

This letter was sent to the Lynbrook School District Board of Education and shared with the Herald.

As the Lynbrook Memorial Day parade chairman, I am writing this letter with great regret to inform you that the Board of Education and all those associated with School District No. 20’s administration are not invited to march in the parade this year.

Not only was the vote of “no” to a tax exemption for veterans (and especially for the one Gold Star family in the district) a disappointment, but the way the situation was handled was wrong and disrespectful.

Your decision to hold the vote at a budget meeting instead of a board meeting, along with your blatant disregard by not inviting veterans and veteran groups to discuss the exemption, was a slap in the face. To add insult to injury, when we attended the March meeting, we were cut off from speaking. It was the board’s decision to vote no without input from veterans and the rest of the community.

The veterans groups in this community — the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion and the Marine Corps League — have been here for the schools and the students of the district. From color guards at events, to offering our hall for dance practices for class night, to helping raise funds for various school organizations, we feel betrayed by our elected Board of Education.

But the disappointment goes beyond the veterans. We have had members that have passed on to younger generations a deep respect for those who served. Our veterans have been told countless times by residents and neighbors, as evident in the recent letters to the editor published in the Herald, how disappointed the community is with your vote.

Your actions as a school board will not hinder what we have fought so hard for and have earned. Your decision to not include veterans in your deliberations, and the disrespect you showed us at your March 12 meeting, will not stop us from supporting our community that supports us. We will hold our annual Memorial Day parade and invite all of the student groups from the school district — just not the administration.

Patrick Cardone
Memorial Day parade chairman