Private-school students wait for books

Parents of private-school students in the Wantagh School District are upset that many of their children did not get textbooks in time for the start of the school year. District officials have responded by saying that changes are ahead.

Mike Palazzolo, who has children attending Chaminade and Kellenberg high schools, addressed the Board of Education at the Sept. 18 business meeting. He said was there to speak on behalf of dozens of parents who have experienced the same frustrations.

Palazzolo said that the district did not order workbooks for his children, or many others who live in Wantagh, and did not notify families of this decision. New York State Education law requires that public school districts provide transportation and textbooks for non-public school students.

“This is a consistent problem,” Kim Palazzolo told the Herald after the meeting. “It happens every year.”

She added that children become stressed out because they can’t keep up with the required work in their classes.

Mike Palazzolo said the district needs to make changes in how it handles textbooks for private school students. “We need a written policy put in place,” he said.

Superintendent Maureen Goldberg apologized for the inconvenience that the situation has caused these families. She said that while a policy change is unlikely, the district will alter its procedures to ensure that books are ordered as soon as the requests come in from private schools.

She said that many books were on back order. In some cases, she said, the district received bad information about the status of books from textbook companies, which was then passed on to parents.

Goldberg also said this was not an isolated problem. “Unfortunately,” she said, “some of our own Wantagh students did not have all the books they should have.”

Kim Palazzolo said that parents have spent much time trying to track down books for their children, or, in some cases, photocopies of books. “This was hours that the parents had to take for books that we’re legally entitled to,” she said. “We are taxpayers.”

Her husband noted that private school parents are getting organized in Wantagh, and said if the problem repeats itself next year, the board can expect much larger crowds at its meetings.

Board of Education President Anthony Greco vowed that the situation would be resolved. “As a board,” he said, “we’re going to do everything we can to see it doesn’t happen again.”