Editorial: East Ramapo's lawyer games

It's a disappointment that public monies will continue to flow to East Ramapo school board's preferred law firm, Minerva & D'Agostino, which has treated the public so poorly, and has fomented controversy and tension in the deeply divided district.

In July 2013, the school board pledged to transition to a new law firm after a lawyer's vile, expletive-laden verbal attack on a group of district parents was captured on video and posted on YouTube for all to see. Yet on Tuesday, the board voted 7-2 to retain Minerva & D'Agostino. School officials say they could not find another law firm that was either qualified or willing to handle the district's "unique" situation — the majority of school-age children living in the district attend private schools, and the majority of the school board comes from the Orthodox Jewish community who send their children to yeshivas.

It's important to remember why the school board selected the Long Island-based law firm in the first place in 2010 — or rather, re-selected, as the board first voted to hire the firm in 2009, but had to re-do the process because requests for proposals had not been issued. As then-President Nathan Rothschild said after the law firm's February 2010 hiring. "Minerva & D'Agostino wrapped their arms around the private school special-education students and were instrumental in making many changes in the environment for the families with special-education students in Lawrence" in Long Island, which also has a large Orthodox Jewish population whose children are educated in yeshivas.

Tuesday's vote to renew the contract of law firm Minerva & D'Agostino came almost a year to the day after an associate from the law firm berated and cursed parents during and after a school board meeting. The obnoxious attack brought apologies from the board and an announcement that it would replace the law firm as soon as was feasible. (The firm had said that the lawyer in question, Christopher Kirby, would no longer work on East Ramapo business, but bills obtained through the Freedom of Information Act redact such information, so that's yet to be verified.)

Kirby's July 2, 2013, profanity-laced rant had not been the first time public school parents complained about obnoxious behavior by the board's legal firm; principal attorney Albert D'Agostino has been accused of cursing and confronting members of the public as far back as 2009, when the board first tried to hire the Long Island law firm.

A shift seen

Bad manners aside, the law firm has long stirred concerns and criticisms.

The first hiring of Minerva & D'Agostino drew hundreds of people to school board meetings, who questioned why the perpetually cash-strapped district would pay more than double for the new lawyer.

East Ramapo public-school advocates continued to protest D'Agostino's tenure, which coincided with a shift in the way special education placements were handled and overlapped with the sale of two school buildings by the district.

"It just seems like since Mr. D'Agostino has been there, we are seeing more and more (special-education) appeals," East Ramapo then-Trustee Stephen Price said in 2012. "We're seeing a lot more appeals and a lot more settlements."

The district remains embroiled with the state Education Department over the way it places children in special-ed programs. The state has cited the district numerous times for placing special-education children in private settings even though public programs exist. The district continues to appeal the state's ruling, insisting it's more cost-effective to bow to parents' wishes and pay for special education children to attend private programs and avoid costly litigation. (A different law firm represents the district in that ongoing court battle.)

Sharp rebuke

Meanwhile, the school board has been mum on whether it will issue another request for proposals to replace the firm. It will be interesting to review proposals from those firms that did apply and weren't selected (now that a decision is made, the documents should be subject to the Freedom of Information laws) to determine why they weren't able to meet the district's needs. It would also be interesting to hear from the district's state-appointed fiscal monitor, but Hank Greenberg has yet to formally take the role after he was assigned to the newly created post in June by State Education Commissioner John King.

Local officials blasted the district's decision to rehire D'Agostino's firm. Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee, D-Suffern, called the decision "outrageous and an insult to the entire East Ramapo community"; Sen. David Carlucci, D-New City, called it "an unnecessary and unwelcome distraction."

Such rebuke for the firm's role in the district reaches to 2009: "This is a declaration of war," said the district's then-Deputy Superintendent Joe Farmer, concerned it would foment already existing tension between the public- and private-school community; then-Trustee Mimi Calhoun said she believed the board had "betrayed the public trust."

The 2010 appointment also elicited negative response. "I think it was the saddest day that I've ever witnessed in East Ramapo," community activist Peggy Hatton said after board hired D'Agostino's firm. Hatton, it turns out, was the main target of Kirby's vile screed that was videotaped in a Spring Valley parking lot in 2013.

So why is anyone surprised?

#LOHUDREACTS

On Tuesday night, East Ramapo school district's Board of Education voted to renew its controversial law firm's contract.

It was almost a year to the day that an associate from Minerva & D'Agostino law firm berated and cursed parents after a school board meeting. The board had pledged to replace the firm. "We disassociate ourselves with his actions and his words," East Ramapo school board President Yehuda Weissmandl said on July 7, 2013, just days after the incident, as he announced the board's intention to replace its legal counsel as soon as was feasible.

Readers react to the contract renewal:

• "This is why we fought for State oversight of the East Ramapo School District. Perfect example as monitor begins work." – @kenzebrowski _ny (Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski) via Twitter.

• "BTW outside of the staff Attorney going crazy a year ago, what else is wrong with that #EastRamapo law firm?" – @YossiGestetner via Twitter.

• "Somehow, I thought they couldn't shock me further, but this is on another level of shockage ..." – Ron Wasserman via lohud.com.

• "Disgraceful, disgusting and a slap in the face to every parent of the East Ramapo School district. I can't believe the gall of this board." – Alma Acosta Weinstein via Facebook.

• "and that's why they need oversight." – Susan Reback Miles via Facebook.

• "... it just makes no sense. This causes more tension." – @morsecod34 (Aaron Morse) via Twitter

Join the discussion; use the hashtag #lohudreacts when you share your comments via social media.