East Ramapo: Lowey urges feds to 'expedite' investigations

U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey is urging federal officials to "expedite" investigations of the East Ramapo school district's use of federal funding in the wake of the appointment of a fiscal monitor by the state Education Department last week.

While Lowey's office had few details, a spokesman said the investigations may be new or past probes that may have been recently reopened.

Federal investigators must complete their work quickly so the results can be included in the review the new fiscal monitor is about to begin, a spokesman for Lowey said Tuesday.

The state Education Department said June 10 it will install a fiscal monitor at East Ramapo after Gov. Andrew Cuomo called on the state to step up its oversight.

The monitor, Hank Greenberg, is charged with reviewing the district's use of federal funding for special education, among other areas. Greenberg will serve in an "advisory capacity" and make recommendations to the U.S. Deptartment of Education, state lawmakers and education officials.

School board President Yehuda Weissmandl lashed out in response to the appointment, saying the governor had given into "the demands of bigots." There is no evidence the oversight is needed, he said.

Plagued by financial and political crises in recent years, East Ramapo has been the subject of several critical state audits and federal reviews stemming from complaints made by activists and parents in the community.

East Ramapo administrators and school board members have been accused of giving short shrift to the interests of public school children, and many residents have alleged that the Orthodox Jewish and Hasidic-controlled school board steers taxpayer money toward the private religious schools attended by board members' children.

At least one federal investigation, conducted by the U.S. Office for Civil Rights, was sparked in spring 2011 after the Spring Valley chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People lodged complaints about the sales of Colton and Hillcrest elementary schools to private yeshivas.

The real estate deals are the subject of an ongoing investigation by the state Attorney General's Office. The probe produced felony charges against the appraiser involved in the sale of one school.

An audit by the U.S. Department of Education's inspector general was to determine whether the district followed the law in its use of Title I and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act funding. East Ramapo will receive about $20 million in federal assistance this year for programs like Title I and IDEA, according to Lowey.

Federal investigators folded that audit without issuing a final report in 2011 but left open the possibility of future action in the district.

According to Lowey, the inspector general confirmed on Monday "it is investigating matters related to the appropriate use of federal funds" in the district. The federal Education Department's Office of Civil Rights is also reviewing a complaint from the Spring Valley NAACP regarding the school district, she said in a statement.

"I support actions to ensure that the children in (the district) receive the very best education possible," Lowey, D-Harrison, said in a statement. "In the coming months, the State Monitor will be closely evaluating governance and fiscal practices of the school district. Expeditious review of federal complaints is essential to help resolve any and all concerns about the school district once and for all."

The pressure from the congresswoman comes a couple of months after she met with local NAACP leaders and state Assembly members Ellen Jaffee and Kenneth Zebrowski, who are among many Rockland County voices who've called for financial oversight in the district.

"What we'd asked is that she step in and take a position on East Ramapo," said Oscar Cohen, a retired school administrator who chairs the education committee of the Spring Valley chapter of the NAACP. "We're pleased because anyone who takes a position supporting the children going to the public schools is taking a position that we're supportive of. There's a lot of substantial federal money going to the district."

Cohen and clergy members who are part of the grassroots Rockland Clergy for Social Justice group went to Albany in April to urge Cuomo to help resolve the district's difficulties.

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