East Ramapo apology 'not enough,' Latino protesters say

• East Ramapo chief%27s apology %27not enough%27 for Latino community and supporters
• Board member%3A Protests are %27one-sided%2C%27 not helping the kids
• 5th school board protest planned Nov. 4

SPRING VALLEY – A fourth night of protests by the Latino community and supporters resulted in a personal apology from the East Ramapo schools superintendent that did little to appease his critics.

Superintendent Joel Klein has been under fire for comments he made at a board meeting two months ago suggesting that the district's growing immigrant population was responsible for its high dropout rate.

Klein took a minute of his agenda Tuesday night to read a modified version of a letter of apology he sent to parents Friday.

"It was not my intention to be disrespectful or insensitive to new students or the community," he said. "Again, I sincerely apologize to all of those who were offended."

Klein said he continues to support a community dialogue about meeting the needs of immigrant students ages 17 to 21 who are enrolling in the district with little or no English language skills. Details on how the program would work and whether it would include a non-diploma track remain unclear.

"These students should be heard. They must be served in the best way we can and so should any and all community representatives included in the process and that's what we will be doing as we go on," Klein said.

The protests were triggered when a video spread on social media of Klein speaking at an Aug. 19 board meeting about a proposed program that would route older teen immigrant students out of the high school diploma track because they were expected to drop out.

At that meeting, Klein said of immigrant students: "They want to learn the language. They want free lunch, breakfast and whatever else they can get. They know they cannot get a diploma. ... It's a major, major issue."

He later said his remarks were "taken out of context," "misinterpreted" and "frankly, distorted."

Pushback on apology

On Tuesday evening, protesters pushed back on the apology, criticizing Klein's tone and timing. Others said words weren't enough to ensure that the 9,000 mostly black and Latino public school students get a quality education. They've called for restoration of elementary art and music, full-day kindergarten and other programs that have been cut in recent years.

"I don't think that your apology was sincere, honestly," Spring Valley High School graduate Joselyn Nivelo said, prompting applause from the crowd of more than 120 parents and students.

"I thought it was appreciated but not enough. He needs to resign," said parent activist Steve White, a de facto spokesman for the Latino community who co-organized the initial protest in September.

Grade school kids draped American flags around their necks and held signs like "Education, not discrimination."

The meeting adjourned around 9:25 p.m. but protesters weren't finished. Chanting "Yes we can!" and other slogans in English and Spanish, they crowded around the foot of the stairs leading to the superintendent's office, demanding answers about how immigrant students' needs will be met. The district security director stood on the stairs until the crowd dispersed about 20 minutes later.

A fifth protest is scheduled at 7 p.m. Nov. 4.

The anger in the Latino community comes as Klein's $242,000 contract is being negotiated by the board. The two-year contract expired in June.

Klein did not return a message seeking comment Wednesday. His apologies came a couple of weeks after a state-appointed fiscal monitor questioned East Ramapo's "understanding of and compliance with" the law on immigrant students' educational rights. The monitor, Hank Greenberg, also rebuked Klein for "attacking" the motives of local NAACP representatives who wrote a letter seeking more information about the program.

Greenberg expressed his concerns in a private letter to Klein that was later made public by the state Education Department.

Board member speaks

Bernard Charles Jr., the only African-American on the nine-member, majority Orthodox Jewish Board of Education, broke the school board's silence on the protests in an interview after the meeting.

"They need to understand what we're trying to do (in creating the program) and they're being misled," he told The Journal News, referring to district activists, such as White, who've helped galvanize the Latino residents into action in response to Klein's comments.

Charles said the board hasn't addressed the protesters' concerns directly at the meetings because the protests are "pretty much one-sided." The board has had conversations with "the real Latino leaders" in the community, he said, but he declined to identify them.

"The main thing here is that we have to help the kids. This bickering back and forth ... does not help the kids. They claim to be helping the kids — they're not," he said of the activists. "This is not how you do it. If you want to sit down, you sit down with people on the board and you have a discussion. They don't want to have that."

Twitter: @MareesaNicosia