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Is protracted school contract dispute ending? By MELISSA BERMAN mberman@liherald.com
Parker Schug/Herald
At a news conference on Monday, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman announced the impending demolition of the building that once housed the Five Towns Community Center. He was joined by U.S. Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, Assemblyman Ari Brown and County Legislator Howard Kopel.
Five Towns Community Center building to be demolished County brings in athletics, police presence By PARKER SCHUG pschug@liherald.com
The building that was the home of the Five Towns Community Center, on Lawrence Avenue in Lawrence, will be demolished, and the Nassau County Police Activity League, along with Operation Overwatch, a unit of the county Police Department, will move onto the property, where a new facility will be built. County Executive Bruce Blakeman announced the update at a news conference
in Lawrence on Monday. The community center’s 100-year lease ended on July 3, and the county assumed control of the property. “For many, many years, the Five Towns Community Center operated, but in the last 10 years, we’ve seen the steady decline of the operations here,” Blakeman said. “The building had fallen into disrepair, and we felt that we needed to make a change to improve conditions here, and provide a community center that the people can be proud CoNTiNUED oN pAgE 5
Teachers in the Lawrence school district may be able to breathe a sigh of relief after 13 years without a new contract: There is a proposed agreement on the table. The tentative deal was announced on Sept. 24, and the details were shared with teachers the following day, but neither district nor union officials have made them public. The Lawrence Teachers Association, which has nearly 280 members, including librarians, speech therapists and social workers, had until 3 p.m. on Monday to vote on the proposal. As of press time on Tuesday, the results had yet to be announced. “This achievement underscores our long-standing commitment to collaboration and partnership within our school community,” Lawrence district officials said in a statement released on Sept. 24. Educators have not received raises since the last contract expired on June 30, 2011, making this the longest contract standoff in any school district in New York state, surpassing a 12-year impasse in Buffalo that
ended in 2016. “Throughout this process, both the District and our teachers union have worked diligently together to ensure that the needs of our students, educators, and families remain at the forefront of our discussions,” Lawrence officials said in the statement. “This contract represents an important step forward in our shared mission of providing the best possible education for our students.” Both LTA President Rachel Kreiss and her predecessor, Lori Skonberg, declined to answer questions about the specifics of the contract until it is ratified. New York State United Teachers also would not comment, union officials said, until an agreement is official and the decision is announced. The contentious battle included multiple hearing with the state’s Public Employment Relations Board, rounds of mediation and an 18-page report, released in 2018, that cited comparable raises given to three other unions — the Association of Lawrence Administrators, the Lawrence Facilities Management Association and the Lawrence Public Schools Association of Counselors — to CoNTiNUED oN pAgE 11