Serving Manhasset, Munsey Park, North Hills, Plandome Heights, Plandome Manor, Plandome and Flower Hill
$1.50
Friday, July 19, 2024
Vol. 12, No. 29
KIDS GUIDE
NASSAU HOSPITALS NASSAU OFFICIALS REACT RANKED AMONG BEST TO TRUMP SHOOTING
PAGES 19-22
PAGE 2
PAGE 6
Manhasset ed board picks Panzik as prez Will serve another year in position, Ted Post appointed as new VP BY C A M E RY N O A K ES Manhasset Board of Education reelected Steven Panzik as its president at its reorganizational meeting Thursday night, and selected Ted Post as vice president. Panzik was elected to the board in 2022. This will be his second year serving as the board’s president. The board also swore in newly elected Trustee Maria Pescatore. Marianna Bruno, who was elected alongside Pescatore, was not present at the swearing in. Pescatore and Bruno narrowly defeated Eileen Bauer in the board’s election in May. The three newcomers ran for the two open seats left by board members not seeking re-election. Pescatore received 912 votes, Bruno received 864 votes and Bauer received 843 votes. The board also voted for a letter to be sent to the state Education Department in opposition of a proposal to permit transgender girls to try out and compete on a sports team. “It’s possible that girls lose positions, lose opportunities, to participate on certain teams because those opportunities are cannibalized by boys who try out,” Superintendent Gaurav Passi said.
Panzik said the letter argues the education department’s proposal would be a violation of the federal government’s Title IX protections for female athletes and overrides the school district’s current control in exercising discretion in these situations. He said currently it is within the district’s athletic director’s discretion to grant if an athlete can play on a team of the opposite gender. He said it is currently addressed on a case-by-case basis. Nassau County Republican legislators recently backed a plan backed by County Executive Bruce Blakeman to bar transgender girls and women from playing for teams at country facilities. The board previously discussed this issue before drafting a letter. The main concern at that time was limiting the ability of girls to make a team, such as softball, where there is no boy’s team. Passi said the proposal changes the determination of an athlete to be on a team in this scenario based solely on their tryout performance and athleticism. The district would not be able to restrict their admittance on a team for any other reason. In other news, Passi presented to the board the district’s elementary enrollment projections for 2024-2025 and updates on construction. Continued on Page 36
PHOTO BY MICHAEL MALASZCZYK
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman signs a bill banning transgender athletes from women’s competition into law. Within hours, he was sued by New York States Attorney General Letitia James for this.
James sues county over transgender athlete law BY M I C H A E L MALASZCZYK State Attorney General Letitia James and the New York Civil Liberties Union sued Nassau County and County Executive Bruce Blakeman Monday in a move to overturn a county law that bans transgender girls and women from participating in women’s sporting events at county-run parks and facilities. James filed her lawsuit imme-
diately after Blakeman signed the legislation into law at a ceremony attended by county legislators. The law, approved by the county Legislature in a 12-5 vote along party lines, would apply equally to private and public school teams, recreational leagues of all ages, charity events, and even competitive professional and amateur adult teams with their own rules on participation. The law closely mirrored an executive order issued by Blakeman in
February. A Republican State Supreme Court justice ruled Blakeman had exceeded his authority by issuing the order because there was no “corresponding legislative enactment.” Neither Blakeman nor members of the Legislature have provided a single case in which the law would apply. James said the law he had just signed into law conflicts with state laws protecting New Yorkers from Continued on Page 37