Serving Williston Park, East Williston, Mineola, Albertson and Searingtown
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Friday, January 3, 2020
Vol. 69, No. 1
HEALTH & WELLNESS
LIBRARIAN UNDER FIRE
GROWING NUMBER OF ANTI-SEMITIC ATTACKS
PAGES 25-32
PAGE 2
PAGE 6
89
Legal complaint filed against school district
OUT OF THE BOX
Ex-EWSD teacher claims age, religious discrimination in firing BY R OB E RT PE L A E Z A former teacher has filed a legal complaint against the East Williston school district and two of its officials, claiming she was fired as a result of religious and age discrimination. The complaint was filed in federal District Court in Brooklyn on Dec. 20 by Michelle Chalfen, 50, who spent the previous four years as a special education teacher at the Wheatley School in Old Westbury. The 41-page complaint stated that Chalfen, who is Jewish, “has dedicated her entire career to shaping and building the lives of some of Long Island, New York’s most vulnerable youth as a special education public school teacher.” The district’s director of pupil personnel services, Lynn Mazza, and assistant superintendent for instruction and personnel, Danielle Gately, are the two individuals Chalfen targets in her complaint.
Chalfen’s legal complaint gave this account: She began working for the district as a special education teacher in the fall of 2015. At the time of her hiring, she was subject to a four-year probationary period, which would conclude with a vote on whether she would be granted tenure. During the fall of 2015, Chalfen was observed once in October and in November. Her supervisors offered some suggestions in an “overwhelmingly positive” observational response. The next year Chalfen received two more critiques of her performance, praising her ability to make students feel “welcome and safe” in an environment that promoted a “respectful culture for learning.” In Chalfen’s end-of-the-year evaluation issued around June 2017, she achieved all “effective” ratings, which are the highest available on the evaluation scale. Continued on Page 43
PHOTO COURTESY OF MINEOLA PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT
Three students from Mineola High School are among only 85 chosen Island-wide to participate in the Institute of Creative Problem Solving for Gifted & Talented Students at SUNY College at Old Westbury. See story on page 55.
LIRR touts North Shore enhancement projects BY R OB E RT PELAEZ
Transportation Authority. Station enhancements, bridge construction and grade More than two dozen Long crossing eliminations were imIsland Rail Road projects were plemented at various locations completed in 2019 in an effort across the North Shore. Repreto modernize the Metropolitan sentatives from the MTA and
LIRR said they were pleased to see the progression of projects and new technology on Long Island. “The ability for the Long Island Rail Road to improve Continued on Page 44
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