Sands v Horenstein Verified Answer
Public Court Documents
April 5, 1976

16 pages
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Brief Collection, LDF Court Filings. Sands v Horenstein Verified Answer, 1976. 9cad86b6-c39a-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/5e70336c-c065-462c-97f1-20687e93eb2d/sands-v-horenstein-verified-answer. Accessed July 07, 2025.
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STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION BEFORE: THE COMMISSIONER In Che Matter of : The Appeal of ERIC SANDS and MARGOT SANDS, minors, by EVELYN SANDS and HERMAN SANDS, their parents; ELISABETH LIEBERMAN and : ANDREW LIEBERMAN, minors, by MARGERY LIEBERMAN and MARTIN L. LIEBERMAN, their parents; MARC BREWSTER, a minor, by : ALFREDA BREWSTER, his parent; MATTHEW JASKOWIAK and JULIE JASKOWIAK, minors, by JOAN JASKOWIAK and EDMUND C. JASKOWIAK, : VERIFIED ANSWER their parents; and MARA ELMAN, a minor, by ANNA ELMAN and ARTHUR ELMAN, her parents; Individually and on Behalf of All Similarly : Situated Persons Within Rockville Centre Union Free School District No. 21, Petitioners, From the Actions of the Rockville Centre : Union Free School District No. 21, Town of Hempstead, County of Nassau, » -against- PETER KORENSTEIN, PAUL J. SULLIVAN, : CHRISTINE G. HEIBERG, DOROTHY McGARVEY and MORTON M. POLLAK, individually and. as Members of the Board of Education of : Rockville Centre Union Free School District No. 21, RICHARD S. BYERS, individually and as Superintendent of : Schools of Rockville Centre Union Free School District No. 21 and Rockville Centre Union Free School District No. 21, : Respondents. x TO THE COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION: Respondents by their attorneys, Kaufman, Taylor, Kimmel & Miller, for their answer to the petition herein: 1. Respondents admit that petitioners are minors attending the Watson School and, except as so admitted, re spondents deny knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to each and every allegation contained in paragraph "2". 2. Respondents deny the allegations contained in para graph T . 3. Respondents deny the allegations contained in para- grapn b . 4. Respondents deny the allegations contained in para graph "7". 5. Respondents deny that their acts or any alleged omissions on their part to act consist of, are evidenced by, or have resulted in any of the conditions referred to in paragraphs "8" through "23", both inclusive. 6. Respondents deny the allegations contained in para graph "9". 7. Respondents deny the allegations contained in para graph "10". 8. Respondents deny the allegations contained in para- graph "ll" except they admit that the average Intelligence Quotient at Watson School is below that of other elementary schools in the school district. 9. Respondents deny the allegations contained in para graph "12" except they admit that average achievement level for students at the Watson School, as heretofore recorded, is below that recorded at other elementary schools in the school district. 10. Respondents deny the allegations contained in para graph "13" except they admit that the average score recorded under the New York State Pupil Evaluation Program by students at the Watson School is below the average score recorded at other elementary schools within the school district. 11. Respondents deny the allegations contained in para graph "14" except they admit that the average achievement level for recent "graduates" of the Watson School, as recorded in tests given by the Junior High School, is below the average recorded for "graduates" of other elementary schools within the school district. 12. Respondents admit the allegations contained in paragraph "15". 13. Respondents admit the allegations contained in paragraph "16". -2 - 14. Respondents admit the allegations contained in paragraph "17". 15. Respondents deny the allegations contained in para- graph "13". 16. Respondents deny the allegations contained in para- graph "19”. 17. Respondents deny the allegations contained in para- graph "20,:. 18. Respondents deny the allegations contained in para- graph "21”. 19. Respondents deny the allegations contained in para- graph "22". 20. Respondents deny the allegations contained in para- graph "23". 21. Respondents deny the allegations contained in para- graph "24". • 22. Respondents deny the allegations contained in para- graph "25". 23. Respondents deny the allegations contained in para- graph "26", except that respondents allege that they have :re- viewed, discussed and considered, from time to time, various methods of maximizing the educational opportunities of all -3 - Watson School students and in connection therewith have con sidered whether the methods referred to in paragraph "26M should be instituted and employed. 24. Respondents deny the allegations contained in para graph "27". 25. Respondents deny the allegations contained in para graph "28". AS A FIRST AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 26. The appeal herein to the Commissioner was not in stituted within thirty days of the making of the decision or the acts of which complaint has been made by the petitioners. 27. The appeal herein is, therefore, barred by laches and by Section 275.16 (8 NYCRR 275.16) relating to appeals brought pursuant to §210 of the Education Law. AS A SECOND AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 28. Contrary to the allegations of petitioners that respondents have acted arbitrarily and capriciously and that by their acts they have produced a deficient educational environ ment at the Watson School which they have refused to correct, the facts are otherwise in that respondents, including the predecessors of the individual respondents, have sought for - 4- twenty-three years to establish at the Watson School a program of education suitably designed to meet the individual needs of its students and consonant with the promotion of racial equality, the encouragement of democratic aspirations and the development of excellence in learning, all with the knowledge and participa tion of the community in which the Watson School is located. 29. The Watson School was constructed and opened in 1953 to replace the old Clinton School as part of a distriewide expansion program. The Clinton School was an outmoded building and its enrollment of about one hundred students had become almost entirely black. The new Watson School was erected on a new site and was able to accommodate more than two hundred children of whom more than half were white. The establishment of the Watson School, including the selection of its site, was based upon recommendations made by consultants from Teachers College of Columbia University who had been retained by the then Board of Education of the School District. In addition, that Board of Education had the advice of a representative Citizens Committee in all of the aspects of the planning of the Watson School. Zone lines for the Watson School were established with careful con sideration given to the number of students in the zone in rela tion to school size, proximity to the school and other sound criteria. -5 - 30. Prior to 1963, the School District did not maintain records of students by race but it has been estimated that at the time of the opening of the Watson School in September 1953 the student body was about 40% black and 60% white. In the intervening years the number of black children remained fairly constant but the number of white children attending Watson School diminished chiefly because St. Agnes Parochial School, which was nearby, was expanded and families interested in Catholic paro chial education attempted to move into the Watson area. 31. On June 21, 1963 the enrollment by grade and race was as Grade follows: Negro White Total Per Cent of Negro Per Cent of White Kindergarten 21 27 48 44 56 1 16 7 23 70 30 2 24 9 33 73 27 3 12 9 21 57 43 4 10 13 23 43 57 5 8 19 27 30 70 6 11 12 23 48 52 Total 102 96 198 52 48 32. By letter dated June 14, 1963, then Commissioner James E. Allen, Jr. inquired of all chief local school adminis -6 - trators and presidents of the boards of education of the State of New York, including those of the respondent school district herein, that he be furnished with a statement indicating the situation in each school district with regard to any problem of racial imbalance, racial imbalance being defined by him, nfor the purpose of this report," as a school "having 50 percent or mor; Negro pupils enrolled." Thereupon, the President of the respon dent School Board reported to Commissioner Allen, in substance, as follows : (a) that by the standard defined by the Commissioner for the proposed report, Watson School as of June 21, 1963 showed a slight imbalance to the extent that the black students comprised 527o of the total school population; (b) that forecasting future enrollment was difficult because an urban renewal project was then under way in the area where most of the black students resided and St. Agnes Parochial School had apparently reached its capacity and this would impose a limitation on the number of white children in the Watson zone who might be enter ing the parochial school in the years ahead; (c) that in view of the fact that the degree of imbalance was only a marginal one and the quality of education being furnished was believed by the School Board and its Admin istrators to be excellent, the School Board did not believe it would serve the best interests of the children in Watson or in any of the other elementary schools to institute any basic changes in school organization at that -7 - time although consideration had been given to such proposals as open enrollment, compulsory transfer, relocation of zone lines, the "Princeton Plan", as well as to other variant solutions to the problem of racial imbalance. 33. As appears from paragraph "31" above, the kinder garten enrollment has generally tended to be larger than in the other grades because all five-year old children in the Watson zone attended that school rather than St. Agnes Parochial School which did not maintain a kindergarten. Thereafter, many children were transferred by their parents to the first grade of St. Agnes Parochial School. Actually, the majority of all children in the Watson School zone were and still are white but many are of Catholic persuasion and have been directed by their parents to the parochial school. 34. Commencing with the school year September 1964, upon recommendation of Dr. Herbert F. Johnson, its Superintendent (and, shortly thereafter, Associate Commissioner of Education of the State of New York), the respondent School Board introduced a program of voluntary transfer of black students from Watson School and white children from other schools to Watson where such transfers would continue to be productive of better racial balance and limited only by the extent that class size would permit. Transportation was provided in implementation of this -8 - program and the then existing enrichment program at the Watson School was continued and enlarged. 35. As the result of the foregoing efforts, the percent age of black pupils in the Watson School has shown the following changes to the date hereof: Year Total Enrollment Percent of Bl 1964-65 195 51 1965-66 163 42 1966-67 149 35 1967-68 181 29 1968-69 204 32 1969-70 229 37 1970-71 218 40 1971-72 220 41 1972-73 233 45 1973-74 . 203 48 1974-75 183 49 1975-76 173 52 36. During the foregoing period of the voluntary ex change program at the Watson School, the following special supportive programs were also introduced at the Watson School. -9 - Afternoon enrichment program in French, art, Spanish culture, sewing, woodworking, reading, chess, cooking, etc. Staff liaison with homes of disadvantaged children. Introduction of Headstart Program in 1965 and instruction provided for parents of children in the program. Pre-kindergarten program. Hot lunch program for pre-kindergarten students. Summer Headstart Program (2 summers in conjunction with EOC). In 1970, a Summer Title I Reading Program for children in Grade 3. The Watson School was made available for programs outside of school hours for black students. Cooperative exchange art program with Molloy College. Alpha time materials and methods of instruction were introduced in the kindergarten and first grade. In September 1974, the Berkeley Project was introduced as a new means of teaching children about their own bodies. During the summer of 1975, the Watson professional staff was provided with a con sultant on inter-aging children during the current school year. 10- (m) In November, 1975, a Green Circle Girl Scout Program on human relations was commenced. (n) From time to time, special adult education classes have been offered in the Watson School for parents and other adults who were deprived of educational opportunity in their youth. (o) The average class size has been maintained, generally, at a lower level than in any other school in the district. (p) More instructional materials per pupil have been made available at the Watson School than at any other school within the district. (q) Special teachers of art, music and physical education have spent a greater percentage of their time, based on pupil enrollment, in the Watson School than in any other elementary school. (r) The Watson School is one of the two most modern of the six elementary schools in the district. (s) The number of students per aide in the Watson School is 8.7, whereas the numbers for the other five schools are, respective ly, 12.2, 14.8, 17.1, 17.5 and 21.8. 37. Future plans for the Watson School, which are different or beyond the contemplated plans for other schools within the School District, include plans for further smaller average class size and lower staff-pupil ratio; increases in -11- art supplies, general supplies, work books, etc.; more teacher aides; housing the school district social worker at the Watson School and thereby producing increased availability to parents, students and staff; establishing a joint venture with the local village authorities for early intervention and assistance to families with pre-school children who are on the A.D.C. rolls; and a pre-kindergarten for three-year and four-year old children. 38. Despite the foregoing efforts made by the re spondents, the steady reduction in the percentage of black students at the Watson School in the period from 1964 through 1968, as set forth in paragraph "32" above, was reversed during the succeeding years so that the present percentage of black students is approxi mately the same percentage as existed in 1963. The reduction reflected the reluctance of black parents to permit their children to be transported out of the Watson zone to other elementary schools in the school district as well as the re luctance of white parents in the other elementary schools to transfer their children to the Watson School. The former atti tudes of both white and black parents have undergone changes, especially on the part of black parents who came to realize that the Watson School offered a high quality of education to their children and that such education was available to them in their -12- i own immediate neighborhood. Consequently, where as many as 56 black pupils were transferred from the Watson School in 1966-67 and 55 in 1967-68, the number transferring thereafter steadily declined with the result that there are, in the current school year, only 25 black students who have opted to leave the Watson School. As a lesser number of black children have been trans ferred, the availability of spaces for white children from out side the zone has been correspondingly reduced. Thus, in the face of black reluctance to leave the Watson School, the voluntary transfer program initiated by Dr. Herbert F. Johnson in 1963 is not serving, in its present form, to significantly reduce the percentage of black students at the Watson School. 39. The Board and the administrative staff of the School District contemplate a renewal of interest on the part of more black parents in transferring their children from the Watson School to the other elementary schools, commencing with the Fall of 1976, and likewise, a more intensive and expanded effort will be made to encourage white parents in the other elementary schools to consider transporting their children to the Watson School. 40. The respondents have made and are making a serious effort to bring about equal opportunity for learning among all the children in the School District, especially among those -13- black children who reside in the Watson School zone. 41. The Watson School is an.integrated school that affords to its students a high quality education in an integrated environment where blacks and whites may intermingle and share common learning experiences. 42. Respondents have complied and do comply with the standards of racial integration as set forth by the Regents of the State of New York. WHEREFORE, respondents respectfully pray that the petition herein be denied. KAUFMAN, TAYLOR, KIMMEL & MILLER Attorneys for Respondents Office & P. 0. Address 41 East 42nd Street New York, New York 10017 (212) 682-2983 -14- STATE OF NEW YORK) ) s s • COUNTY OF NASSAU ) Richard S. Byers being duly sworn, deposes and says that he is one of the respondents in this proceeding; that he has read the annexed answer and knows the contents thereof; that the same is true to the knowledge of deponent except as to the matters therein stated to be alleged upon information and belief, and as to those matters he believes it to be true. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 5th day of April 1976. 77 N _ . ■ * * i or* o. 31-9294090 2d m Now York County . n ixs.rcs Iv larck 30, I 3 / £