14 MAY 10, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Calls for greater communication
during active school threats
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
When Cristina Furlong arrived
at P.S. 89 in Elmhurst
to drop her son off for
school on the morning of April 24, she
came across a scene that would trouble
any parent.
At 7:20 a.m. that morning, there
were six police cars in front of the
building along with an NYPD Queens
North van a block away and multiple
offi cers stationed at the front door
and inside the building. Furlong, who
documented what she experienced in
an email to QNS, said that parents received
no information that there was a
violent threat against the school until
a letter was sent home later that day.
“It was quite disconcerting to send
a child into a building occupied by
NYPD,” Furlong said.
The threat turned out to be the fi rst of
two received in School District 24 in the
same week, and the overall response
to both incidents from parents led to
a stronger desire for better communication
from school administrations
during times of confusion and distress.
The second threat unfolded at
P.S./I.S. 119 in Glendale on April 26
when the school received a social media
message about a bomb. The faculty
and students evacuated the school for
approximately 20 minutes during the
police investigation, according to a
letter to parents from Principal Jeanne
Fagan obtained by QNS.
In both cases, police determined the
threats were unfounded. The school
day began on schedule at P.S. 89, and
classes at P.S./I.S. 119 resumed aft er
the brief evacuation. Aft er each incident,
the Department of Education
sent similar emailed statements to
QNS, saying that the students and
staff were safe and that the schools
followed protocol.
Parents, however, told a diff erent
story about the P.S./I.S. 119 incident in
community groups on Facebook; they
posted comments claiming that, before
Principal Fagan sent the letter, other
school employees told them it was just
a fi re drill and there was nothing to
worry about.
So what exactly is the protocol that
the DOE instructs schools to follow
when telling concerned parents about
violent threats?
When asked that very question
and whether the DOE is considering
improving its communication during
school threats, a DOE spokesperson
released the following statement:
“Families are a critical part of our
school communities, and schools are
instructed to distribute notifi cation
when an incident aff ecting the entire
school occurs. We provide timely and
accurate updates when an incident
arises, and our priority is to ensure
that each incident is swift ly addressed
in the appropriate manner.”
Still, parents aren’t the only ones
frustrated over the protocols in place.
Back in March at Forest Hills High
School (FHHS) — which many residents
of District 24 go on to attend
— the school went into a lockdown in
response to a threat to shoot up the
school made by a student that was later
found to be a hoax.
The threat came one day aft er thousands
of Queens students participated
in a walkout to protest gun violence on
the one-month anniversary of the tragedy
that sparked the renewed alarm
over school safety: the Feb. 14 mass
shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas
High School in Parkland, Florida.
The March 15 FHHS incident caused
so much confusion within the local
community that Principal Ben Sherman
held an impromptu meeting that
same evening to answer parents’ questions.
That meeting was fi lled with discussion
over the miscommunication
between the school and the parents
throughout the day, but when a student
decided to speak up, it was clear that
the students also felt wronged.
The student choked back tears as she
described sitting “in the back of a classroom
like sardines” with no idea what
kind of danger they were really in.
Since the Parkland shooting and
the incident at FHHS, safety has been
the primary topic of discussion at the
monthly meetings for the Community
Education Council (CEC) of District 24.
CEC Co-President Dmytro Fedkowskyj
told QNS that the advisory body has
been advocating for simple changes to
DOE policies, such as locking all school
doors during the day and having more
security offi cers.
He also off ered a possible explanation
for the miscommunication with
parents during school threats.
“The principal cannot release anything
until he gets approval from the
district offi ce and central offi ce,” Fedkowskyj
said. “Schools aren’t trying
to hide anything; they can’t release
anything until then. Unfortunately
it’s not going to be live information,
and I don’t think that’s going to change,
but live information isn’t necessarily
correct information.”
While the CEC continues to push
for minor changes, the City Council
took the fi rst step toward signifi cant
reform on May 9 when it introduced a
bill from Councilman Paul Vallone that
would create a School Security Task
Force. The bill was introduced as part
of a 10-bill package that addresses emergency
communication technologies,
community collaboration and public
notifi cation for school emergencies.
Photo courtesy of Cristina Furlong
Police cars in front of P.S. 89 in Elmhurst on April 24.
Street corner re-named for Deacon Fabio Flaim
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
When Ridgewood residents
drive through the intersection
of Bleecker Street and
60th Place and pass by Our Lady of
the Miraculous Medal Church, they
will see a permanent reminder of the
contributions one deacon made to the
parish for many decades.
On April 29, a third street sign was
added to the intersection, forever
labeling it as “Deacon Fabio Flaim
Way.” Flaim, who became a deacon in
1984 and served the Our Lady of the
Miraculous Medal and St. Aloysius
Church parishes over the course of
33 years, was also celebrated for his
contributions with a memorial mass
that morning and a fundraiser benefi t
luncheon aft er the street re-naming.
Flaim passed away nearly a year
prior on May 2, 2017, at the age of 87.
Fabio was known for working
directly with many Italian Catholic
societies in Ridgewood and Glendale
including La Madonna Del Balzo,
Radio Maria, Santa Crocifi scio, Maria
Delle Grazie, San Antonio, San
Giuseppe, San Francisco De Padua,
San Gandulfo, Alcamo Castellamare
and Padre Pio. He was also a member
of Club Trentino for more than 40
years.
The pastor of St. Aloysius, Rev.
George Poltorak, spoke at the
ceremony and added that “Deacon
Fabio understood well what
it means to be the branches and
Jesus is the vine, as we heard in
today’s Gospel, and this was the
legacy of his life.”
Councilman Robert Holden and
Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan,
who have both been community
advocates for decades themselves,
also shared their thoughts about
Deacon Flaim at the ceremony.
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