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From left, Village of Port Jefferson trustees Bob Juliano and Drew Biondo, Mayor Lauren Sheprow and Deputy Mayor Rebecca Kassay. Photo by Raymond Janis

Public business picked up at Port Jeff Village Hall on Monday, Oct. 2, as the village board of trustees tackled ethics policy, village finances and forthcoming branch pickup services.

Trustee reports

Trustee Drew Biondo updated the public on the board’s ongoing efforts to introduce a Code of Ethics. During his report, he alleged multiple past ethical violations, emphasizing the need for such a policy within the village government.

“I hope that each of you will come when this [Code of Ethics] is presented and ready to go and listen to what’s going on,” he said. “I think what I’m also going to do is present resolutions calling out the old behavior, resolving never to do it again and making sure that every employee of this government understands what’s expected of them because I don’t think they did.”

Trustee Bob Juliano reported on upcoming branch pickup services. West side branch pickup — from the Setauket line to the west side of Main Street — will take place from Oct. 23 to 27. Midtown branch pickup from the east side of Main to the west side of Belle Terre Road will occur from Oct. 30 through Nov. 3. Services for all residents east of Belle Terre Road will occur from Nov. 6 through 13.

Staff reports

Village treasurer Stephen Gaffga reported that in his review of the village’s recent 2022 audit the village’s capital fund has a negative fund balance. “Basically, it means that more money has been spent than has been put into it,” he said. “The big problem with that is that that has an effect on your other funds.”

To alleviate these fiscal pressures, Gaffga advised the board to consider “severely cutting back on its discretionary capital spending,” tapping into the capital fund only for projects entirely subsidized through grants or deemed critical. “There needs to be a rebuilding of the fund balance,” he added.

Village clerk Sylvia Pirillo reported her office’s ongoing efforts to make agendas for public meetings more comprehensive and accessible. Among the new provisions within the agenda are attachments and numbered resolutions.

Pirillo said the village has also added complete Request for Proposal and Request for Quotation packages to the village website, which may include drawings, specifications and schematics.

“This eliminates the need for a potential proposer to actually come into Village Hall and pick up hard copy documents at a fee,” the clerk said.

More information

The board will reconvene Monday, Oct. 16, at 6 p.m. To watch the entire recent meeting, including the public safety report, board resolutions and general comments, please see the video above.

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By Aidan Johnson

This past weekend, the Village of Nissequogue and the Friends of Stony Brook Harbor jointly hosted the first Happy Harbor Day in over 15 years at the Long Beach boat ramp in St. James.

The event, which took place Saturday, Sept. 30, helped generate tortoise awareness around Stony Brook Harbor while spotlighting other related environmental issues.

Despite considerable rainfall, the event was well attended, especially early on. Live bands played while free ice cream was handed out, and members from local organizations, such as the Sweetbriar Nature Center, helped educate attendees on the local environment.

“We had a wonderful turnout, notwithstanding this lousy weather that the morning started with,” said Nissequogue Mayor Richard B. Smith, who took part in the dunk tank to help raise money for next year’s Happy Harbor Day.

During the event, former New York State Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) was presented with the Dr. Larry Swanson Environmental Award for his work protecting the harbor from overdevelopment.

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File photo by Raymond Janis

By Raymond Janis

The Smithtown Town Board was back before the public Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 3, for a brief meeting covering an environmental review and the town’s open burning policy.

The board issued a determination of nonsignificance under the State Environmental Quality Review Act for the application for site plan approval by Cox Industries LLC on Old Northport Road, located 60 feet west of Sunken Meadow Parkway in Kings Park.

During the public comment period, resident Michael Rosado rejected the negative SEQRA declaration, claiming the property has had numerous code violations. “Before site plan approval is given to this gentleman or to anybody, those infractions should be remedied,” he said.

Rosado also claimed that open burning has occurred at multiple sites within the Kings Park industrial area, noting that one nearby landscaper has been collecting debris and burning it. “The Smithtown fire marshal was called numerous times,” Rosado said, adding that “the ashes were landing on the vehicles” stored at a neighboring property.

“The Town Code … strictly says that no kindling is allowed on private property in the Town of Smithtown,” he added. “I just hope that this board will address that issue so the open burning stops in the industrial area.”

Responding to Rosado’s inquiries, town Supervisor Ed Wehrheim (R) said, “The town attorney has made notes referencing the site plan, and we are aware of that burning situation and working on it with state [Department of Environmental Conversation].”

The Town Board will reconvene on Thursday, Oct. 19, at 7 p.m. for a public hearing to consider the 2024 preliminary budget and a separate public hearing to consider amendments to the zoning code.

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File photo by Rachel Shapiro

By Samantha Rutt

The League of Women Voters hosted a Meet the Candidates forum for Smithtown Public Library trustees Tuesday evening, Oct. 3, in an event held via Zoom.

Four of the library board’s seven seats are up for grabs this election cycle. Eight candidates appeared at the event, responding to questions previously submitted by community members.

The total votes a candidate garners will determine the length of his or her term, with the two highest vote-getters to serve the standard three-year terms. The third- and fourth-place finishers will serve from Oct. 11 through Dec. 31, 2024.

The remaining two open seats are currently being served by interim appointees, Anita Dowd-Neufeld and Barbara Deal — among those campaigning again — due to the resignation of previously elected trustees. The candidates selected for these offices will serve the remainder of their terms.

Topics addressed during the event were consistent with library budget inquiries, policy on censorship and banned content, the candidate’s relationship with the library and other community centers, and misinformation included in the library’s collection.

Running for a third term, incumbent board president Brianna Baker-Stines, who held a position at a library as her first job, expressed passion for preserving the library’s place in the community.

“The library has always been a safe space for me, I hope that I can show other members of the community how it can be a safe space,” Baker-Stines said. “I want to be on the board because I want to keep the library the way it is. It’s a paragon of intellectual freedom.” 

Censorship, a topic discussed throughout the night, was met with controversy from several candidates. Candidates fostered discussion over the allowance of censorship in libraries, the costliness of New York State investigations into the issue and the importance of parental oversight in choosing children’s literature.

“Libraries provide resources, and parents can choose which resources they want,” Baker-Stines said. “Censorship is not only morally ambiguous, it’s potentially illegal. It’s costly, and it’s time-consuming for our taxpayers.”

Another topic of prominence during the forum was that of the budget. Candidate Hector Gavilla, a real estate broker, expressed concern over installing an electric car charging station in the library parking lot.

“A $550,000 budget was approved for having electric vehicle charging stations throughout the library,” Gavilla said. “$550,000, for a very small percentage of people that have electric cars, I don’t see the educational value in that and how that is something that the library should offer.”

The proposed library budget for 2024 is calculated to be $17,292,960. This budget will cover property tax, salaries and employee benefits, library materials and programs, operation and maintenance and other expenses, including a 2.27% tax levy increase.

“I am looking to help and provide services for the entire community,” Gavilla continued. “Also, to be fiscally responsible with the taxpayer dollars, they should know their money is being spent properly.”

Similarly, candidate Christopher Sarvis concentrated his comments on the library’s function as a local hub and institution of learning for Smithtown residents. He pledged to be a champion for the library and its various causes.

“I’m here to be an advocate for this library, it’s a pillar of our community,” he said. “We need to look out for the sustainability of this library to keep it the pillar that it is in this community.”

The event was live-streamed and will be available on the library’s YouTube channel until Oct. 10, Election Day. Voting will occur from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at all four Smithtown Library District buildings.

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Footage of sideshow participants jumping on police vehicles near the intersection of Ocean Avenue and the Long Island Expressway on Oct. 28, 2022. Photo courtesy Suffolk County Police Department

By Emma Gutmann

Concerned community members joined representatives of the Suffolk County Police Department at Hauppauge’s main firehouse at 855 Wheeler Road on Thursday, Sept. 28, discussing the local impacts of street racing, sideshows and raucous partying at the Hauppauge Industrial Park.

David Regina, SCPD 4th Precinct inspector, presented numerous social media clips of the conditions caused by these sideshow events. Footage included 100-yard radius donuts, handcuffed drag racers fleeing from officers and men jumping on police vehicles.

Regina’s report also included statistics of tickets and arrests for reckless driving and 911 vehicle/noise complaints in the industrial park over the past two years.

Although two notable occurrences this September at HIP prompted the meeting, Regina said that this has been an issue across Long Island and even nationwide. He claimed the sideshows and large-scale music gatherings cropped up in February 2022, while others in the audience insisted that these disturbances have been going on even longer.

An attendee from Dix Hills said she has been enduring continuous unrest since her high schoolers were young children in 2015. She lives 2 miles from the Deer Park train station, where deafening parties occur every Friday and Sunday until midnight.

As the second largest industrial park in the country, open all night with no security cameras, HIP is also an easy target for sideshows. The perpetrators — typically males ages 18 to 25 — have been able to thwart police by posting coded alerts on social media, which warn the group to move to a predetermined backup location.

To initiate enforcement, Regina said officers must convince two business owners to fill out extensive paperwork in the middle of the night to sign an affidavit. Since the industrial park is not fenced in, residents and police officers at the scene cannot accomplish anything on their own.

Suffolk County Legislator Steven Flotteron (R-Brightwaters), who attended the meeting, assured residents that he is exploring potential changes to the law to avoid such loopholes.

“You need two residents to sign an affidavit,” he said. “In some cases, the people having the party might be in a gang, and neighbors do not want to sign an affidavit. How do we ever get it stopped?”

Flotteron added, “Before, we needed two people here to sign an affidavit, and the police officer couldn’t do anything. Now, it could be a police officer or a peace officer that can write the noise complaint.”

The community meeting became heated as community members began asking questions, sharing their experiences and offering suggestions to help. Given this crime phenomenon’s severity and ongoing nature, a fissure has developed between residents and law enforcement since the sideshows started.

Several attendees mentioned that they are told to call 911 when events break out but are made to feel dramatic and unimportant when they do. Citizens questioned how police have been unable to discover and break up such rowdy gatherings before they become townwide headaches. 

Suffolk County Legislator Leslie Kennedy (R-Nesconset) advised those who report these sideshows to avoid putting themselves at risk and stay out of the line of harm.

911 operators “are not supposed to ask you to go find the place,” she said. “None of you should be putting yourself in a situation where you could be killed.”

Members of the audience agreed that the police department often does not have the resources to deal with these outbreaks, but that they would like to help them remedy that. With more resources and more effective laws and penalties, officers will not be so easily overpowered and endangered, restoring order to a dangerous situation locally.

Flotteron and Kennedy closed the discussion by promising to speak to state representatives and other officials in the morning to bring greater awareness to this issue, put legislative changes in motion and propose the crowd’s idea of adding cameras to the industrial park.

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File photo by Raymond Janis

Curriculum literature

I recently read a book about a boy in high school.

He had a supportive basketball coach who passed along quotes like “The quality of a man’s life is in direct proportion to his commitment to excellence, regardless of his chosen field or endeavor.”

He had a teacher that inspired him to do more with his life than previous generations. We should all want our children to achieve more than we have. This is a key part of the American dream. As such this book is patriotic in the best sense of the word.

There are too many inspiring role models in the boy’s life to list here.

This book provides a valuable perspective of a Native American who grew up on a reservation. A perspective that would be foreign to many of us if not for books like this one.

Some passages in the book are uncomfortable to read. Like a teacher admitting at one point the goal was to kill Native Americans; not literally but instead killing their culture. It’s uncomfortable, but unfortunately that is part of our history. Those that don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and those that prevent history being taught fully intend to repeat it.

The title of this book is “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” and the 11th-grade students at Ward Melville High School are lucky to have it as part of their curriculum.

Recently, some parents accused this book of being smut because of a few sentences referring to self-pleasure. Something not unique to this book and something most students are aware of by high school if not sooner.

It’s pretty clear that based on their objectives, the so-called Moms for Liberty and those associated with them are not truly for liberty. Instead, they should be called “Moms for Tyranny.” Their goal is to take away the freedoms of other people. Whether it’s an attempt to have a book removed or it’s an attempt to infringe on others civil liberties, it’s a level of tyranny that never should have left the dark ages.

A famous ship captain once said, “No one is so important that they can usurp the rights of another.” On that note, no one should ever infringe on a student’s liberty to read a great and patriotic work of literature as part of their curriculum.

Ian Farber

Setauket

How to pay for transit improvements

A Long Island Rail Road train arrives at Stony Brook train station during rush hour. Photo by ComplexRational from Wikimedia Commons

Here is how to pay for the transit initiatives outlined in last week’s editorial [“Interconnected trails: Local transit reimagined for Long Island,” Sept. 28, TBR News Media].

Federal funding is available to pay for Long Island Rail Road electrification of the Port Jefferson Branch. The project must be included in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority 2025-2044 20-Year Needs Assessment plan and upcoming 2025-2029 Five-Year Capital Plan.

The MTA must ask for and obtain permission from the Federal Transit Administration to enter this project in FTA’s Capital Investment Grant New Starts Core Capacity Program. MTA Chairman John “Janno” Lieber, LIRR Acting President Robert Free, U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer [D-NY] and Kirsten Gillibrand [D-NY] along with the next Suffolk County executive must also be on board in support.

Apply for federal and state funding to purchase smaller buses and create new services. Suffolk County Transit was created in 1980 as a county-run oversight and funding agency for a group of private contract operators, which had previously provided such services on their own.

These companies manage the maintenance and operations of their buses. Buses are paid for by grants from the FTA with the 20% local share split between Suffolk County and state Department of Transportation. Both Suffolk County and NYSDOT provide operating assistance to cover shortfalls from farebox revenues.

Suffolk County Transit and Huntington Area Rapid Transit Bus both use FTA grants to pay for buses, paratransit vehicles, fareboxes, radio communication equipment, bus shelters, bus stop signs and other capital improvements required by private operators to continue providing safe and reliable service that riders count on. They can be used to pay for additional transportation service to serve residents, especially those who reside in low-density neighborhoods.

Operating subsidies are required to establish new service or increase the level of service and reduce the amount of time one waits for a bus on existing routes. Same for adding more off-peak, evening and weekend service. Many of the less dense towns will also have to step up and provide financial assistance to help pay for new services to communities with little or no bus service.

Funding for MTA or Suffolk County Transit is a four-way dance between what riders pay at the farebox and a combination of capital and operating assistance from Suffolk County, Albany and Washington via the FTA.

Everyone needs to have skin in the game. TANSTAAFL — “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch” — or in this case, bus or train ride.

Larry Penner

Great Neck

The writer is a transportation analyst and former director for Federal Transit Administration Region 2

WRITE TO US … AND KEEP IT LOCAL

We welcome your letters, especially those responding to our local coverage, replying to other letter writers’ comments and speaking mainly to local themes. Letters should be no longer than 400 words and may be edited for length, libel, style, good taste and uncivil language. They will also be published on our website. We do not publish anonymous letters. Please include an address and phone number for confirmation. Scan the QR code above or email letters to [email protected] or mail them to TBR News Media, P.O. Box 707, Setauket, NY 11733

 

 

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By Kelynn Z. Alder

Up next for Gallery North, 90 North Country Road, Setauket is a unique exhibit titled Animal Spirits and Ancient Rituals: New Work by Kelynn Z. Alder, on view from October 5 to November 12.

Animal Spirits and Ancient Rituals is Kelynn Z. Alder’s first solo exhibition at Gallery North. It features paintings, monoprints, and drawings that all reference Alder’s Mexican cultural heritage. Many of the paintings are from the artist’s personal experiences in the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico during the Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) festivities in Chamula, a town run entirely by the Tzotzil speaking Maya. In Chamula, as in most of Mexico, festivities and religious practices are a merging of ancient Indigenous rites, rituals and beliefs, meshed with Catholicism.

By Kelynn Z. Alder

“Día de los Muertos is a celebration of both the living and the dead,” Alder states, “And the underlying theme of this work has much to do with the cycle of life and death — My reaching back to my ancestors… My rising consciousness of my own mortality… The continuation once I’m gone and become myself an ancestor.”

Blending the styles of the Mexican muralists and the impressionists, each painting in Animal Spirits and Ancient Rituals evokes the artist’s ancestral searching, yearnings, experiences, emotions and opinions — while encouraging others to reflect upon their own ancestry and personal journeys. Alder’s prints feature the artist’s personal interpretation of La Lotería – a traditional Mexican board game as well as an inspirational templet commonly used by many artists.

The daughter of an immigrant, Alder skillfully weaves the rudimentary pictures of La Loteria into Indigenous, political and religious iconography to create a complex arrangement of memory, political commentary, and symbolism. Indeed, through vivid paintings of Chiapas and the bold imagery of La Loteria, Animal Spirits and Ancient Rituals transports us to Alder’s inner visual world, while also offering important messages confronting the migrant crisis between the Mexican and U.S. border.

An opening reception will be held Saturday, October 7, from 5 to 7 p.m.

By Kelynn Z. Alder

As a complement to the exhibition, Gallery North will present a multi-site, guided tour in collaboration with the Long Island Museum on Sunday, October 15, from noon to 3 p.m. The collaborative event will include guided tours of Alder’s exhibition, Animal Spirits and Ancient Rituals, and SOMOS/We Are: Latinx Artists of Long Island, an exhibition guest curated by Alder at the Long Island Museum.

Gallery North’s portion of the event will include a printmaking demonstration with Alder and Lorena Salcedo Watson, followed by a tour of Alder’s solo exhibition. Gallery North will also host an ArTalk with Alder and Lyn Pentecost, former Director and Co-Founder of the Lower Eastside Girls Club on Saturday, November 4 at 3 p.m.

The exhibition, reception, and ArTalk will all be free and open to the public. Information on registering for the guided tour and print demonstration can be found at gallerynorth.org.

This exhibition is generously sponsored by bld Architecture, Jefferson’s Ferry, and Suffolk County’s Department of Economic Development and Planning.  The exhibition, reception, and ArTalk will all be free and open to the public. Information on registering for the guided tour and print demonstration can be found at gallerynorth.org. For more information, call 631-751-2676.

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Steven Albanese shows off his 1966 Cadillac Convertible. Photo by Aidan Johnson
By Aidan Johnson

Despite the uncooperative weather, the Port Jefferson Harbor Education & Arts Conservancy held its annual hill climb on Saturday, Sept. 30.

The event, a reenactment of the first hill climb in 1910, featured classic cars retracing the original course up East Broadway.

Port Jeff village historian Chris Ryon, left, and Port Jefferson Harbor Education & Arts Conservancy president Lisa Perry. Photo by Aidan Johnson

While gloomy weather significantly reduced the number of usual participants, multiple drivers still came out to enjoy the day.

Despite a much smaller showing, the conservancy’s president, Lisa Perry, still saw the event as a success. 

“I think anytime people know the history of our village and what used to go on here, and participants and people coming out, and the mayor being here, I think it was … a successful event,” Perry said.

Steven Albanese, who showcased his 1966 Cadillac Convertible, was happy to participate in the event.

“This is probably the third or fourth … hill climb that I participated in, so I know most of the people here,” he said. “We all know each other, and you’re like, ‘You’re going, you’re going, all right, what the heck!’ A little rain,” he added.

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A scene from the 15th annual SOLES for All Souls Race/Walk on Oct. 1. Photo by Nancy Clark
A scene from the 15th annual SOLES for All Souls Race/Walk on Oct. 1. Photo by Nancy Clark
A scene from the 15th annual SOLES for All Souls Race/Walk on Oct. 1. Photo by Nancy Clark
A scene from the 15th annual SOLES for All Souls Race/Walk on Oct. 1. Photo by Nancy Clark
A scene from the 15th annual SOLES for All Souls Race/Walk on Oct. 1. Photo by Nancy Clark
A scene from the 15th annual SOLES for All Souls Race/Walk on Oct. 1. Photo by Nancy Clark
A scene from the 15th annual SOLES for All Souls Race/Walk on Oct. 1. Photo by Nancy Clark
A scene from the 15th annual SOLES for All Souls Race/Walk on Oct. 1. Photo by Nancy Clark
A scene from the 15th annual SOLES for All Souls Race/Walk on Oct. 1. Photo by Nancy Clark
A scene from the 15th annual SOLES for All Souls Race/Walk on Oct. 1. Photo by Nancy Clark
A scene from the 15th annual SOLES for All Souls Race/Walk on Oct. 1. Photo by Nancy Clark
A scene from the 15th annual SOLES for All Souls Race/Walk on Oct. 1. Photo by Nancy Clark
A scene from the 15th annual SOLES for All Souls Race/Walk on Oct. 1. Photo by Nancy Clark
A scene from the 15th annual SOLES for All Souls Race/Walk on Oct. 1. Photo by Nancy Clark
A scene from the 15th annual SOLES for All Souls Race/Walk on Oct. 1. Photo by Nancy Clark
A scene from the 15th annual SOLES for All Souls Race/Walk on Oct. 1. Photo by Nancy Clark

Several weather-related prayers were answered when the rain stopped, and the sun shined brightly on the 15th Annual SOLES for All Souls 5K Race/2K Walk on Oct. 1. The large crowd assembled in front of the historic Stanford White designed chapel at 61 Main Street in Stony Brook Village, including runners dressed as a hot dog and a mustard container, a Bumble Bee and a butterfly, and a chicken.  Retired Suffolk County Police SGT Mark McNulty played the bagpipes to inspire the runners as they began their trek up Hollow Road.  Former Suffolk County Poet Laureates Barbara Southard and Dr. Richard Bronson led the annual march of the Live Poets Society.

After The Brave Trio sang the National Anthem, Brookhaven Town Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich thanked the runners and walkers for participating in this very special annual event to celebrate the role of All Souls in the community and to raise funds to make the church and accessible to all. He presented All Souls Senior Warden Dan Kerr with a Certificate of Appreciation from the Town of Brookhaven recognizing the many ways All Souls serves the community.

Felipe Garcia from Port Jefferson Station was the overall race winner with a time of 20:14 and Christa Denmon from Endwell, NY was the overall female winner the second year in a row with a time of 21:58.  All Souls Vicar Father Tom Reese awarded gold, silver, and bronze medals at the Olympic-style ceremony to various age groups from 13 & under to 80 years old. Emma Lehayne from Stony Brook won the gold for the female 13 and under group and Rolf Sternglanz from Stony Brook won the gold for the male 80 and over group. Local musician Bill Clark & Friends (including Councilmember Kornreich) serenaded the crowd before and after the Awards ceremony at the Reboli Center for Arts and History.

Submitted by Daniel Kerr/ Director of SOLES for All Souls

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Ward Melville High School. File photo by Greg Catalano

By Mallie Jane Kim

Internet controversy over a novel taught to Ward Melville High School juniors spilled over into the public comment section of a board of education meeting Wednesday, Sept. 27, when two concerned parents stood up to support the book and caution against efforts to ban it.

The book in question, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie and a multi-award winner, is a semi-autobiographical novel about a young Native American growing up on an Indian reservation who leaves his underfunded reservation school in favor of a majority-white public school in a neighboring town. The problem expressed by some parents is that in this coming-of-age story about a teenage boy struggling to discover his identity, there are a few passages where the speaker discusses his sexual self-discovery.

The administration has received calls in favor of and against the novel, but there have been no official requests from parents of students actually studying the book, according to Assistant Superintendent for Educational Services Brian Biscari. “It’s a bigger online issue than an actual issue,” Biscari said.

The controversy started when a parent shared a passage mentioning self-pleasure in a screenshot on a local Facebook group, Three Village Moms, where it was both attacked and supported in a series of nearly 500 comments. Some commenters expressed concern over sexualizing children too early, or that the passages may be too explicit for required reading in a Regents course.

Others asked their peers to consider the passage in context of the entire book, or worried the rhetoric might foment into a movement to ban the book, in light of efforts to censor literature at school districts nationwide.

The American Library Association has noted a “record surge” in requests to remove books from libraries and public schools during the first eight months of 2023, and primarily books “by or about a person of color of a member of the LGBTQIA+ community,” according to a Sept. 19 statement.

At the board meeting, district parent Ian Farber said exposure to an unfamiliar point of view is one of this book’s strengths. “This book provides a valuable perspective of a Native American who grew up on a reservation, a perspective that would be foreign to many of us without books like this one,” said Farber, who has also been a part of the district’s budget advisory committee.

Farber shrugged off the concerns over the passages about an aspect of human sexuality that, he said, most students know about by 11th grade. Instead, he praised the “robust and diverse” curriculum in Three Village school district and emphasized that the passages causing outrage are not even a main point of the book.

“He had a teacher that inspired him to do more with his life than previous generations — we should all want our children to achieve more than we have. This is a key part of the American Dream, and as such this book is patriotic in the best sense of the word.”

Anne Chimelis, a retired teacher and parent in the district, agreed in her public comment. “If we start banning books due to a single word that makes some people uncomfortable, we’re going down a very slippery slope,” she said.

Biscari noted that the district is happy to provide a list of novels taught in Three Village schools to parents who ask, and there is a clear process for parents to request for a materials review for novels in their child’s grade level if they have a concern. If that process does not go the way parents hope, he added, each parent is also welcome to opt a child out of a particular book.

On Alexie’s book, though, Biscari said most of the calls he’s gotten are from parents “who love the fact that there’s a book their kids can read and relate to.”

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