Adelphi University Quill Awards 2022 — 2nd Place for Best News Article
By KATIE TIAN, ZAARA MALIK, ARABELLA BALGOBIND and NICOLE BARNES
Recently, accusations of illegal residential renting within the Jericho school district have significantly increased, sparking controversy throughout the community.
Illegal renting violates the enforced codes of the Town of Oyster Bay, which Jericho residents must follow. However, there have been misconceptions about how much information the school district can provide to the Town in order for suspicions of illegal renting to be investigated. Jericho Schools Assistant Superintendent of Personnel & Educational Operations Dr. Ciuffo clarified that while the school district must verify proof of residency, it is the responsibility of the Town of Oyster Bay to investigate potential cases of illegal renting. He said, “If you can establish residency in the school district, our obligation is to provide an education for you.”
Assistant Superintendent Dr. Ciuffo explains that Jericho Schools and local authorities prioritize children. “The law and the commissioner have always supported the education of children,” he said.
The issue of illegal renting is a long-standing one. President of Jericho’s Board of Education Jill Citron said, “I’ve lived here for over 20 years, and it’s been an issue since then.”
Recently, a group of Jericho parents created an email account to allow residents to anonymously report potential cases of illegal renting in their neighborhoods. The group promoted this using the Chinese social media app WeChat in a group of over 450 participants, the majority of whom claim to be Jericho parents. The announcement warned of the negative impacts illegal renting has on the school district’s environment, quality of teaching, and the physical and mental health of children.
The highlighted portion of this WeChat announcement translates as, “The land tax is soaring, the classrooms and equipment are insufficient, the number of classes are increasing, and the lunch lines are too long for our children to eat.”
While Board President Ms. Citron believes that town codes should be upheld, she expressed concerns about the comments in this group chat and their impact on relationships within the Jericho community. She said, ”There’s a lot of things you can say about both sides. You can say that you’re making neighbors tattle on each other, and that could be clearly negative to put them at odds with each other.”
Ms. Citron further clarified the issue of educational resources, such as classrooms and technology. While she is clear that the Board does not support illegal renting, she explained that the Jericho School District is in excellent financial shape. She said, “We’re not at the maximum use of our resources.”
Some residents are concerned about overpopulation; however, this District chart shows that the number of students enrolled in Jericho schools has seen little variation over the past decade.
The issue was brought up formally during the September 2022 monthly Board of Education meeting. In response to community concerns of students attending Jericho Schools who may be part of families renting illegally, trustee Jennifer Vartanov said, “I am asking that we need to make an amendment to 7540–that’s the student directory—that we add addresses as one of the categories that are included in the student directory.”
This amendment would allow the Town of Oyster Bay to access student addresses, due to the fact that the K-12 directory falls under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), which provides access to records related to government operations. Therefore, the Town of Oyster Bay is legally allowed to request a copy of the directory, which is a step toward stricter enforcement regarding instances of illegal renting.
A proposal to include students’ addresses in the student directory was suggested at the September Board of Education meeting, although a final resolution was not made at this time.
After the September meeting, the topic of illegal renting became a contentious issue throughout the community. Jericho parent Ms. Huang believes that no matter the circumstance, illegal renting is never the right thing to do. She said, “I think it’s a very selfish action because it’s just putting your own interest above the rest of the residents in this community.”
Jericho High School senior Noah I. agrees that illegal renting is an unfair course of action. He said, “You shouldn’t be able to move anywhere illegally just so a kid can attend a district. If you’re not willing to pay the correct taxes for the district, your kid should not be able to go there.”
However, some students believe that a process of investigation and removal unfairly impacts children in illegal living situations. Senior Madison G. said, “I don’t feel that the situation is negatively impacting Jericho students in any way. We are all here to learn, and Jericho is doing its job by educating all who live here. The stigma around students who are renting homes here is harmful to them. We are all Jericho students, and no one should be treated differently because of their living situation.”
Deputy Commissioner of the Town of Oyster Bay Tim Zike explained that the process for removal, which involves proceedings in the district court, can take from 1 month up to a year. Residents are only removed immediately from a housing situation in the case of a safety concern. He said, “If the children and their welfare is at risk, I feel better putting my head on a pillow at night knowing that we don’t leave them in a fire trap or an unsafe condition.”
After 4 months of deliberation and discussion at school board meetings, the trustees eventually reached a decision at the January 2023 meeting and passed a board policy to allow for government entities to access student addresses “upon official request to the District Clerk pursuant to the Freedom of Information Law.” The long-term impacts of this policy on Jericho schools, as well as the community at large, are yet to be seen.