Rockland Launches Code Inspections of 49 Private Schools
By Journal News
Rockland officials newly empowered by the state to inspect private schools for fire and safety code violations made their first stop Thursday afternoon at a local yeshiva. When Rockland County Fire Coordinator Gordon Wren Jr. entered the Yeshiva Shaarei Arazim at 900 Route 45 in Ramapo, he told reporters, he immediately noticed the push bars on two of the doors did not work and the doors did not open, a clear violation. He was accompanied by Spring Valley Fire Inspector Frank Youngman, who is also a Hillcrest firefighter and retired police officer. The high school - formerly the Jewish Community Center building - had what Wren and Youngman estimated was a foot-high pile of garbage in one 25-foot-wide room, moldy food on the floor, stairwells used as storage, and doors propped open, among several dozen violations. The pair said, however, that they were impressed with the school's programming, as well as the young men and the teachers. The curriculum, Wren said, includes music, gymnastics, and woodworking along with religious and secular studies. Wren said the landlord would be responsible for correcting many of the violations. "The housekeeping is a major issue," Wren said. "There are significant violations but not enough to close the school. I'd give the school a 'C', not an 'F'." Wren said he believed a Ramapo fire inspector reviewed the building last year but apparently didn't issue any violations or warnings to the administrators. At a news conference earlier Thursday, officials vowed no mercy on administrators who block access to buildings, and promised heavy fines and possible jail for operators who run schools with serious safety issues. "We will be relentless," County Executive Ed Day said, announcing planned inspections of 49 schools across the county. "We are not of the mind to keep schools open with serious violations. We're asking every school to comply with the law." Rockland inspectors plan to target 26 schools that have not filed fire inspection reports in years and 23 that had been cleared to operate by a Ramapo fire inspector who has since been suspended and demoted over the quality of his work. The bulk of the inspections will be done starting Tuesday. Most of the schools that will be inspected are located in Ramapo and Spring Valley, with about 10 scattered across the rest of Rockland, officials said. Day said his administration will seek penalties of thousands of dollars and jail time against the worst violators and those who refuse to cooperate. He said locked school doors will not deter the inspectors, and that the county will seek court orders to compel cooperation. "Is it going to take body bags of children?" Day asked rhetorically about achieving compliance with fire and safety codes at the private schools. "We're going to make sure that doesn't happen." Day and Assemblyman Kenneth Zebrowski, D-New City, unveiled the enforcement plan, which comes in the wake of New York State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia authorizing Rockland to use its inspectors to ensure conditions at the schools are safe for students, teachers and other personnel. Zebrowski has been pressing the state to exert its authority to inspect schools in Rockland. Authorities said Thursday that the new inspections will be done by a core group of four former and current fire chiefs, who are certified, as well as county employees. The county might work with local fire inspectors in some cases. Day said the taxpayers will not bear any additional cost. Zebrowski said "hundreds, if not thousands, of students are learning in potentially unsafe buildings and we cannot guarantee their safety unless they are inspected." "If there is a fire, there will be lots of blame," Zebrowski said. "Why not fix it now? We cannot have children in schools that are not inspected. It is the law. Anyone who says this is about something else is not correct. This is a good day for safety and children in Rockland County." The pro-ultra Orthodox group Agudath Israel of America said in a statement that 40 yeshiva leaders had pledged their cooperation with inspections after the state Education Department issued an order a month ago requiring Ramapo to step up enforcement. The group sent two representatives to the news conference who spoke to the media and handed out the statement but declined to identify themselves. The yeshiva leaders' statement says they "believe that the large majority of our institutions are in fact safe, and in full compliance with applicable fire and safety standards." Yossi Gestetner, a co-founder of the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council, said school safety is important but questioned in his own statement why the county is targeting private schools. He cited the issue of lead from old pipes getting into the water supply at some schools, leading to countywide testing, including in Ramapo. "One has to wonder why Ken Zebrowski and Ed Day are pointing fingers at private schools in Ramapo while students in their own Clarkstown are exposed to water with dangerous levels of lead in crumbling public school buildings." Rockland officials have telegraphed their desire for a state order allowing massive inspections of schools. Zebrowski also has said the state education commissioner has the authority to deputize inspectors in Rockland for the task. Both the Department of Education and the state Department of State’s Division of Building Standards and Codes have issued critical reports on fire and safety enforcement in Ramapo and Spring Valley.
Firefighters describe conditions they say they are routinely navigating in private schools in Ramapo and Spring Valley, including exit doors with deadbolts, exposed wiring, and extension cords snaking across bathrooms floors. Calls for stronger state involvement followed Education Department revelations in April that Ramapo Fire Inspector Adam Peltz conducted shoddy inspections at four private schools: The Rockland Institute for Special Education, Bais Yaakov, Green Meadow Waldorf and Bais Yehuda. Ramapo has since suspended Peltz for up to two months without pay, demoted him to assistant fire inspector and taken away employment perks, like 24-hour access to a town car. Critics have called for his firing and a criminal investigation into his work. Contact: slieberm@lohud.com
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