Most of you are familiar with the facts regarding the Roslyn School District scandal. You know that over a ten year period of time more than $11 million was stolen from the school district. The thieves were our former esteemed superintendent and assistant superintendent for business as well as others high and low in the administration. You may also know that the superintendent and assistant superintendent for business are soon to be sentenced and that there will be partial restitution of the stolen money. The firm that audited the books for the district (one of the largest doing business with schools throughout New York State) is now defunct, having lost all credibility. It would seem that the guilty are in the process of being punished although not nearly enough.

What you may not know is the terrible way this ordeal is impacting our community. In hopes of recouping some of the lost money, the new Board of Education has instituted a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the former Board of Education members. This means that our taxpayer money is now being used to sue the former board members. Originally we were led to believe that the former board members would not incur out-of-pocket expenses. The reality is that this group of former board members has had to pay legal fees out of their own pocket, some as much as $20,000 and there is no end in sight to this expense. For some of them this multi million dollar lawsuit means possible loss of homes, inability to send their children to college or to save for retirement.

What did the former board members do to deserve this nightmare? They are not being accused of any criminal behavior. How did this tragedy come about? The scandal began unfolding in 2002 with the discovery that Assistant Superintendent for Business, Pamela Gluckin had embezzled $250,000.

The former board authorized a thorough audit and was assured by the auditing firm (Miller, Lilly and Pearce) that nothing else was taken. They were told that Pamela Gluckin was going to repay the sum embezzled, resign her position and would give up her license as a school administrator. They were also told that she was suffering from cancer, a condition that did not exist. The former board was persuaded by the then highly regarded School Superintendent Dr. Frank Tassone and Special Counsel (Hession) that the reputation of the Roslyn Schools and perhaps the students would be jeopardized if the theft were disclosed. When the outside Attorney (Hession) brought in by Dr. Tassone also indicated that the former board had no legal obligation to report the theft and since Gluckin was tenured it would be a long and costly process to remove her, therefore they accepted the advice.

Subsequently, the former board learned to their shock that the amount embezzled was more than $11 million, and that the culprits included the superintendent and auditing firm who had been advising the board. Not reporting the original theft of $250,000 was a costly mistake. It should be noted that three of the former board members who were named in the lawsuit were no longer on the board in 2002.

Without a doubt, a terrible thing has happened in our community, a major theft created a significant loss of taxpayer's dollars along with a great deal of notoriety in the media for our community and our school district. But we must now question whether this is reason to wreck the lives of people who volunteered their time to serve the community and whose crime was being misled by those we all trusted. They were ill advised by a professional auditor, lawyer and school district officials. How can we be sure we would not have acted the same?

The purpose of this letter is to appeal to our community to join us in getting this lawsuit against our neighbors dropped. No matter what the intentions of the new board of education in bringing the lawsuit, the result is the same: The punishment of neighbors who were manipulated by a group of criminals.

How can a community justify having neighbors possibly lose their homes or their ability to send their children to college or save for retirement because they were manipulated and deceived? If this ordeal continues, who in the community will ever agree to serve on a school board in the future? Surely, such harsh action by our current school board would lead only to the impression that Roslyn is uncaring about its citizens and further diminish our reputation.

Lawsuits are not only a financial hardship for the neighbors being sued; they are also a financial drain on the taxpayers who would have to spend a significant amount of money pursuing the suit. The sad part is that years after Tassone, Gluckin and others get out of jail, people on the former board will still be suffering from the rage and pain this whole episode has brought about. It is time to heal. We are better than the criminals who misled all of us. Let's insist that the present board reconsider their action and let's urge them to drop the suit.

Please consider attending future board of education meetings and sending a letter to express your own thoughts about this matter to: Stanley Stern, Board of Education President, Administrative Building, Harbor Hill Road, Roslyn, New York 11577.

Del McLean & Kathy D'Amato-Smith