In the Dec. 29, 2005 issue of The Roslyn News, several Letters to the Editor were printed.

Two letters were printed stating that it is embarrassing to continue following up on criminals in the Roslyn school scandal.

The authors of these letters are saying, "Don't talk about it any more and sweep it away. All will be forgotten." These people are living in a world of pseudo-intellectual liberalism and fantasy land.

Running for the board of education is running for an official-elected capacity. The responsibility of the board members is not only making policy regarding educational matters, but have a fiduciary responsibility to protect the money that the residents are being taxed, for the benefit of the students.

These people are not like committee people who sit on a committee, they are decision-making people. They are elected officials.

Should we use the same argument regarding our Congressmen who have been accused of taking money from Mr. Abramoff? Should we say "it is embarrassing to bring public officials to the bar for their transgressions?"

Several of the board members have been accused of misappropriating or misusing funds for personal use. In addition, they have cost the community millions of dollars by not acting properly and not reporting the crime when it was discovered. If not criminally, they are certainly civilly responsible.

How dare the naysayers advocate that each resident should not be able to recoup the money that was stolen from them. The money that was stolen was my tax money. This matter should not be taken lightly because it is embarrassing.

I strongly recommend that the board of education take every step to recoup the funds that were misappropriated and funds which should have been recouped but for negligence and/or malfeasance, may not be recouped by the district,

The former board members and the one current member must be held accountable.

Philip A. Stewart