Elmont High School teams will keep competing against Bellmore-Merrick athletes, Sewanhaka superintendent says

Elmont high school student-athletes will keep playing games against Bellmore-Merrick schools, but with new protections against "hate and harm" following parents' complaints about racist harassment at games in recent years, the school district’s top administrator said at a school board meeting Tuesday.

The school "will continue to compete against the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District as well as all other schools in the county," Regina Agrusa, superintendent of the Sewanhaka Central High School District, told parents, students and other community members.

However, she said, "measures will be taken to accompany our student athletes to away games to ensure that the competitions are safe for all participants" and that the athletic code of conduct is enforced for all students.

A group of Elmont parents asked earlier this month for Bellmore-Merrick schools to be removed from Elmont Memorial High School’s schedule, after they said students have been subjected to racist harassment. Several parents said the harassment, which included racist epithets, had been going on for years, though not all incidents were reported to officials since student-athletes did not want to put potential college scholarships at risk.

Bellmore-Merrick administrators and athletic officials have said certain spectators have engaged in racist behavior and they have faced discipline.

The Sewanhaka district consists of five high schools in Elmont, New Hyde Park, Franklin Square and Floral Park. Elmont’s student body is 60% Black, 21% Hispanic, 16% Asian and 2% white, according to the state Department of Education.

The Bellmore-Merrick district has three high schools in Bellmore and Merrick. The racial demographics of its high schools vary from 3% to 4% Black, 12 to 15% Hispanic, 12% to 14% Asian and 68% to 75% white, state figures show.

"While I recognize that not all people may be in favor, I do believe that this decision is in the best interests of our student-athletes at this time," Agrusa said Tuesday.

 "I am confident that through dedicated collaboration and intentional dialogue and education, we will provide competitive games that do not include hate and harm," she said. "The present Elmont student-athletes know that their voices have been heard, validated and respected. We remain committed to providing them with the opportunity to compete in an environment where they feel supported."

A crowd of about 50 people attended the board meeting. Roughly half left after awards and other presentations at the start of the meeting.

The conduct "seems to be ongoing," Elmont Dad’s Club member Tito Bayne said during public comment. "What’s the difference between then and now?"

Sheldon Meikle, board member of the Elmont Spartan Club booster organization, former member of the Elmont Union Free School District’s school board and father of three Elmont graduates, said he asked his son, who played football for Elmont, whether he had been subjected to racist behavior at games.

"What he said to me is, ‘we’re just used to it, the occasional’ " racist epithet and other incidents, Meikle said. "I’m coming here because this is our community, this is our district, and we have to do something about it."

He asked, "How easy is it for these issues to be reported ... so that we can get a real idea of how often these things are happening?"

Agrusa said district officials have asked students whether they want to continue playing games against Bellmore-Merrick, and they are making sure students know they can report incidents without fear of retaliation.

"Nobody should be silenced," Agrusa said. "Nobody."

At the meeting, some parents of current players told district officials they want their children to continue competing against all their rivals, including Bellmore-Merrick, but with safeguards.

"I'm not against them playing, but I don't want my daughter to be in the lion’s den either," Valery Aifuobhokhan, who has a daughter in ninth grade and a son in eighth grade, said in an interview after the meeting. 

Aifuobhokhan said she and her daughter were at a 2023 girls volleyball game where a spectator yelled a racist comment and was removed from the stands. School officials handled that incident appropriately, she said, but there's no way to guarantee it won't happen again, so those who violate the rules need to face "consequences."

"I want something to be in place to protect the players and not just talk, not just ‘oh, we’re talking,’ and don’t follow through," she said.

At a town hall meeting earlier this month, parents had asked district officials to strike Bellmore-Merrick sports teams from Elmont Memorial High School's game schedule.

The parents aired their grievances after a girls varsity basketball game in Bellmore last month, during which two players from opposing teams scuffled on the court. The dispute was not racial, officials with Section VIII Athletics, the governing body for school sports in Nassau County, said earlier this month.

However, some Elmont parents said the dispute came on the heels of what they said were numerous episodes of racist conduct.

They also said the way the girls were disciplined raised concerns about potentially unfair treatment of the Elmont player.

The conflict took place at a Feb. 7 game at John F. Kennedy High School. An Elmont player who is Black was suspended for two future games after a dispute with a player from Bellmore who is white. Later, officials reviewed a video of the game, and they saw that the Bellmore player struck the Elmont player and either pulled her hair or got tangled in it, Patrick Pizzarelli, executive director of Section VIII Athletics, said earlier this month. The Elmont player punched back, he said.

Elmont appealed the discipline of its player, and on the second appeal, her suspension was lifted after one game, Pizzarelli said. Bellmore-Merrick imposed a two-game suspension on its own player, he said.

"The instigator did not receive punishment until after the fact," Jon Johnson, president of the Elmont PTSA Dad’s Club and father of three Elmont Memorial graduates, said at the meeting Tuesday. "Maybe you might see it that that’s not racial, OK, but others do." 

By Maura McDermott

maura.mcdermott@newsday.commauramcdermott

Maura McDermott is a reporter on the investigations desk. Since starting at Newsday in 2012, she has also covered real estate and the business of health care.