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www.freeportbaldwinleader.com •3 d 82nd Year, No. 7 Freeport, N.Y. 11520 A Herald Community Newspaper Thursday, February, 16, 2017 $1.00 Courtesy of John Scales! Fire engulfs house on Frankel Avenue The Freeport Fire Department responded to a house fire at 74 Frankel Ave. in the early after- noon of Feb. 14. When units arrived on the scene, they were met with heavy fire in the two- story house. According to the department's Facebook post, the Freeport Fire Department had \three lines in operation\ at the scene of the fire. All occupants made it safely out of the home; however, two pets did not survive. All fire depart- ment units were under the command of Chief Kenneth Vancott. One firefighter was injured and taken to South Nassau Hospital for smoke inha- lation and back injuries. No other injuries were reported. The cause of the fire, which is still under investigation, may have begun from a high intensity light in the basement of the house, Mayor Robert Kennedy said. \Another dangerous fire extinguished by the Freeport Fire Department's volunteers,\ he said. Special-needs parents speak out at forum By PETER BELFIORE pbelfiore@liherald.com Maria Kilfoyle, of Bellmore, recited a series of numbers: 42, 59, 44, 37, 56,54, 60, 31. \These were the scores that my son got on his math tests this year,\ she said. Because of his performance, Kilfoyle said, she didn't believe her 14-year-old would pass the math Regents exams — a state requirement to earn a high school diploma — and she was considering mov- ing him out of New York so he could grad- uate, while she continued to work here as a schoolteacher to support him. Kilfoyle told her story during a 2 % -hour forum hosted by elected leaders from across the South Shore at South Side High School in Rockville Centre on Feb. 7. Roughly 50 parents, teachers and advo- cates spoke, saying that the state does not offer the necessary testing options to ensure that young people with a variety of learning challenges can graduate from high school on time. Among the elected leaders at the forum were New York State Sen. Todd Kaminsky, a Democrat from Long Beach; Sen. John Brooks, a Democrat from Seaford; Assem- blywoman Melissa Miller, a Republican from Atlantic Beach; and Assemblyman Brian Curran, a Republican from Lynbrook. Brooks holds listening in Freeport PageS tour Freeport's Rockin Robots Page 9 Music & Poetry at SNUCC Page 4 Also joining in the discussion were Long Island Regent Roger Tilles, Board of Regents Chancellor Betty Rosa and Chris- topher Suriano, assistant commissioner of the State Education Department's Office of Special Education. A 'crime' against children? Emotions ran high throughout the eve- ning and peaked when Ava Corbett, 14, of Plainview, took the microphone. She struggled to speak at first, but eventually got her words out. Ava talked about how, as a special- needs student, her school performance plummeted after entering high school. She started failing tests, hitting herself and fighting with her moth- er more often. \I want to have a life again,\ she said before a Freeport teen not guilty Page 16 crowd of nearly 200 people, who erupted into a standing ovation, many with tears streaming down their faces. As the applause continued, Ava ran out of the room with her hands in the air and a grin on her face. Her mother, Jessica, took over and con- tinued the emotional appeal as she, her voice quivering with rage, accused the members of the panel of perpetrating a \crime\ against a generation of children. \My daughter isn't a musician, she's not an artist,\ she continued through tears. \She isn't that good at a lot of things.\ She said her daughter's high school curriculum was not well suited to her, and without the Regents Competency High School Test, or RCT — an alterna- tive to the Regents exams, which was phased out for special-needs students CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 see
