With uncertainty abounding regarding the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) for the James Wilson Young (JWY) Middle School in Bayport, two things remain true at press time: there seems to be a scheduled PTA meeting and there are still vacancies for the three top PTA offices.
An article in The Messenger two weeks ago detailed the controversy surrounding scheduled elections to fill those vacancies and the cancellations of those votes by the NYS PTA and its Suffolk Region.
The page for the JWY Middle School on Bayport-Blue Point School District website reflects the lack of three officers: President: TBD; Vice President: TBD; Treasurer: TBD;
Secretary: Denise Caperna.”
It also notes that what would have been the year’s final meeting is scheduled for Thursday, November 30.
A call to the Principal’s office at the Middle School sought to clarify the meeting status. At press time, Principal John Andruszkiewicz had not returned the phone call.
State and Region Stepped In
As noted two weeks ago, resignations earlier this year by PTA officers left the organization in search of candidates to fill board vacancies. Since regulations require a Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) to operate with an elected board, the JWY Middle School PTA operations caused concern; indeed, New York’s Suffolk Region PTA officials stepped in to help correct the situation.
According to its website, the Suffolk Region PTA: “interprets National and New York State PTA policies, procedures and programs; gives advisory and supportive services to units and councils through the director, officers, assistant and/or associate directors and chairpeople; confers with units and councils on local concerns and helps them resolve problems; [and]…organizes and charters units and councils,” among other missions.
On October 2, 2023, Suffolk Region PTA Director Wendy Natalone sent an email to the JWY PTA membership stating, “it was requested that Suffolk Region PTA assist in facilitating the election to fill the vacancies and get this PTA unit back on track, as at this point, it is not a PTA unit in good standing and cannot function at all until the required officers are elected.”
Director Natalone further informed members of the process for self-nomination for the vacant positions, that an election would be held on October 30, and that, in order to vote, members had to register by October 28. That meeting — via Zoom, rather than in-person – was cancelled, apparently due to technical difficulties. There were other objections, however, by local candidates.
Candidate for PTA President Jenna Micalizzi expressed her objections to The Messenger: “We cannot tolerate a system that enables a single individual to potentially register multiple voters and thereafter vote on their behalf. The potential for fraud in this instance is enormous. There is no way to trust these results,” she said, and we reported two issues ago. “Until a procedure is put in place to ensure the ‘one person, one vote’ concept is adhered to, these elections should be placed on hold.”
Such objections and technical difficulties led to a cancellation of the October 30 vote – rescheduled for November 8, 2023. This vote was also cancelled.
On the morning of November 8, the NYS and Suffolk Region sent yet another email to the JWY PTA membership:
“Good Morning. Tonight’s Special Meeting of the James Wilson Young PTA, to elect the vacant positions, has been cancelled.”
“No further meeting will be scheduled until NYS PTA &Suffolk Region have the opportunity to talk to the Principal, Council President, and Unit Secretary to determine the viability of this unit.”
The email was jointly signed by Helen Hoffman, NYS PTA President and Wendy Natalone, Suffolk Region Director.
Ongoing Uncertainty
The Messenger attempted to gain answers to a number of outstanding questions from local officials and the Suffolk Region PTA.
– Is there a rescheduled election?
– Why would an in-person election not be held?
– What is the precedent, and authority, for an online election as an alternative to in-person voting?
– Is there a provision in the regulations providing for a special meeting and an in-person vote, if requested?
– Has the reported system irregularity (Zoom settings) been corrected?
– What steps are being taken to ensure all interested PTA members are able to vote?
Calls and emails to the JWY Middle School and the Suffolk Region PTA remained unanswered at press time.
If an election is held this week, the candidates nominated include: for President, Jenna Micalizzi and Joelle Hawkes; for VP, Margherita Mulroy, Veronica Peterson, and Matthew Little; for Treasurer, Jensuh McCormack and Jennifer Ramirez.
Without officers or a rescheduled election, the status and viability of the Middle School PTA organization remains in doubt.
The parents, teachers, and students await answers.
