Parents protest as students go back to remote learning after Ridge Street School closes for safety violations

Furious parents in the Blind Brook School District rallied outside the Ridge Street School Monday morning and called for the resignations of the school superintendent and school board president.

News 12 Staff

Sep 20, 2021, 10:27 AM

Updated 1,173 days ago

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Furious parents in the Blind Brook School District rallied outside the Ridge Street School Monday morning and called for the resignations of the school superintendent and school board president.
During an inspection last week, the state says it found serious safety and fire violations and ordered the school to close until further notice.
Parents and students say they feel blindsided by the news.
“It's an unfortunate situation, but hoping to get them back into school very soon,” says mother Karen Klein.
There was visible construction going on at Ridge Street school in Rye Brook Monday. Around the other side of the building, parents lined up to pick up Chromebooks and textbooks for their kids to learn at home for at least another week.
Some parents say they were left scrambling to adjust their schedule so their kids could go back to remote learning.
“Now I’m also looking for child care…my husband’s working full time too, so it's hard for working parents and non-working parents,” says Vanessa Cherena-Sierra.
Parents at the rally called for Superintendent Patrick Brimstein and School Board Vice President Scott Jaffee to step down.
State education officials wrote a scathing letter to district officials last week, slamming them for allowing students and staff to occupy the building last week that had fire safety concerns and lacked a certificate of occupancy.
Parents were hoping the district could come up with another space where the children could learn in person, but the superintendent says while there are other available spaces, those locations could not be inspected and up to school building code on such short notice.
School officials say remote learning will continue through Friday and there will be an update on Wednesday regarding next week's schedule.
In the meantime, the superintendent says they will continue to work on resolving safety issues with the school so that students can hopefully return in person soon.