The Nov. 29 fire at 36 Brokaw Lane in Great Neck elicited a very laudable response from the Great Neck community.
It has also raised serious issues about who is responsible for the fact that these families were able to live in the house for as long as they did, illegally.
The victims I want to focus on here are the children. Each adult living in that house made a decision — a decision that put their children at risk.
It could have easily happened that one or more children were seriously injured, or died, as a result of that fire.
Who is protecting the children?
In the Dec. 15 issue of the Great Neck Record, Theresa Prendergast, superintendent of the Great Neck schools, talked about issues of confidentiality in order to excuse the schools from responsibility for the safety of these children. I don’t think the situation is as simple as she presents it.
School personnel are, in fact, required by New York State law to report any instances of child abuse or neglect that they observe. These children have been living, for who knows how long, without heat and without adequate bathroom facilities.
Just the fact alone that so many children were living in one small house should have raised a red flag.
The proper response from the school system would have been to assign a social worker to the case, who would then delve into the details of the situation.
In spite of the outpouring of support, I have to conclude that our community has let these children down—it has been complicit by continuing to do nothing about a serious case of child neglect.
I understand the motivation of the parents — they want their children to have the opportunity of attending Great Neck schools even though they cannot afford to live in Great Neck — but at the same time they are putting their children in danger, and this cannot be permitted.
If any one of our mayors, the school system, or other individuals knew what was going on, it was, and is (for future cases), their responsibility to report the case to the Nassau County Department of Child Protective Services (1-800-342-3720).
Amy Glass, Ph.D.
Great Neck
