Two Roslyn Bulldogs Boosters Association parents told Roslyn school trustees Thursday that students are showing up “stoned” to school events and athletic functions.
A school official identified the parents who made the claim as Amy Katz, who referred to herself as the Boosters Association treasurer, and Jenni Rebetti, a Booster’s Association board member.
“As Bulldog reps, we’re saying [that] we’ve seen it,” Rebetti said during the public comment period of the school board’s regularly scheduled meeting. “We’ve hosted dinners at our houses where the kids have come visibly stoned. The coaches don’t say a word. It is a lot of athletes.”
In addition to being the Boosters Association’s treasurer, Katz serves as an Education Chairperson for the district’s Education Forum and is on the board of the Roslyn Parent-Faculty Association.
Rebetti is also the co-president of the Coordinating Council Of Parent Associations and, like Katz, is on the board of the Roslyn Parent-Faculty Association.
Katz and Rebetti, who asked for their names not to be released, also said students smoking marijuana and driving has become a problem.
“There is an inordinate amount of pot smoking and driving,” Rebetti said. “The pot smoking and driving now, it is terrible.”
Pointing to what they referred to as, “this weekend’s potential catastrophe,” Rebetti and Katz repeatedly made references to a recent car accident involving a student driver suspected of being drunk or high on drugs.
“They have not learned at all,” Katz said. “They think it is a safe means of [transportation],” referring to students who smoke marijuana and drive. “We’ve got big, big, big problems.”
Katz and Rebetti were stopped from describing the incident involving a motor vehicle and a impaired student driver by community relations director Barry Edelson.
Edeslson cut Rebetti off, mid-sentence, with a warning.
“I’m not entirely certain everybody knows what happened,” Edelson said.
Roslyn Superintendent Gerard Dempsey said he had no comment about the two women’s assertions or the alleged accident.
Efforts to reach Board President Meryl Waxman Ben-Levy for comment were unavailing.
Parent-Faculty Association co-president Amy Greenberg declined to discuss the problem, calling it “highly sensitive and ongoing.”
“The less details, the better,” she said.
Rebetti and Katz said Roslyn students usually obey laws about not driving after drinking alcohol.
“For the most part, negating this weekend, we have kids who drink. Kids do drink in high school, [but] they typically know to [call] Uber, to call a parent, to call a cab,” Rebetti said.
But, Rebetti said, the Boosters Association was alarmed to find students using drugs while driving. They said they were even more alarmed that no one has told them to stop.
The Boosters Association officers said they approached administrators from Roslyn Middle School months ago and asked them to educate students about the dangers of illegal drugs before warning officials at Roslyn High School.
But the district still hasn’t made this subject a priority, they said.
As a result, students still don’t know that drugs are bad for them or that marijuana impairs driving and is an illegal drug, Katz and Rebetti said.
Rebetti said the problem demands urgent attention, citing “last week’s potential catastrophe” as a signal of danger ahead.
“Start in the Middle School, and maybe work with the health curriculum,” she said. “It’s a problem.”
Katz tried to bring up the weekend incident, but was cut off by Ben-Levy
“Okay, we’re not [going to] discuss that now,” Ben-Levy said.
According to their Facebook page, “The Roslyn Bulldogs Booster Association is a tax-exempt, non-profit organization that supports the spirit and athletic programs of the Roslyn school district.”
“Entirely compromised of volunteer parents,” the [Roslyn Bulldogs Booster Association] “strives to ensure that the best athletic and physical education programs and facilities are available to all students, to enhance pride in our community and the students’ athletic experience,” the page said.
To date, the Facebook page said the Booster Association has “donated almost $500,000 to the district including $25,000 in student scholarships.”
“Our initiatives have included the development of the high school field turf and entrance complex, the establishment of a “Wall of Fame” and the sponsorship of many special events and clinics,” the page said. “Our latest project is the rebuilding of the field house [and] locker room at Roslyn High School.”
Katz and Ribetti both declined to comment after the meeting.
In other business, the careers of Vera Trenchfield and Mira S. Martinich were celebrated by the board.
While praising Trenchfield, a veteran coach and gym teacher, and Martincich, the retired director of Physical Education, Athletics and Recreation, the board cited their devotion to their students, commitment to the teaching profession and a long list of accomplishments.
“Your passion and compassion, that’s your legacy,” said board Vice President Clifford Saffron. “That’s what you’re known for in Roslyn. Both of you.”
Trenchfield teaches gym at Harbor Hill Elementary School and coaches student athletes. She recently won the New York State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance’s 2015 Nassau “Amazing Person Award”.
“We are so fortunate to have you here,” said Ben-Levy.
Trustee Adam Haber said his children “spoke about [Trenchfield] more than any other teacher.”
“They loved your class and they loved you,” Haber said. “When I met you for the first time, I understood why.”
Ben-Levy recalled the first time she met Trenchfield as a parent.
“My kids loved you and couldn’t wait to get to the gym,” she said. “Yes, you have been with us forever. May you stay with us forever more,” she said.
Martincich was selected last summer for the inaugural Nassau County High School Athletics Hall of Fame.
Edelson said he remembered his time working with Martincich.
“One of the things I learned about [Martincich], was, she’s always here, but you can never find her,” Edelson joked. “She’s always somewhere else. So I learned if she’s not in her office, she’s [going] be on the field somewhere, or she’s [going] to be on a court somewhere. If I couldn’t find her in any of those places, someplace I always knew to look for her was the high school, at the washing machines. Mira would be washing and folding uniforms. There was no job too small. It was for the kids.”
Edelson said that Martincich’s focus on details allowed the kids to focus on their own athletic challenges.
“She deserves our undying respect and gratitude for what she’s given Roslyn,” he said.
School officials said Martincich was greatly admired as a champion of the girls’ athletics program. Trenchfield was one of her students.
Both women were singled out for dedicating their lives to supporting athletic excellence and advocating for student athletes and teams.
Trenchfield, a graduate of Roslyn High School’s Class of 1988, majored in physical education teaching and coaching at Syracuse University and earned an M.S. at Brooklyn College, then a specialist diploma in administration and educational leadership at Queens College. She has taught gym and coached for 18 years in Roslyn Public Schools.
Martincich, a former science teacher, was inducted last year into the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame. She holds a B.A. in education from Queens College and a PhD from St. John’s University.
Her accomplishments included 20 years as director of physical education for K-12 Interscholastic Athletes and Recreation. Most recently, she served as interim athletic director.
“I was blessed to be here,” Martincich said. “I still consider it an incredible honor that seven years after my retirement, you would do such kind thing for us.”
