Panico Throws Down Over School District Snub

Sparks flew at a recent public hearing on the proposed Beechwood redevelopment project in Mastic Beach when Brookhaven Supervisor Dan Panico took exception to a Nassau County principal’s harsh assessment of the William Floyd School District, delivering a forceful defense of his alma mater.

Kerry Ann Dunne, head of the George McVey Elementary School in East Meadow, argued that improving schools—not a massive redevelopment project—was the key to revitalizing Mastic Beach. She claimed that no amount of tax revenue generated by the project would solve the community’s problems.

“If we want Mastic Beach to change, we need better code enforcement and we need to improve our schools,” Dunne said. “Our schools are failing and we’re not training our kids to get a better life.”

Drawing on her own experience, Dunne said she transformed George McVey Elementary from what she described as “the armpit of East Meadow” into one of the top schools in New York State through hard work, not redevelopment.

“The answer is not this,” she said of the Beechwood project. “The answer is not taking homes from people who have lived there for 25 years.”

Panico quickly shot back: “I am a product of the William Floyd School District as are many people who are extremely successful and I believe your comments do not in any way categorize the William Floyd School District,” he said.

“The challenges that some students face are not because of a dilapidated downtown. What we endeavor to do is raise up the entire community. While I respect your comments, I believe they are wildly misplaced.”

He concluded with an even stronger defense of his alma mater. “As a graduate of William Floyd High School, I believe, perhaps contrary to your belief, that it is a very fine district.”

Mastic Beach businessman Ghulam Sarwar also rose to the district’s defense.

“William Floyd is a great school. A lot of graduates go on to become doctors and lawyers, even federal cabinet secretaries,” he said, noting that Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin is a William Floyd graduate. “If someone goes to school and doesn’t do hard work, don’t blame the District.”