Steve Lieberman

slieberm@lohud.com

Rockland inspectors were denied access to most yeshivas overdue for fire and safety code inspections on Thursday, as a standoff grew between the private religious schools and the county executive.

The majority of administrators politely flashed a legal letter and told the inspectors to speak to their attorney if they wanted access, according to county officials and a lawyer representing the schools.

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County Executive Ed Day vowed to press forward with his attempts to review private schools to ensure they are providing safe conditions for children.

A man identified as Ramapo developer-landlord Jacob Wagschal followed one inspection crew, running ahead of them at times, screaming to administrators, "Don't let them in. Don't let them in," several county officials said.

Wagschal has been closely aligned with Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence and once was accused of stealing opposition campaign signs on the supervisor's behalf. His relatives once owned Hygena Lake bungalows, which was cited for more than 100 fire and safety violations while collecting county money to house poor people and those with criminal records.

South Nyack lawyer Dennis Lynch said he had instructed his yeshiva administration clients to have the county contact him to conduct fire and building code inspections at their properties.

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"My argument is the county is not entitled under the statutes to conduct inspections without permission to enter," Lynch reiterated.

He said he reached out again Thursday to state Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia seeking a meeting on her order that empowered the county to conduct the safety inspections.

He said the county doesn't qualify as an independent party, saying Day's agenda is not favorable to the Hasidic and ultra-Orthodox religious schools.

Day responded that it was the state Education Department that identified, for inspection, the more than two dozen schools that failed to file fire inspection reports and an additional 23 where a fire inspector later demoted for shoddy work had given the schools a clean bill of health.

Day took the rejection of the county's attempt to inspect 11 of 15 schools it visited Thursday in stride, saying he would seek the backing of the court system if necessary.

"We're going to advise Mr. Lynch of our schedule of visits next week, starting Monday, with five locations per day," Day said. "We will also advise Mr. Lynch the sites are not open to debate or change. If we are not given entry we will be applying (to the court) for a warrant to gain entry. If the administrators then deny us, they will be open to the appropriate charges and sanctions."

Day estimated eight schools had been inspected by county-led teams since last Friday, plus additional schools inspected by local officials..

Rockland Fire Coordinator Gordon Wren and his crew found dozens of violations at the first two locations they visited. Wren has said the violations wouldn't warrant closure of the schools, but many of the violations were serious issues, including blocked doors and stairwells.

Lynch is the legal representative of the just-formed School Religious Freedom Coalition, but has not disclosed its members. Lynch said organization members support the need for inspections and having safe schools for students but believe Day's goal is to limit the growth of private schools.

In a Thursday letter to Elia, Lynch said the inspections have become political, with the administration tipping off television crews seen waiting at one yeshiva.

He also called Day's threats to have people arrested and heavily fined "politics at its worst."

"Clearly the political orchestration of the inspections continues as news media are tipped-off bu the only entity that would know the timing of the inspections - namely County Executive Day," Lynch wrote. "This continued use of the media to politicize school safety issues continues to be the lamentable at least and clearly unconstitutional actions."

Lynch said he's only heard about inspections at Jewish schools, not Christian ones.

The state's list of schools to be inspected, however, includes St. Margaret's School in Pearl River, St. Dominic's in Nanuet, and the Circle of Friends in Stony Point, among others. Several schools on the state list have closed or moved.

Lynch noted former county Human Rights Commissioner Ram Nagubandi has said in an affidavit that the Day administration had targeted the religious community. Day has denied the accusation, calling it "scurrilous." Lynch represented Nagubandi, who was brought up on disciplinary charges and later resigned under a settlement.

The decision to authorize the county to conduct school safety inspections came after the Department of Education and the state Department of State’s Division of Building Standards and Codes issued critical reports on fire and safety enforcement in Ramapo and Spring Valley.

Calls for stronger state involvement followed Education Department revelations in April that Ramapo Fire Inspector Adam Peltz conducted shoddy inspections at four private schools: The Rockland Institute for Special Education, Bais Yaakov, Green Meadow Waldorf and Bais Yehuda.

Day said Thursday that additional violations had been found at the schools cleared by Peltz as safe during recent re-inspections by Thomas Buckley, a former Ramapo fire inspector who was hired back on a contract basis in the wake of the Peltz case.

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