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East Meadow school ruled unsafe for disabled boy
BY CARL MACGOWAN | carl.macgowan@newsday.com
May 17, 2008 A federal jury has ruled that an East Meadow school was unsafe for a student with cerebral palsy.
The family of Domenick Celeste Jr., 14, was awarded $115,000 Thursday after the jury found that East Meadow School District officials failed to make Woodland Middle School safe for the boy. A lawyer for the district said he planned to appeal the decision.
Domenick Celeste Sr. said his son is prone to tripping on steps and cracked concrete sidewalks. One particular section of school property, outside the gymnasium, forces his son to walk down some steps and then climb up more steps, he said.
For his son, walking outside the gym was "like walking on ice every time he had his feet on that area," Celeste said. One time, his son caught his foot and fell backward, he said. "He came within inches of cracking his head," he said.
The problems started during the 2005-06 school year, he said. His son is now an eighth-grader at the school and has fallen "many times," he said.
"He had to have an aide" help him walk, Celeste said. "He had to hold on to her hand." The boy can generally walk unaided but sometimes uses a wheelchair.
An attorney for the district, Lewis Silverberg of Manhattan, said the school is "accessible" to Celeste.
"We are very disappointed and we think the jury is wrong on the law," Silverberg said. "We feel the school went above and beyond to try to accommodate this boy."
He said the area outside the gym is scheduled for repairs.
East Meadow has been at the center of a controversy involving another disabled student, John Cave Jr. of Westbury. East Meadow officials have denied requests by Cave, who is hearing-impaired, to bring his service dog to W. Tresper Clarke High School.
A federal judge last year ruled in favor of the district, but the state Division of Human Rights this year said Cave has a right to bring the dog to school. The district, however, still refused to allow the dog in, saying it would appeal the agency's decision.
The jury in the Celeste case said four sections of school property were inaccessible to the boy, including areas between the gym and athletic fields, a portion of sidewalk and a bus shelter.
Celeste said he and his wife, Angela, repeatedly wrote and called school officials to request repairs, but "they really never responded to Domenick's needs."
The family plans to ask federal District Judge Leonard Wexler to order the district to make repairs, said the Celestes' attorney, Martin Coleman of Woodbury.
The jury's verdict, for mental anguish, inconvenience and pain and suffering, was a relief for the family, Domenick Celeste Sr. said.
"We felt that we were dreaming," he said.
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