UPDATED: Close To 75 Parents Protest Outside BOE Member’s Home; And Office

PHOTOS: Close to 75 Tiny Tots parents protested in front of the home of BOE member Chesky Seitler late last night following the closure of the pre-school, until police were called in. The protest began about 12:00 a.m. with parents gathering at Bais Rivkah Rochel to organize the protest, in what was to be a forced and surprise meeting at Mr. Seitler’s home.

When the parents arrived however, Seitler did not open the door and neighbors began calling police for the noisy crowd growing outside his home.

“You’re not letting my kids sleep, and they have school tomorrow”, a neighbor told one of the protesters.

“Well my child doesn’t have where to go”, she answered.

Police called for several backup units, and when they arrived, the crowd began to disperse.

The protest ended at approximately 1:00 a.m. TLS-CCP

Updated 9:55 a.m.BOE Chesky Seitler submitted the following statement to TLS in response to last night’s protest: “While I definitely did not appreciate the way certain individuals acted last night, I understand that it comes with the territory. What bothers me though, is that 70% of those who came to protest were parents of regular ed children who need a full day day care center. While they were able to have the amenities of TT at a reduced rate due to the profit made by TT from the BOE contract, I don’t think the BOE is responsible to provide them with full day day care. If TT closed down because they can’t turn a profit from that portion of the business, why should we be held accountable? To come protest about it at 12 am is simply mind boggling!! I am beginning to believe that the organizers have personal or monetary agendas, and will stop at nothing to achieve that goal.”

Short video clip of the gathering. (Reader submitted) VIDEO REMOVED UPON REQUEST.

Update 2:20 p.m.PHOTO of the protest which took place at the office of Mr. Seitler moments ago. However, Seitler was not at his office when the parents – many with their special needs children – arrived.

“The preschool program being offered in district is not handicapped accessible” a parent standing outside the office said. “My child can’t walk up stairs or up a ramp there is no way my child can get into a trailer.”

Another parent said “It’s irrelevant who is running the program. Our children have an extremely hard time adapting to change. To change their surroundings can be a serious setback. Our child has come so far in the last few months and we feel like we are back to square one.”