NEW YORK
The Journal News
Steve Lieberman, slieberm@lohud.com June 8, 2016
More than 20 yeshivas targeted by the New York state Education Department for overdue fire-safety inspections turned to Ramapo and Kaser officials this week to get their paperwork done, sidestepping attempts by the county to send its own team into the facilities for review.
Education Department spokeswoman Jeanne Beattie said in an email that 22 schools have filed inspection reports done by either private inspections or Ramapo inspectors. The filings mean the schools won’t be required to be inspected by the county.
The Education Department had deputized Rockland to review between 49 and 53 schools, some of which had not filed fire safety certificates for several years.
Dennis Lynch, the lawyer for the recently-formed School Religious Freedom Coalition, said that come Wednesday, “There could be many yeshivas that Ed Day’s representatives will not have to step foot into” since they have complied with the law.
An irritated Rockland County Executive Ed Day said the Education Department accepted the new reviews even though it had recently criticized Ramapo for its poor record on fire and building code inspections.
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