Shinnecock Nation Members Air Grievances at Southampton School Board Meeting

Tension ran high and tempers flared between members of the Shinnecock Nation and Southampton School District administrators and School Board members at a March 7 board meeting as they jousted over the proposed annual budget and alleged wrongdoings over money allocation, professional conduct, student discipline and more.

“I see a complete disrespect for our community from the Southampton School District,” said Lance Gumbs, former tribal chairman and current tribal representative from the Shinnecock Nation, “and we keep having these fake conversations — because that’s what they are.”

One by one, over the course of two public comment sessions, a dozen members of the Shinnecock Nation took to the podium inside the Southampton Intermediate School music room, expressing frustrations and concerns and asking questions of the School Board — who responded with explanations, promises of consideration and some defensiveness.

The district’s first pass at its 2023-24 budget proved to be an easy catalyst for many of the speakers, who asked why the projected $4.6 million in revenue for Native American tuition provided by New York State was not earmarked for Shinnecock students.

Jean Mingot, assistant superintendent for business, explained that the Native American students are part of the general population, so the proposed budget — which currently sits at $76.9 million, with a tax levy of $62.5 million — “serves all students, regardless of the source,” he said.

“We, in our community, which is why there are so many of us here, are concerned [about] how our children are being educated and the fact that some of them are falling behind,” explained Seneca Bowen, treasurer of the Shinnecock Council of Trustees. “I want to get a better understanding from you all as to why that money isn’t being utilized specifically for our children — or at least have a dialogue in how that money that comes in from the state for our students is being utilized for our Shinnecock students.”

“That money is put into the pool that makes up our whole general budget, and it comes up with the per pupil rate,” Superintendent of Schools Nicholas Dyno replied. “So that’s divided among all students. It’s the revenue that the district receives in lieu of home taxes, property taxes. So it’s not designated for the specific Native population. It’s put in the general fund, which is then divided among all students.”

“I’m bringing that up because I personally think, and I’m sure our community members here feel, that it should be treated differently,” Bowen said.

He was not alone.

“That money is reparations. That money is not a handout, it’s not a gift. It is the reparations for the stolen land that this very school is sitting on,” Gumbs said, adding, “That money belongs to us. It doesn’t belong to the general population of the Southampton School District. It belongs to us for our kids, and that is what we want it used for — and that is what we’re gonna go after.”

Bryan Polite, chairman of the Shinnecock Council of Trustees, acknowledged the importance of the administration’s work on the budget while formally requesting a public forum to discuss racial inequality and the treatment of Shinnecock students.

He pointed specifically to introducing a zero-tolerance policy for hate speech, which is referred to as “racial epithets” in the district’s code of conduct, he said. Dyno said that it is under review and plans to have the revisions done by the end of this school year, to implement them in September.

“If we don’t have a voice and something doesn’t change, it’s not going to be good — and that’s not a threat or anything like that,” Polite said. “I’m talking about the mental stability of our students, and not just the Shinnecock students.”

Several community members noted the lack of representation among the teachers and district staff. Kenneth Coard of the Shinnecock Nation, who is an assistant principal at the Amityville High School, called the Eastern Suffolk BOCES minority teacher recruitment fair — which Dyno pointed out that the district attends — a “farce.”

“I know I have 1,000 kids that see me every day, and you can’t put a price tag on it,” Coard said. “Southampton doesn’t have it.”

Parents also questioned how teachers are monitoring and supporting athletes academically — and demanded the end of prioritizing sports over good grades — while others brought up alleged instances of disrespect toward Shinnecock students, both by fellow classmates and teachers.

Terrell Terry recounted an incident of his son being “charged with engaging in an altercation and/or physically aggressive behavior” after defending himself against a student who “pushed my son from behind, with all of his strength,” he said.

“Mr. Terry, I’m just gonna stop you right there,” School Board President SunHe Sherwood-Dudley said.

“I just would like to read this right now, because I would like to … because I’ve had this conversation …” Terry continued, gesturing to his notes.

“But this is not the forum,” she replied.

“But it is, but it really is,” he said, “because the amount of neglect to the Shinnecock Nation has to be heard publicly. We will not go quietly,” he continued, speaking over Sherwood-Dudley’s objections. “We have been here for over 13,000 years — now I’m just asking to be heard. I would like to prove my point. You asked me if there was a particular, I’m giving you a particular.”

“We are in the public comments on agenda items,” she said. “Your son is important, but this is not the forum to have this conversation.”

“My son is a consequence of neglect,” he said, “just like the rest of the children.”

When he asked to have a meeting to discuss these issues, a man in the audience said, “It needs to be public. This behind-the-scenes stuff needs to stop. It needs to be a public meeting so people can understand what’s going on.”

“The racism that our children are dealing with,” a woman chimed in.

“We’re doing this in a vacuum, and the vacuum is over,” the man continued. “We’re not doing this in a vacuum anymore. If we’re gonna have a meeting like that, that needs to be a public meeting, a public forum. And if this is not it, then arrange one so that we can have that.”

Shinnecock tribal member Lynda Hunter refused to wait for that meeting to air her grievances involving her 9-year-old grandson, who is a student at Southampton Elementary School. Every day after school, after she collected him from the bus, she said he insisted on taking a shower. She later learned that it was because his teacher told him his hair smelled bad, she said, and forced him to move his desk and chair into the corner of the classroom.

“This is not a safe place for our Shinnecock children,” she said. “My grandchild should not come to school to be harassed by an adult. My grandson should not come to school to be harassed, tormented and humiliated in front of his classroom friends. So I had a meeting with the principal and we submitted some paperwork, and I want to know how that’s gonna be handled.”

Sherwood-Dudley insisted, again, that the board could not discuss personnel items and as the conversation got more heated, the live video — now posted on YouTube with nearly 800 views as of Tuesday night — was cut and edited in four spots.

“I will end the meeting right now,” Sherwood-Dudley warned.

“I want you to, because this is the drop-mic moment,” Hunter said.

The video was edited once more when Terry took to the podium again toward the end of the meeting to explain the significance of understanding the history of the Shinnecock Nation and how it impacts the treatment of their children, who are at the center of “the obvious disparity between the haves and the have-nots,” he said.

“I know our children aren’t unintelligent,” he said. “I know they’re bright, I know they want to succeed, but they have circumstances that they have to deal with, situationally, that other people can’t even comprehend. That’s what we’re really talking about. We’re talking about people not understanding that.”

The meeting was adjourned at 9:36 p.m., just over three hours from when it began.

“I’m here to let you know that we’re tired of it,” Gumbs said of the treatment toward the Shinnecock students. “And whatever we have to do as a community to change that, we’re going to do — whether that’s going to court on it, we’re going to hold you accountable. Because those days are over of sitting and listening to the same stuff over and over and over again. And nothing happens, nothing changes.”