Vote on new Shulamith board postponed

By Jewish Star staff

Issue of Jan. 9, 2009 / 13 Teves 5769

Parents who sued Shulamith School for Girls to prevent the sale of the school's Brooklyn campus agreed to postpone an election they said would name a new board. But the postponed election marked the first successful harnessing of the collective will of parents of the Long Island branch of the school.

The decision was made at a meeting between a small group of parents and members of the current board.

"Their position regarding transfer of assets softened substantially,” said Ari Lieberman, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. “They also acknowledged that mistakes were made in dealing with the issue, and that they would invest in efforts to increase enrollment and registration for the pre-school and high school." Other confidence building measures were discussed as well, Lieberman said, that he was not at liberty to disclose.

The vote was to begin at 7:00 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 2, the date designated for an annual meeting in bylaws that the school produced in court after first claiming they didn't exist. The bylaws also state that parents of students are members of the school, with voting power, a point also disputed by the school.

As soon as a quorum was present a resolution to postpone was passed. It cited "ongoing discussions” between the school, plaintiffs, and parents from both branches.

The meeting is to be held “after an agreement is reached, after the litigation is resolved, or in accordance with the bylaws."

Three Long Island parents showed up at the Young Israel of Flatbush, where the vote was to have been held last Friday, with folders of proxies from other Long Island parents, authorizing Woodmere attorney Shmuel Spirgel to represent their interests and to vote on their behalf.