Creative Fundraiser Sparks Controversy at Salem

While our economy continues to struggle, organizations are always looking for unique ways to fundraise. Parent volunteers of South Salem Elementary School's Home School Association (HSA) thought a March Madness pool was a great, new way to raise money for computers and electronic blackboards for the students. While the HSA gambled with this inventive idea of using an online waging pool for fundraising, the members will now have to go back to the drawing board after the Town of North Hempstead declared the gambling fundraiser illegal.

"In a challenging economic environment, the Salem HSA sought to develop new and creative ways by which to raise funds that would benefit our children's educational experience and ease the financial burden of our school," said HSA co-presidents Gail Seiden and Heidi Jarach in a statement released this weekend.

The fundraising event, titled HSA Salem Social March Madness and scheduled for March 19 at the Landmark Sports Bar in Manhasset, was denied a permit by the Town of North Hempstead due to the fact that this form of betting is illegal. HSA representatives said they applied for the permit last week, although letters publicizing the event were circulating around the community before then.

According to the letter sent home last week by the Salem HSA, which is Port's equivalent of a PTA, the online bracket pool taking place during the annual March Madness College Basketball Tournament would have an $20 entry fee and "the winner of the pool will receive half of the proceeds with the remainder being donated to the HSA sponsored events that take place throughout the year."

Local resident and former school board member Jon Zimmerman said he received the letter on Feb. 10. "I believe it is wrong, being a teacher myself, to use illegal sources of income to fund school supplies," said Zimmerman, whose son Robert attends South Salem.

Even though he mentioned businesses and other groups often participate in such pools, Zimmerman said he believes that "if it is against the law it should not be used in a school setting." His strong feelings against this issue are what Zimmerman explained led him to contact local media about this issue in hopes to expose the injustices.

Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman sent an e-mail to the board members of the HSA last Friday, which said the permit request was denied because sports-betting pools are illegal, unlike raffles and other games of chance. According to the state's Racing and Wagering Board in Albany, it is illegal to organize sports-betting pools and there are no exceptions for school volunteers. Since the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament is beyond the control of the HSA and therefore is different from raffles or bingo, which are confined to and in control of the school or organization conducting the event, the event was declared illegal.

The Salem HSA co-presidents have responded to the communities outcries against their planned event by removing the betting aspect from the event. The HSA co-presidents' statement said, "Apparently one or more individuals within our community have expressed concern with one aspect of our spring fundraising event. Because the Salem HSA does not wish to create any amount of controversy within our community we have eliminated that activity from that event."

Gail Seiden's husband, Robert, a current member of the Port Washington Union Free Board of Education said that his wife "submitted a request for a permit for the NCAA match pool to raise money for low-income children to buy computers." He continued, "Last Friday, the HSA was contacted saying the permit was not issued because of the way the event was structured."

Robert explained that the HSA will meet next week and that a decision should be made on the new direction of the fundraiser at the Feb. 24 meeting. "The HSA will meet next week to restructure the event so that it is not illegal," he said.

Some residents don't understand why the situation was handled in the manner it was.

"Everyone participates in pools like this, so it doesn't seem like a big deal," said Schreiber High School junior Lev Pinkus. "I don't understand why it went so far where the media got involved. It almost looks like it's a personal issue. I think the pool was a good idea, but if it's illegal, there's nothing they can do."

Port Washington resident Antonio Encarnacao said he thinks this could have been dealt with without going public. "Without knowing the people involved, I believe I would have done things differently," Encarnacao said. "This issue could have been taken up with the local organization. A simple letter, phone call or e-mail sent to the HSA, expressing such concerns would have been more effective. The HSA was just trying to raise some money for a good cause."

But there seem to be issues outside the gambling fundraiser which could explain why government bodies and the media became involved. Multiple sources have said that there is some sort of "long-standing feud" between Zimmerman and Mr. Seiden.

Seiden called Zimmerman a "former disgraced school board member" and said, "Jon Zimmerman is manipulating the media to the detriment of children."

Zimmerman argued that Seiden is a lawyer and that he and his wife "should have known better." He added that he is suspicious of the fact that Seiden is a member of the school board and said he feels that "they think they are above the law." Zimmerman also pointed out previous situations where he felt the school district favored board members. "There is no innocence in this situation," Zimmerman said. "What they did is not right."