Private School Looks to Lease Cross Street School

Mineola School Superintendent Dr. Michael Nagler is finalizing a lease agreement with  for the use of the , which the Mineola Board of Education decided would be the first school to close at the end of the current school year.

Thursday night at its regular meeting at the , the Board unanimously passed a resolution for the district's administration to negotiate a lease in good faith for the Cross Street School. Dr. Nagler had mentioned that numerous parties were interested in leasing the buildings the District .

The agreement that has thus far been negotiated calls for a five-year lease with an option to renew at the end of the contract. However, either side can opt out of the lease after two years. 

The rental amount of the lease was not discussed as Nagler asked the Board not to discuss it in public until the lease was finalized. "It would hurt further negotiations if we put the number out and for some reason, this lease doesn't go through," he said. 

According to Dr. Nagler, the Solomon Schechter School is used by approximately 250 students from sixth through 12th grade. The school is currently located in Glen Cove. "They are looking for different facility, more central in Long Island," he said. "They have children from all over Nassau County and Queens."

There is some capital work that the Solomon Schechter School requires at the Cross Street School, most notably demolishing the stage in the gymnasium to make a full-court basketball court and repaving the parking lot, which calls for the elimination of the adjacent outdoor basketball court.

While the District will paying for the capital work up front, it will be fully reimbursed by the Solomon Schechter School in the form of higher rent payments during the first two years of the lease.

The lease agreement is not finalized as some details are still being negotiated including field usage.

Trustee John McGrath voiced his concern over the amount of buses that the site will have to accommodate. Board vice-President Christine Napolitano suggested a stipulation be placed in the lease agreement that caps the number of students that can attend the school. "I just want sure 250 students doesn't turn into 350," she said. 

Another suggestion the Board had was periodic access to the building with notice to the tenant and an ability to opt out of the lease each year after the second year.

"We can go back and discuss all of those things with them," Nagler said.

The Superintendent pointed out that there is some urgency on the part of Solomon Schechter since the school has to alert their parents that they will be changing locations. The Board will have to approve the lease agreement in the coming months before it becomes final.