Psychiatrist Urges Later Return to P.S. 89 Building

Mental health professionals from St. Vincent's Medical Center, retained by the Board of Education to help P.S. 89 students handle the emotional transition back to their school, said they would like to see the children return a few weeks later than the Feb. 4 date now mandated by Chancellor Harold Levy. One of them, Dr. Spencer Eth, an expert on post traumatic stress disorder and director of St. Vincent's Behavior Health Services, sent a letter to Levy on Jan. 8, urging him to delay the return from the Lower East Side school where they are now housed.

"It would be far better to go back after the winter break," Eth told a group of P.S. 89 parents on Jan. 9 during a presentation at St. Vincent's by the hospital's mental health staff who are working at the school. The midwinter recess ends on Feb. 23.

But Eth, who has worked with communities in California hit with earthquakes and riots, tried to reassure the parents that their children would not be emotionally harmed if they returned earlier.

 

"I don't want to give you the impression that this is a life or death issue," said Eth. "We can help your kids if they move back at the beginning of next month."

"I think you'd be surprised by how quickly the children get back to normal life," Eth added, noting that children are often more resilient than adults.

Unlike P.S. 234, which is also due to return on Feb. 4, P.S. 89 does not have a psychologist on its staff. St. Vincent's psychologists have been seeing children referred to them by teachers and the school's guidance counselor and will continue to be on hand when the children return to their school in Battery Park City.

Last month, P.S. 89 teachers appeared before Board of Education officials to say that some children would not be emotionally ready to return to their school on Feb. 4 and some parents have expressed similar concerns. Also, they fear that debris-carrying trucks will foul the air around the school yard, keeping the children indoors during recess.

At a P.T.A. meeting to be held on Tuesday, Jan. 15, parents are expected to vote on whether they want to return to the school on Feb. 4. Some already have met with an attorney and favor pursuing an injunction to delay the Board of Education-mandated date.

Principal Ronnie Najjar has called the return date "incredibly premature. But in a note sent home to parents on Friday, Jan. 11, she urged parents to "refocus" their energies and help with the return on Feb. 4.

"I am asking you to consider that for the good of our children and community," Najjar wrote, "we attempt to come together to make this transition a good one for our children."