Northport superintendent outlines four relocation options for students

The Northport-East Northport School District held a special Board of Education meeting Wednesday night to address possible contingency plans for relocating students from Northport Middle School.

As News 12 has reported, there have been complaints for years that the school is making students and staff sick. Elevated levels of mercury were detected outside the building, but extensive testing found no detectable levels of mercury vapor.

As a precaution, school officials closed three classrooms in one wing of the building.
Some parents say they are still concerned about the mercury levels while others say they are confident in how the district is handling the situation.

"The mercury is in a cesspool 10 feet underground," says parent Phyllis Clements. "There's none in the water. There's no way it can reach them."

Denise Schwartz, however, is still worried and says she wants to know what the source of the mercury is that could cause a high reading in the leaching pool.

The superintendent outlined four options for vacating the building. No comments were taken from parents and no board action was taken at the meeting.