Unsupervised children cause issues at library
Loss of courtesy busing exacerbates loitering problem
BY MICHAEL ACKER
Staff Writer

Several local parents are voicing concerns about what they called a growing problem with unsupervised children at the Sayreville library.

Since courtesy busing was cut for middle and high school students who live within 1.2 miles and 2.5 miles of their schools, respectively, many of those children are staying at the library after school until their parents can pick them up.

"Some parents, like myself, we don't have [courtesy] busing anymore," Portia Rolle, of Parlin, told the Borough Council last week, noting that she has to wait until her work day is over before she can pick up her 12-year-old child at the library.

Rolle told the council that her son was playing with snowballs with a group of children outside the library recently when he was approached by police. The other children fled the scene, and her son cooperated with authorities and was respectful, she said, but police took her son to the station.

"I was very upset," Rolle said, adding that she went to the

station when she was contacted, and was concerned with the reaction of one of the police officers, saying he blew the issue out of proportion.

"One of the officers said to me that [my son] 'will be back' and 'when he comes back next time I'm going to charge him.' All over a snow ball," Rolle said.

Mayor Kennedy O'Brien said he had a similar experience as a youth and that the police were using a more traditional method of keeping children out of trouble.

"On behalf of the borough, I apologize," O'Brien said.

A solution is needed to address the issue of children going to the library after school, without supervision, until their parents get off work.

"We don't have a structured supervised environment for the kids," O'Brien said. He asked that Rolle meet with police and discuss the issue.

"We have good people who work with the borough," O'Brien said. "They can go over what their intent was."

Resident Aishah Mathis-Keitt also addressed the council at the April 9 meeting, recalling an incident her daughter had with a library security officer and former Library Director Joseph Lyons. She said her daughter and two friends were told to leave the library one afternoon, and when the mother returned with the three children, she was told to leave as well.

Mathis-Keitt said she called the police after a security guard allegedly was rude to her. She added that Lyons later pressed charges of disorderly conduct against her.

Borough Business Administrator Jeffry Bertrand noted at the meeting that Lyons has recently retired and relocated out of state. Lyons, he said, is pursuing the charges personally against Mathis-Keitt, despite the fact that the library board of trustees and the municipality want to see them dropped.

Rolle did not have any problems with security at the library.

"I didn't have any problem with the security," Rolle told the Suburban. "They are always pleasant with me and my son."

Mathis-Keitt told the Suburban that the borough no longer allows her daughter at the library.

"My daughter has been walking home by herself with courtesy busing gone," Mathis-Keitt said.

O'Brien said the borough will work toward a solution to these problems.

Councilman Daniel Buchanan, liaison to the recreation department, said he will look into the possibility of leaving the recreation center open for the children during the afternoon and early evening hours.

Denise Leight, the adult services librarian at the Sayreville Public Library, told the Suburban that some juveniles, not including Rolle or Mathis-Keitt's children, are causing disturbances at the library from the time schools let out until about 5:30 p.m.

"We are right between the schools," Leight said, adding that some students are disruptive and disrespectful on a regular basis.

Leight said students are often unsupervised and loitering outside the library in the parking lot. Inside the library, the students are often noisy and use foul language, she said.

"Patrons do not want to come in," Leight said. "Students who take tests for the proctor exams can't think. [The disruptive students] have no respect for the security guard."

Leight told the Suburban that she cannot understand why students will play football or other physical activities in the library's parking lot, when Kennedy Park is located across the street. She added that the students have damaged vehicles in the parking lot.

"There is a park across the street," Leight said. "Why not go there?"

Police reported that a library security guard had his vehicle vandalized by juveniles after school in March.

"We are not baby-sitters," Leight said, adding that students hit her vehicle once and often climb on top of borough property.

While the problem has been going on for a couple years, the loss of courtesy busing this school year contributed to the problem.

"It is getting worse," Leight said. "I feel bad for the kids in here [who are] trying to do their homework and the adults trying to use the library."

Patrons who try to leave the library between 2 and 3 p.m. are often surprised that it could take them up to half an hour to exit the parking lot and get onto Washington Road, Leight said. This problem emerged in part because some parents are picking up there children at the library due to the ongoing construction at the high school, she said.

The borough's recreation center is located a good distance from the middle and high schools and is not available for youths after school.

"They need to create a place for [these children] to go. This is not the mall," Leight said. "They need something to walk to since parents are working all day."

Police Detective Mathew Bandurski said that police have responded to the library situation by increasing patrols.

"The kids go down there and hang out until their parents pick them up," Bandurski said.

The borough is not the only community dealing with issues of children being unsupervised after school, according to Sayreville Police Lt. Timothy Brennan.

"Anyone that gets out of line is going to be dealt with," Brennan said, "[but] I think that you are going to see it subside with the nicer weather."

Brennan feels that the school district is doing what it can to occupy the children after school.

"I couldn't say that the school is not doing enough," Brennan said. "It's just that some kids choose not to get involved. The school is doing their part."

Rolle said that since she addressed the council last week, her correspondence with police and local officials has improved.

"The police have been very cooperative, specifically Police Chief [Edward] Szkodny and the mayor's office," Rolle said. "They have been very cooperative with us, [as well as] the library board."

Rolle's son and two of his friends recently made suggestions to the library board, proposing ideas for after-school activities that were received well by the board.

"We just want our kids to be safe and feel safe," Rolle added. "We don't want our kids to be afraid of the police or anybody who is supposed to be an authority over them."