Politics Over Pupils:
A Complete Timeline of The School Board’s Partisan Actions
The five members of the Massapequa school board have a long history of politically motivated actions, spending taxpayer dollars on frivolous lawsuits at the expense of our children, our reputation, and the trust of the community.
For a full timeline, keep scrolling
2020
The Massapequa School District sues Section VIII, the governing body for school sports, to allow sports to continue during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Massapequa is the only school district to file such a suit. The case is dismissed within a month. The judge notes “Massapequa skipped over the appeals process before bringing the suit and failed to exhaust its administrative remedies."
2021
Massapequa and Locust Valley school districts file a joint lawsuit to end the mask mandate. Two months later, the lawsuit is dismissed. The Board spends over $70,000 of taxpayer money on the case.
2023
The Board refuses to comply with the state’s Native American Mascot Ban, choosing to retain their mascot…
…a culturally inaccurate representation of a Plains Indian wearing a war bonnet. Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman attends the board meeting as a "very special guest" and pledges to join the fight. He remarks, to the board’s laughter, "This is going to drive the woke people crazy."
The Board declines to work with local tribes for approval, which is the legally viable option to retain the mascot.
The Board meets with the Shinnecock, where they complain about the cost of rebranding and tank negotiations with the only recognized native tribe that could have offered them a path to retaining the chiefs name.
Massapequa and three other districts sue the State of New York to keep their mascots.
The judge dismisses the poorly-filed lawsuits because school districts lack the “legal capacity” to sue their creator (the state). Massapequa spends more than $100,000 of taxpayer money on the case. All other districts begin changing their names. Massapequa is the only school district in New York that remains noncompliant.
Spring 2025
President Trump posts his support for the board on Truth Social.
Board President Kerry Wachter appears on Fox News and Newsmax multiple times. She disregards the judicial system and the judge who ruled on the mascot case as “an Obama appointed judge” and declares, “We are a patriotic town and we love Trump."
The Board sends a letter to Linda McMahon asking President Trump to intervene, issue an executive order to protect the mascot, and to redirect state education funds directly to Massapequa.
The board hosts a political rally with Linda McMahon in the high school gymnasium during school hours.
McMahon, who is dedicated to dismantling the Department of Education, attends alongside Bruce Blakeman. Students scheduled for gym class at that time are instructed to sit in the bleachers as an “audience for the festivities”. Frank Black Cloud, a representative of NAGA, a Montana-based Native American advocacy group funded in part by former Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder, declares the event to be “NAGA meets MAGA”. This event is funded by the school.
A "Save the Chiefs" rally is held in the high school parking lot.
Board President Kerry Wachter attends and speaks at a “Save The Chiefs” rally, where MAGA and Trump merchandise is displayed, sold, and celebrated. Though students are present, this is not a student led event. The organizers and vendors are not students, and the vehicles pictured do not belong to students.
Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino, Board president Kerry Wachter, and vice president member Jeanine Caramore.
All photos from the “Save The Chief’s” rally, held June 7th, 2025, on Massapequa school grounds.
September 9th, 2025
Without previous public reading or community review, the board unanimously passes a policy that determines bathroom and locker room access by sex assigned at birth—in direct violation of state law.
At the same board meeting they also approve a resolution to retain two different law firms: Holtzman Vogel a large political law firm out of D.C. that is explicitly associated with the Republican Party and conservative causes, and Nick Rigano, a local environmental and land-use lawyer who previously represented Massapequa in an anti-regionalization lawsuit. Neither firms practice education law.
October 15th, 2025
Commissioner Betty Rosa orders a stay and declares Massapequa BOE cannot enforce this policy because it violates state law.
The same day Massapequa is issued their stay, Locust Valley, a school district with a history of joining Massapequa in doomed lawsuits, passes a nearly identical anti-trans policy.
Locust Valley retains the same lawyer as Massapequa, Nick Rigano. Two days later the policy is stayed by the commissioner. A letter from New York’s Attorney General to Locust Valley’s BOE states:
“The attorney you have hired for this issue, Mr. Rigano, was aware of this order as he received it via email over 24 hours before your board voted on the resolution. We presume that Mr. Rigano informed you of its contents and applicability. “
The same day Massapequa’s anti-trans policy is stayed, the Massapequa BOE quietly files (another) lawsuit to protect the Chiefs mascot.
This is the Board’s third mascot lawsuit. The lawsuit lists BOE President Kerry Wachter, BOE VP Jeanine Caramore, “Save the Chiefs Foundation Inc.” and Laura Christopher, a Massapequa resident of Cherokee descent, as plaintiffs. The Shinnecock Nation, the only federally recognized tribe on Long Island, has maintained that they are deeply offended by the Massapequa “Chiefs” mascot.
October 17th, 2025
Two days after filing that lawsuit, The Board and their lawyers are threatened with sanctions and fines for attempting to “game” the courts with duplicate lawsuits. They withdraw the suit.
- Federal Judge Bulsara
October 22nd, 2025
The Massapequa BOE announces they have filed a lawsuit against the state to allow the Board to enforce their bathroom ban, indicating the beginning of a long, expensive, and avoidable legal battle.
In the lawsuit The Board names the parents of a trans student as defendants. As there is no material benefit for the Board to sue parents they represent, legal experts are unclear if the purpose is an attempt to fix the Board’s lack of standing that has plagued their other lawsuits or if it is merely intimidation.
November 2025
The Massapequa BOE and NAGA’s mascot lawsuits are both dismissed entirely for lack of standing.
The board files to appeal, though the defects that have led to the case being dismissed twice in federal court by two different judges still exist.
In a NY Post article The Board vows to continue litigating.
December 9th, 2025
After several months of residents attending board meetings asking the board to stop filing new lawsuits, board president Kerry Wachter files a new lawsuit, suing New York’s AG.
The lawsuit is over a letter from the AG and the NYDOE informing board members that if they participate in or allow bullying of LGBTQ+ students at board meetings they could be removed. Ms. Wachter claims it is an infringement of freedom of speech.
The new lawsuit brings a new media tour, including another appearance on Fox News.
Board President Kerry Wachter’s legal representation, the Southeastern Legal Foundation – a conservative policy center based out of Georgia – uses press from the lawsuit to push for donations.
Though Ms. Wachter’s lawsuit will likely be dismissed for failure to prove harm, organizations like the SLF, who represent clients pro bono, will bring cases with little merit for the headlines they produce and the fundraising that comes with them.
This behavior is not normal.
Every school district in New York faces the same challenges. But only one consistently chooses division, conflict, and costly, doomed lawsuits over conversation, collaboration, and student safety.
We are organizing to stop the board from filing and appealing junk lawsuits, to drop the current junk lawsuits that will not win, and to stop risking our children's education for their political theater.
We believe Massapequa deserves better.
If you want to protect our school’s funding, restore trust, and stop dangerous politicization then sign up!