Copyright 1993 The New York Times Company  
The New York Times
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November 30, 1993, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final
SECTION: Section B; Page 8; Column 6; National Desk

LENGTH: 525 words

HEADLINE: Court's Move Elates Village Of Jewish Sect

BYLINE: By JACQUES STEINBERG,  Special to The New York Times

DATELINE: KIRYAS JOEL, N.Y., Nov. 29

BODY:
This could have been the last day of classes at the lone public school here, had the United States Supreme Court not agreed to review the constitutionality of the special school district in this Hasidic enclave of 12,000.

So after a sleepless night worrying about the fate of their school, and the 200 handicapped Hasidic children it serves, officials and parents here voiced relief as they gathered at the school to celebrate the Supreme Court's decision to review a July ruling by New York's highest court. That ruling had deemed the district unconstitutional because it "inescapably conveys a message of governmental endorsement of religion."

Abraham Weider, president of the Kiryas Joel school district, said, "We had a divine, inner feeling that ultimately the children would prevail." Predicting ultimate victory, he added, "They will get an education guaranteed for them by the Constitution."

The Supreme Court action permits the school to operate at least until the Court rules on the case, which is expected in mid-1994. Had the court not agreed to take up the case, the school would have been forced to close immediately, lawyers for the district said.

The school has allowed 19-year-old Sheindle Silberstein -- who was born with Down syndrome and reads at a first-grade level -- to improve her social skills and, perhaps for the first time, feel like a part of the community, said her mother, Malka.

"It's given her an opportunity to belong," Mrs. Silberstein said as she stood in the tan-brick school building. "That's the bottom line for every retarded child -- to be accepted."

Asked how feasible it would be to teach her daughter at home if the school closed, Mrs. Silberstein replied, "How much can a mother of 12 children teach a handicapped child?"

The Supreme Court action today, with its potential for setting new guidelines on church-state issues, has thrust this town about 40 miles northwest of New York City into the national spotlight. And to residents here, who do not read newspapers or watch television, the reporters and television camera crews who roamed the school's corridors today were an unpleasant side effect of their quest to keep their school alive.

"We would not like that we be in the headlines," said Mr. Weider, who, like many in this incorporated village of Satmar Hasidim, was born outside the United States. "We would like to be left alone to live our life style."

The Kiryas Joel school district was created by the State Legislature three years ago solely to operate the school for the handicapped. Virtually every other village child attends private Hasidic schools that do not receive any state or local aid.

The Hasidim said they needed the district and the government money it would receive because they could not afford to provide the services the handicapped students need. And parents balked at sending the students to the local public schools, fearing the children would be ridiculed for their distinctive dress and manners.

In their own school, the children are instructed partly in Yiddish, the language most speak at home. But the curriculum is strictly secular.


GRAPHIC: Map of New York indicating location of Kyras Joel.

LOAD-DATE: November 30, 1993