Fire Captain Says Many Ramapo Religious Schools Don't Comply With Fire Code

That warning was delivered at Tuesday night's East Ramapo School Board meeting by Justin Schwartz, a Spring Valley fire captain and Tarrytown rabbi who is a member of the Rockland Illegal Housing Task Force, lohud.com said.

During the public-comment period, Schwartz stood in full dress uniform and said he fears the danger grows with every passing day, lohud.com said.

East Ramapo's school board is dominated by Hasidic and other Orthodox Jews who send their children to private religious schools. 

Roughly 24,000 students attend private religious schools in the district. The population of about 8,500 students who attend public schools is mostly Latino and Haitian, lohud.com said.

Religious school students are crammed into illegally converted trailers and single-family homes that have gone years without ever being inspected for potentially deadly hazards, lohud.com said.

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