Concerned residents demanded answers about an $8 million operating deficit at the Roosevelt school board meeting Thursday night, but the one person who bewildered them most never showed up to clear the air.

Assemblywoman Earlene Hooper (D-Hempstead), who has repeatedly ignored News 12 Long Island's requests for comment, was at an event in Carle Place that was honoring a school board member instead.

The controversy surrounds a proposed state bailout for the Roosevelt district's operating deficit. The state Senate approved a bill, sponsored by State Sen. Charles Fuschillo (R-Merrick), issuing an $8 million grant that would've erased the deficit. Hooper, though, failed to introduce any bill on the issue in the Assembly before the Legislature adjourned.

A spokesperson for Hooper said money in the Senate bill "was not a grant, it was a back-door loan." However, the legislation's language states the funding is a grant. Hooper's spokesperson said the assemblywoman plans to introduce a bill giving the schools $14 million, which would clear the deficit while providing an extra $6 million.

Any further legislative action would require a special session of the state Legislature, which does not have any scheduled meetings until next year. Some estimate the financially strapped school district could run out of money as early as December.

Residents aren't happy. Frank Scott, of the Roosevelt Watch Society, said outside the board meeting, "I think she's turned her back on us."

Related Information:Statebailout of Roosevelt schools stalls in Assembly