GCSD: Past Due

It’s tough to run a school district that burns through teachers and Superintendents faster than a McDonalds serving Big Macs, but Greenburgh needs a change - and fast! We continually witness failures of the district, spearheaded by Superintendent Chase and long time School Board members such as Terry Williams. Their costly agenda of campus consolidation and higher taxes offered nothing that could deliver an improved education for our children. Three of the seven Board of Education members have been Trustees for many, many years. The longest serving member is Terry Williams who is again running for re-election. The next longest is David Warner who was reelected to another 3 year term last year. The third long-serving trustee, Cora Carey, is last but not seeking re-election.

The district has gone through several Superintendents in a row who have had either legal or ethical issues or both. They have all failed the district and our students. Without orchestrating a solid and/or improved education, the ever-diminishing test results of the students highlights their failures.

The District’s website states that it’s vision is, “By 2021, we will be a world-class school district” and defines “World-Class” as a district that works, “To help our students compete and function as citizens in a global society, our efforts should include global elements, such as a world languages program and the Advanced Learning Program, and we should refine and expand existing initiatives such as our International Baccalaureate program.” Although this sounds impressive, it’s just a hollow statement. Just as impressive as this hollow statement is the failure of these oft-touted programs and their inability to take hold. How is this possible? We’ve been told by both students and parents that the IB program teachers were unprepared or unable to teach the required coursework–so they didn’t. In addition to this deficiency, the school was unable to offer college prep courses such as Physics and students were told to instead take two Chemistry classes.

English Language Arts has faltered despite knowing that immersion in English is a proven, successful standard adopted throughout the world for over a century - just not in Greenburgh! Similarly, math scores continue to tank, yet the Superintendent continues to insist that Greenburgh is a world class district! Incredibly, no child is ever left behind in the Greenburgh Schools. Each year they move up the grade ladder until they finally collect their high school degrees and graduate. This practice needs to end, no matter how catchy the “No Child Left Behind” jargon, or how convenient it is to graduate all of the students. Many staff have been intimidated and therefore go along with these practices, not wishing to fall out of favor with the administration which would jeopardize their livelihood. Could this be why we experience a high turnover of teachers in our schools?

There is a high turnover of mostly new teachers in our schools. We’re told that a toxic administrative culture and a lack of investment with the teachers are the primary reasons. Most schools and districts provide mentoring programs for new and young teachers so that they can better assimilate into the schools and develop into better teachers. Why hadn’t Superintendent Chase promoted this basic program? She had no problem promoting the sale of existing buildings and building new ones. But, buildings don't teach students, teachers do!

What of the Greenburgh Central School District's Board of Education under the leadership of President Antoinette Darden-Cintron? The reality of her leadership is that she has increased transparency and the responsiveness of the Board, something that has been a long-time struggle to attain. Now, when you send correspondence to the Board (emails in particular), you receive a response either the same day or the following day. I've even received phone calls from President Cintron-Darden! Kudos to her! Months ago, the School Board did not vote to renew the Superintendent's contract, in effect, terminating her employment as of June 30th of this year. 

Once the Superintendent learned (from Trustee Terry Williams?- if so that would be a violation of confidentiality rules) her contract would not be renewed she began shrewdly dragging her feet, thwarting efforts to return the students to full-time in-school classes. She has cleverly dodged questions about returning to classrooms full-time by saying she was following recommendations from the CDC, not the NYS Department of Education. We understand she’s upset and perhaps even want to get even: she'll be losing roughly $300,000 per year in salary and benefits. But there's no need to feel sorry for her: we’ve lheard she has been hired by another district.

It’s been said that education is the elixir of success. While there is certainly enough blame to go around, we must also blame ourselves. We forgot what our grandparents and parents expected our schools to offer us when we were children. Our children deserve a well-rounded education that will enable them to think for themselves, earn a living and be productive in the “real” world. Not only have we dropped the ball, but we have been lackadaisical about correcting the undesireable circumstances we’ve seen unfold over the years.

Parents and taxpayers must make it known to the Greenburgh School Board of Education that they have failed to earn our trust. President Cintron-Darden has worked hard to change that with the current Board. Terry Williams and David Warner have fought her tooth and nail. In fact, the Board is currently holding hearings to remove Terry Williams from his position due to his repeated violations of numerous Board rules and laws. If he fails to successfully defend himself against the charges, he will be removed. If he is victorious at the hearing and retains his position, he should be voted out of office by the taxpayers at the May 18th election. He’s dragging out the hearing, however, and the result may not be known before the May 18th election. Even if he wins his case, the unprecedented attempt of removal indicates that he has failed his responsibilities as a Trustee. We, the people, must make sure that he is not re-elected.

It is time we force the entire Board to step up their game and it’s time for us to do the same. Let’s stop lip-syncing the phrase, “For the children!” We cannot look to or imagine the future if we’re too focused on ideas of the past. It’s time we make a significant change and remove the long time trustees who have wallowed in their own self-grandeur and archaic functionality.

We need new ideas, new blood and new people to propel our children into the future, to repair and maintain our buildings and to become a school district that attracts people instead of repelling them. That’s the only way to get A Better Greenburgh School District!