Studying the statistics for the Greenburgh School District can be disconcerting if not downright confusing. We've seen a drop this year of 56 students from the Greenburgh Central School District. Here is a simple chart showing the decline in the Greenburgh Central School District enrollment numbers, as well as in other Westchester districts. (The exception is the Pocantico Hills School District).
What is happening in these communities that is responsible for declining public school enrollment? There are certainly people who leave the district due to reasons such as work relocation, high cost-of-living, or the need to take care of elderly parents. We fear that a significant amount of the loss is due to dissatisfaction with the school districts in these communities and we believe this is very much the case with the Greenburgh School District. In studying other published articles, we learn that parochial schools are having an influx of students, even from revered districts such as Scarsdale. These affluent parents are placing their children in parochial and/or private schoolswith hefty tuitions, ranging from $3,000 to upwards of $25,000 annually for in-person learning at a smaller school.
In the latest rankings issue of Westchester Magazine* on public schools, the Greenburgh Schools rated 37th out of 47, ranking just higher than schools in the large cities. While analyzing the data from these various reports, ranks and standings, the unpublished stories inform us what's really going on to cause parents to enroll their children in private schools. For instance, it's alleged that in 2014, when searching for a replacement for Ronald Ross, a Greenburgh School Board Trustee contacted the Search Committee to influence their decision regarding candidate Tahira Chase, to place her name first on the list of recommended candidates. We cannot corroborate this allegation. (Ross was dismissed for discrimination and creating a hostile work environment, one of many unsuccessful Superintendents)
Two years ago, Superintendent Chase pushed a $200+ million dollar school campus consolidation pipe dream. Long-time Trustees Williams and Warner, after having presented multiple budgets that failed to provide adequate funding for building repairs, both supported this project, seemingly without regard to the negative costly impact to the taxpayers. The bond referendum was defeated by the Greenburgh taxpayers nearly 2-to-1 when it finally came to a vote! Clearly the community mandate was to repair the existing buildings and stop wasting time doing so. After that overwhelming defeat, Chase, Williams and Warner began to push the narrative that they had done a poor job informing the public as to their plan. Quite the contrary! The voters were well informed. We had been informed that the cost to taxpayers was $114 million dollars, however the NYS Board of Education's own figures were $200+ million dollars. Lying to the public by omitting the true cost of the project is never the less still a lie.
We have heard the Superintendent and Trustees Williams and Warner tout programs that at face value should be a source of pride. Specifically, we are regaled with the International Baccalaureate (IB) program and the Mandarin language program. In time, we've learned, however, that the IB program was failing because too many teachers weren't prepared adequately to teach it. The Mandarin program failed because the school did not have teachers for it for most of the year! We learned from students who complained that courses necessary for graduation, such as Physics, were not available. Those students were told to take an additional Chemistry class. World class indeed!
In October the Board of Education, after completing their annual evaluation of the Superintendent, decided not to renew her contract. During the course of a search for her replacement, the Board made a decision to offer the position to a Long Island superintendent who had interviewed very well for the position. Trustee Williams violated his responsibility as a Trustee by discouraging the agreed upon candidate from accepting the position. This action might have resulted in an extension of Chase's tenure through next year. If the allegations regarding his interference in her hiring are true, this would be the second time that he has violated his duty as a Trustee and manipulated the Superintendent selection process.
There is a long list of deficiencies of our school district. The most recent is the continuing use of remote learning due to the pandemic. Schooling has always been an interactive event and while many have tried to pawn remote learning to us as the panacea for education during the pandemic, it is not. The Greenburgh Central School District distributed Chromebooks to most students in an effort to help them with remote learning but let’s put yourself in the students shoes. When you're at work and instructed to take online training, how attentive and focused are you? You probably start out enthusiastically, then your attention wanes and your mind becomes less focused and starts drifting. Our children are no different and they have been forced to do this day after day for the past year! It's time to get our kids back into school. It's time for administrators, teachers, and parents to stop talking about following the science and implement a plan so that our children can attend school safely!
School board members Williams and Warner have been there for too long. It's time for new blood, new thinking with thoughtful and cost-effective action. When we see something amiss, we must question it without resorting to hysteria, vile attitudes or violence. The Board and the community must come up with a balanced plan of action to repair our schools and teach our kids.
We need to have a school district that people embrace instead of fleeing to private schools. We can collectively do this and do it well. It's how we'll get A Better Greenburgh School District.
* March 2021, Pg 50
While I have little interest in School District affairs I do care about how criticism regarding any Greenburgh matter is launched. Clearly in my own critical commentaries I do not tread lightly for fear of breaking eggs or questioning someone's intelligence or scruples. But where I draw the line is painting a picture with a borrowed brush and stolen paint. The facts of this article would seem to be enough on their own merit to validate concern. Given that reality, why is there any need to regurgitate rumors or even take the word of students when there are more credible sources (short of asking a blind man about the elephant) to obtain the same information. The Board of Trustees, ALL of them, are not see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil sycophants incapable of getting to the truth of the matter.
ReplyDeleteAs for remote learning, online instruction was making inroads successfully in the corporate world long before the pandemic struck. And while perhaps training programs are gateways to tedium, from my own "old school" version of education, I can remember being similarly bored by several live but still boring and pedantic teachers. What would you have schools do during a pandemic were they the only official entity having skin in the game and power to shutter schools? Stay at home without online learning or repeat classes if and when when herd immunity takes hold. That the school provides the hardware apparently is because not all families are able to provide such electronic enabling especially during times when parents themselves may be stuck at home and unemployed. For those families with children already well-versed in the mechanics of using these devices, the hours spent online for all purposes don't seem to present as much of a problem for them as it does to you in your own online engagement. If anything, try getting a child away from their online environment. Unfortunately (perhaps) when it comes to online learning, there is no Mary Poppins around to make problems disappear by providing a spoonful of sugar.