The March regular meeting of the Newburgh School District Board of Education was very well attended. The auditorium was filled to its capacity of 150, and several rows of people were standing along the back of the room. All board members were present.
The meeting began with BOE President Fucheck setting out some rules for comments--that there would be up to half an hour for agenda related public comment at the beginning of the meeting, and half an hour for non-agenda public comment at the end.
Meeting items from Superintendent of Schools Saturnelli included recognition of several athletes, and a new nationally certified teacher, Shirley Riefenhauser. Also to be recognized were eleven Social Workers: Craig Altman, Marge Bell, Irene Scott-Bethea, Melanie Bennett, Maria Teresa de Bourbon, Carrie Frost, Norma Norat, Amy Pittari, Abdullah Rahaman, Melanie Russel, and Alicia Smith, all of whom were present to receive their award. The audience was buzzing with the irony of recognizing the achievement of the Social Workers given that ten of the eleven positions had been slated for elimination, and many of the audience were attending the meeting to complain about that.
Fucheck clarified that the agenda related public comments could be on the topic of the elimination of a Junior High School Principal position (Mr. Jackson's position), but commentary on the elimination of Social Worker positions should be held until the non-agenda comment time.
Public speaker 1, Sadie Tallie, protested the abolishment of the principal position at North Junior High. She has been a part of the school system for over 50 years and has been the President of PTA at Montgomery Street, Grand Street, NJH, and NFA (before the PTA becaome a PTO). She finds the firiing of the principal at NJH, Social Workers, and Director of Guidance, to be unacceptable.
Public spaker 2, Reverend Harry Brown Jr. expressed dissatisfaction with the elimination of Principal Jackson's position. He pointed to Jackson's active role in the community and at Ebeneezer Baptist Church.
Public speaker 3, Dr. Clarence Cooper, an Assistant Principal at NFA, 18th year in the district, said that Ron Jackson is a colleague and friend, who can relate well with kids even at times when their own parents have difficulty. He pointedly invited the Board to consider that it seems minorities can't seem to do better than Assistant Principal in the district.
Public speaker 4, Byron Williams, associated with the Christina Ministerial Fellowship of Newburgh and NAACP, said these organizations stand behind and beside Principal Jackson.
Public speaker 5, Jenna Johnson, a student at NJHS, felt it would be more effective if a student spoke up with the students' viewpoint. She praised Principal Jackson as a communicator and role model.
Public speaker 6, Consuelo Hill, a Music Teacher at Temple Hill, shared a university background with Mr. Jackson (Virginia State University), and complimented him as an excellent principal and human being.
Public speaker 7, Regina Brown, an employee of the Newburgh School District, said that Mr. Jackson stood behind a family member at a time when others had given up.
Public speaker 8, Dextro Tiller, employee of the district, also associated with Christian Ministerial Fellowship, said that difficult times would be made worse without Mr. Jackson.
Speaker 9, Vern Bell, retired teacher, complimented Mr. Jackson's ongoing recognition of the work of Dr. Martin Luther King.
At around 8pm the regular meeting agenda items resumed. Most items were approved without any discussion or comment.
Item IX. D. a resolution having to do with PD contract with Mount Saint Mary, was withdrawn.
Among the HR items -- (XII. H.) Roberto Cruz was appointed Principal of Temple Hill effective March 24 (XII. I.) Melissa Siegel was appointed Vice Principal of NFA Main effective July 1.
When item XII. J. appointment of Matt Doddo Vice Principal of NFA North effective July 1 came up, Board Member Bowles made a motion to table the item, which was unanimously approved.
When item XII. Q. abolish position of Junior High School Principal came up, Bowles commented that "we no longer have Junior High Schools, so this position has to be abolished", and the resolution was unanimously approved.
The reports from Board Members and Administrators were skipped in the interest of time. At about 8:15pm public comment on non-agenda items began.
Speaker 10, Carrie Frost, a School Social Worker, presented an explanation of how Social Workers are uniquely qualified to address the problems being faced in the district. She said Social Workers understood both instructional/teaching/learning issues, and social/emotional problems and issues. "School Social workers are not therapists or community caseworkers, but are trained instructional personnel who happen to be experts on what happens to our children when they go home." Ms Frost said the needs of the buildings now outweigh the abilities of one person. She talked about implementing RTI [Response To Intervention] via a "whole school model", and Social Workers' ability to advocate for families and help them get the forms of assistance needed.
Speaker 11, Maria Teresa de Bourbon, spoke in support of her colleagues. She argued that the brunt of the impact of these changes would be borne by students and pointed to growing stress and anxiety affecting young children. She said that Social Workers help with these problems in a way other professions cannot. She invited the Board to shadow Social Workers in order to understand how important the work is.
Speaker 12, Alfreda Robinson, an employee of the District, said your and our task is to serve the community, but to remove the Social Workers is a big mistake.
Speaker 14, Nick Angelo, a Special Ed teacher for 18 years and graduate of the District, said the Board is facing a daunting task to reconfigure while operating under severe budget constraints. He spoke of the serious crime, drug, and violence problems that students had to deal with, and the support that Social Workers have provided in the Special Ed area.
Speaker 15, a parent in the district told a very moving story about the support her family received from a School Social Worker. She credited the Social Worker with helping her family to have a happy life instead of a bitter and angry one. This speaker showed great courage and generosity.
Speaker 16, Aquanetta Wright, read a letter that she sent to the Board. She spoke of the work School Social Workers do to improve the community, and called laying them off a great mistake.
Consuelo Hill returned to the podium to address the Social Worker issue. She said the Social Worker position at Temple Hill is a vital one, and questioned, "who came up with that idea, let's get rid of Social Workers?"
Speaker 17, Joyce Howard, a proud employee of the Newburgh School District and President of the CSEA, spoke about the job losses hitting the CSEA hard. The CSEA Union represents security, custodial, kitchen, and building & grounds staff. She said 40 to 50 members will be experiencing job losses. She asked that the importance of the cleaner and lunch monitor jobs be reconsidered.
Speaker 18, Mich Greg, an 8 year "veteran" of the Newburgh School District, pointed out the irony of recognizing the Social Workers at the beginning of the meeting. He said that Social Workers are very different than Counselors, and they deal with problems of children, parents, and the two together.
Speaker 19, Curtis Burnett, a cleaner at Vails Gate, said he considered Social Workers to be family.
Speaker 20, Roberta Morrow, a Special Education teacher at South Junior, spoke in praise of South Junior and credited Social Workers Melanie Bennett and Melanies Russel with solving problems to the benefit of students. She also explained that a training session on gangs which a Social Worker presented helped her to understand and deal with the issues students are experiencing. She said Social Workers help her to do her job.
Speaker 21, Courtney Allen, a community based caseworker, spoke of Social Workers as soldiers. She said a School Social worker was directly involved with following up after a violent incident earlier this year. She found the Social Worker to have better insight into the issues and problems facing the student involved and better problem solving skills than other people she contacted.
At about 9:30 the Board went to executive to discuss employment history of a particular individual, employment history of a particular corporation, and to discuss current litigation.
At 11:20pm the meeting resumed in the Library second floor conference room. At that time two resolutions were quickly passed. One involved capital construction: Renovation of a Music Suite and Tech Shop, three contracts totaling around $230K. The second resolution authorized a consulting agreement with Georgina Lázaro-Leon for literacy training, amounting to $3K.