Eastchester School Board President Apologizes, Reinstates Waverly Kindergarten Monitors

Eastchester Board of Education President Willa Brody apologized to over 100 parents and residents crowded into the library of Eastchester High School Monday night. 

"We are going to put the monitors back," she declared. 

A group of attendants spontaneously cheered, briefly chanting 'thank you' before Brody asked for silence to continue her remarks. The mood of the room, previously tense and buzzing with an undercurrent of concerned and angry comments, noticeably lightened after Brody's opening concession.

During her brief statement, Brody explained that the school board had "not appreciated how important or very sensitive" the community's reaction would be to the removal of 10 kindergarten monitors from Waverly Elementary School last week.

Ten classroom monitors assigned to Waverly kindergarten classes were dismissed last Thursday, setting off a persistent stream of complaints to the Board of Education by telephone and email. A public meeting was announced early yesterday to specifically address the issue. 

Last month, Eastchester residents voted to approve the 2010-2011 school budget of over $69 million. The budget proposal included the elimination of over 20 positions.

On Monday, Brody reiterated the necessity of budget cutbacks moving forward, citing the difficult economic climate and uncertain state financial footing. 

"We should all be terribly concerned," she said. Despite her grim outlook, Brody said, "restoring the monitors was the right thing to do."

According to Anthony Marinello, treasurer of the Eastchester Parent Teacher Association, the prevalent understanding was that "layoffs would be district wide" not targeted at a specific grade level or program. He explained that parents were caught off guard by the surgical removal of monitors at the kindergarten level. This detail was not included in the budget presentation, he said.

And Marinello thinks conflicts over the budget will continue. "We begged her [Superintendent of Schools Marilyn C. Terranova] to make administrative cuts," he said.

Concerned Eastchester resident John Arvonio said, "the problem [with the firing] is the perception." Arvonio pointed out that the website of the Eastchester Union School District highlights the presence of monitors in its kindergarten classes. 

"$70 million for 2,800 students," Arvonio said. He does not understand why monitors with relatively low salaries would be fired to save money while administrators and teachers with six-figure salaries were not.

This past year the Eastchester School District had 10 kindergarten classes with approximately 22 children per class. According to Brody, the number of children currently expected for 2010-2011 is 194, an average class size of 19.4 children per section.

The Board determined the lower enrollment would allow them to eliminate a kindergarten section and use the money saved to pay the monitors' salaries. Brody said there would be only 10 kindergarten sections for the upcoming school year.

If enrollment increases over the summer, Brody warned that class sizes would increase and no additional sections would be added. "Our focus is teachers first," she said, "monitors second."

The meeting adjourned after ten minutes.

The next regular Eastchester Board of Education meeting will take place on Tuesday, June 22.