Bardonia School Parents, Teachers Rally in Support of Principal

A group of Bardonia Elementary School parents and teachers are rallying in support of their school’s principal, Christine Arlt, saying they are concerned the Clarkstown school board may not grant her tenure after nearly three years running the school.

Parents have been waging a letter-writing campaign via e-mail backing Arlt, and more than 50 parents and teachers attended Friday’s unusual afternoon session of the school board to speak out in favor of granting Arlt tenure to make her the permanent principal at Bardonia.

“We don’t want to lose our principal,” said Beatrice B. Mattaway, president of the Bardonia school’s PTA.

Mattaway, who was among parents who participated in the search process that led to Arlt being hired, said she and many other parents are pleased by Arlt’s work at the school and think she should continue in the job.

Arlt was hired as principal at Bardonia Elementary School effective July 1, 2008, at an annual salary of $125,000. Her probationary period expires June 30. Because the decision-making process on whether an educator in the school district is granted tenure is considered a confidential personnel matter, schools Superintendent Margaret Keller-Cogan said she can’t comment on any internal discussions regarding Arlt.

The school board is scheduled later this month to decide upon whether to grant tenure to educators in the district who are up for permanent appointment. School board president Phillip DeGaetano said he and the other school board members can’t publicly comment on tenure discussions, including Arlt’s case.

While school officials say they can’t talk about Arlt’s status, Mattaway said Bardonia Elementary is buzzing with talk that Keller-Cogan has recommended Arlt receive tenure but that the school board is split on the matter. Mattaway said parents and teachers are further frustrated because they are unable to get information from school officials about Arlt’s status and they have not been able to find out what concerns, if any, school board members might have about Arlt.

The school board met for a regular business meeting in an unusual 5 p.m. session on Friday after the meeting was postponed from Thursday night because of weather conditions. At the meeting, parents and teachers from Bardonia Elementary spoke out in support of Arlt, saying she has proven herself as an effective administrator and educator.

“She is so supportive, so open,” Mattaway said of Arlt. “She is so supportive of the students. She’s phenomenal.”

School board member Donna Ehrenberg told the parents and teachers that she and other school board members could not comment on tenure discussions. However, Ehrenberg said board members are taking tenure discussions “very seriously.”

Mattaway said the she and other parents are concerned that they were unable to get any answers from the school board Friday.

“At least you want to feel your voice has been heard,” said Mattaway.

An e-mail campaign in support of Arlt began recently after word started to spread throughout Bardonia Elementary that Arlt might not be granted tenure.

“Rumor or not, people got to feel our principal was not going to get tenure,” Mattaway said. “People started to feel ‘Oh, my god. We are going to lose our building’s principal.’”

Mattaway said that parents and teachers at Bardonia Elementary believe they showed just how strong their support for Arlt is by getting such a large group of parents and teachers to show up at a Friday afternoon school board meeting on short notice.

Mattaway said the e-mail letter writing campaign in support of Arlt would continue.