Weider Says East Ramapo Monitors Are Attacking Monsey's Children

Rockland Legislator Aaron Weider (Spring Valley) called for the Monsey community to come out and support the Ultra-Orthodox trustees who dominate the East Ramapo Board of Education against a new monitor’s report to state education officials.

The report Monday by Dennis Walcott and his team called for a monitor with veto power over the school board, saying “Since August, there has been progress in the District, but after years of challenges, including fiscal distress and a failure of public confidence in the public education system in the District, much more time is needed for the District to overcome years of mismanagement and decline.”

According to Hamodia.com, Weider, who is the Majority Leader in the Rockland County Legislature, responded with a letter to Monsey residents saying, “Yesterday, your children were attacked.”

He is a past president of the school board.

Here are the 19 recommendations from the monitor team:

1. Continue Monitors in the District and pursue legislation for increased authority, including veto power.

2. Appoint an independent election monitor for school board elections.

3. Create a comprehensive and community inclusive process to develop a new bond issue for purposes of making much needed capital improvements.

4. Pursue legislation to ensure representation of public school concerns on the board of education by providing that in each election cycle, all candidates for at least one of the seats must be parents of children attending public schools selected in a local process by other public school parents.

5. Pursue legislation to expand required training for the District’s board members.

6. Convene meetings with a Human Rights expert.

7. Rethink use of Title I resources.

8. Provide students with full-day kindergarten classes.

9. Continue investigating the feasibility of streamlining grade configurations and start times.

10.Continue progress towards enrichment of academic options for all students.

11.Reform and enhance professional development opportunities for staff.

12.Create a hiring protocol that includes specific departments in the hiring process to ensure that there is a screening process of credentials and appropriate placement for new hires.

13.Streamline school district operations to encourage efficiency and transparency.

14.Explore longer-term transportation contracts with public approval.

15.Explore changes to bus routes and policies to maximize efficiency.

16.Review policies and procedures for special education and English language learner programs.

17.Reinstate support services for all students where needed.

18.Ensure responsible local contributions in the district budget.

19.The State needs to provide dedicated support to the District.

SEE: Another Call for a Monitor with Power in East Ramapo

According to Hamodia, Weider characterized the recommendations as “taking away many of the programs that are currently mandated for private schools by NYS … including severely impacting transportation to the private schools!!”

The school board itself issued a statement about the monitor’s report:

The Board of Education and staff of the East Ramapo Central School District have worked diligently over the last year to make positive changes and improve education for all students. Nobody can deny the progress that has been made. The results include: Strengthening the district’s finances; Settling outstanding legal cases; Restoring programs and services Improving board diversity; Enhancing district openness and accountability; and Bringing in new district leadership. The Board and District officials are committed to building on this progress. In this regard, we will carefully review the monitors’ report and act aggressively on recommendations for specific school reforms. We welcome these constructive suggestions. Other aspects of this report, however, are disappointing. Most notable are the proposals to override the authority of the elected board and alter its composition. These proposals are likely to reprise the divisions and strife we saw in the district last year. This is indeed unfortunate because we had begun the process of reconciliation in East Ramapo. We had begun to work together. We were building a consensus for action on underlying problems. We are surprised because Mr. Walcott, who spent a great deal of time with us in recent weeks, spoke to these very issues and seemed intent on avoiding a repeat of the past. The final report to the Regents, however, went in a different direction. What we need in East Ramapo is a laser focus on the needs of children and reconciliation as a community and improved cooperation at all levels. As we always have, we will continue to work diligently toward these goals.

The board meeting starts at 7:30 p.m.