State Appoints Monitor for East Ramapo Schools, Protests Continue

A former New York City schools chancellor will lead a team monitoring the East Ramapo school district under a plan devised by the state Education Department and Board of Regents.

The plan mirrors the compromise state Senate Republicans rejected in June from State Sen. David Carlucci.

Parent activists weren’t happy.

Kristen Rabeler said on the Get Up Stand Up East Ramapo Facebook page: “So pretty much this is just a redo of Greenberg, as if Greenberg’s report wasn’t enough proof that more needs to be done. Do away with the whole board, the whole corrupt system before things get really out of hand. Fortunately we all have been very peaceful in this I’m afraid some are going to have a tough time keeping it that way.”

But David A. Curry on the Power of Ten Facebook page said: “There’s a lot of politics being played here, and as they say, politics makes for strange bedfellows. ... but I had a few minutes with Chancellor Tisch after the event, and I’’m honestly feeling a little better than I was before I spoke to her. Still taking a “wait and see” stance, but now it’s a cautiously optimistic one that, while this isn’t going to solve everything, it may actually accomplish something.”

Activist Eric Grossfeld, who’s been organizing the protests every Sunday in front of East Ramapo officials’ houses, said, “It’s more harmful than helpful: it allows Albany to wash its hands of the matter for now, until at least the end of the next legislative session; it makes the board seem like they’re making progress (they’ve worked hand in hand with Albany on this “monitor”); and it shows Albany clearly isn’t interested in looking at the illegal and criminal activities performed by this board, e.g., by way of a forensic audit. Another school year will go by with children not receiving a fair and decent education while the same people who have ruined their education remain in power.”

A fiscal monitor told the New York Education Department in November 2014 that he believed some form of state intervention was needed to repair school system and reverse bad decisions by the East Ramapo Board of Education.

“The district’s finances teeter on the edge of disaster,” Hank Greenberg wrote in his report, East Ramapo: A School District in Crisis.

The district, which includes parts of the communities of New City, Pearl River, Nanuet, Spring Valley, Suffern, New Hempstead, Chestnut Ridge, Monsey and Wesley Hills, has 9,000 students in its schools. However, another 24,000 school-age children live there, and go to private schools—mostly yeshivas.

Below see statements from SED and reactions from local politicians.

Here is the statement from SED:

State Education Department Commissioner MaryEllen Elia announced today that Dennis M. Walcott has been appointed as Monitor for the East Ramapo Central School District.

Walcott, the former Chancellor of New York City schools, will oversee an expert team that will monitor district operations and provide recommendations to ensure that students have access to appropriate programs and services, and that the district is on a path to fiscal and programmatic stability.

“Dennis Walcott’s appointment and the district’s stated commitment to working in partnership with the State Education Department are crucial steps toward reversing the district’s disastrous decline and repairing the deep rifts in the community,” said Board of Regents Chancellor, Merryl H. Tisch. “We must act now to make sure that the civil and educational rights of a community of overwhelmingly low-income minority children are not denied.”

“The Board of Regents and I recognize the seriousness of this situation, and I have made it one of my top priorities to ensure that the State Education Department acts swiftly to ensure that the educational rights of the district’s students are protected,” said Commissioner Elia. “There is clear evidence that for many years the district has not adequately served the needs of its public school students. I want to thank Assemblymember Ellen Jaffee, Assemblymember Ken Zebrowski and Senator David Carlucci for their efforts and commitment to this district. I look forward to our continued work together for the students of East Ramapo, particularly in the next legislative session, to better ensure that this district can become one where all parents are proud to send their children.”

“The hardship these students have endured is reprehensible,” said Regent Judith Johnson. “Students in East Ramapo public schools cannot afford to wait any longer for appropriate educational programs. Appointing Mr. Walcott and his team is a first step to repairing a damaged relationship with the community.”

“This effort will be both cooperative and collaborative; we will work directly with the East Ramapo school board but we will not shy away from keeping the district accountable to the community when we identify areas of improvement,” Walcott said. “Our goal is to help the district develop sustainable practices to ensure that East Ramapo is able to provide, and actually does provide, appropriate educational programs for all its students. My team will get started right away, and one of our first orders of business will be to engage the district, its students, staff, parents and stakeholders.”

Yehuda Weissmandl, East Ramapo’s Board President, affirmed the board’s commitment to cooperating with the State Education Department.

“The Board and I are eager to begin our work with Mr. Walcott and the monitoring team to identify and implement improvements in the district’s educational programs and services,” Weissmandl said.

Walcott has extensive experience in top leadership positions in education, including the management and governance of the New York City public school system in the position of Chancellor. In his role as Monitor, Walcott will be supported by Dr. Monica George-Fields, an expert in teaching and learning and school turnaround, and Dr. John W. Sipple of Cornell University, who has a background in education policy and finance and will be supported by experts in state education finance. Walcott’s team will report directly to Commissioner Elia and will be a regular presence in the district with the authority to monitor district operations, including fiscal and operational management and educational programming. Walcott’s team will provide guidance, make recommendations and propose actions for improvement to the school district and to the State Education Department, to ensure that students have access to appropriate programs and services and that the district is on a path to fiscal and programmatic stability, as well as review the allocation of State resources to the district and make findings or recommendations as to any necessary modifications.

Mr. Walcott and his team will maintain a regular presence in the district, including meetings with the Board, district staff, and members of the community, and will provide regular feedback, progress reports and updates to the State Education Department and the district. In addition, Mr. Walcott and his team will provide a report of their actions and findings, as well as any corrective or improvement actions taken by the district at their recommendation, to Commissioner Elia and the Board of Regents in December 2015, with follow-up as needed.

“An East Ramapo monitor team without veto power is not the answer we sought,“ Rockland County Executive Ed Day responded. “Time will tell if these positions have a positive impact on the children and families of the district. I strongly encourage Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch and State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia to continue to work toward a more potent solution.”

There is a bright side, pointed out Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski:

The East Ramapo oversight established today is a great step forward for this school district. There is no doubt that I prefer a monitor with the powers contained in our legislation that passed the Assembly. However, those powers needed a state law to be used, and with the bill failing in the Senate, we had to find an alternative method to achieve oversight and move this district forward.

Since session ended, I have called upon the State Education Department to utilize existing law to set up an oversight structure. Today, they did just that by appointing a team of independent educational experts that can change the downward trajectory of this district. I am hopeful that their presence, advice, criticisms and recommendations to the commissioner will be enough to change the behavior of this Board and give students and parents hope in their educational decisions. I will be requesting that this team have a consistent presence in the district and regular contact with the public. To be successful, there needs to be full access, independent studies and public reports. Not only does the team need to fix the district’s immediate problems, but they must also seek long-term solutions.

This oversight structure may not have all the powers we sought through our legislation, but it is certainly better than no oversight at all. At the end of the day, these kids need better opportunities, regardless of how we achieve it. Let’s all roll up our sleeves and do our best to try and ensure this process works.

PHOTO: at the SED announcement/Len Tsou