Hempstead school district: In turmoil and under the state spotlight
New York State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Ellia and Chancellor Betty A. Rosa Credit: Newsday File
Forty administrators from the state Education Department in Albany journeyed to Long Island in December 2004 with a singular purpose — to tour the low-performing, struggling Hempstead school district and come up with directives for corrective action.
Fast forward to 2018.
The district’s failure to fix wide-ranging deficiencies highlighted in that group’s report became a touchstone for veteran educator Jack Bierwirth, drafted by state Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia last fall to put the system under a microscope and give her an action plan.
As Bierwirth wrote in his report to Elia, had the issues pinpointed those years ago been dealt with, “the educational journey of the students in the class of 2017 might have been very different.”
Instead, the Nassau school system remains lodged among the bottom in the state, where it has been since at least 1990.
Academic performance remains dismal. State data show the graduation rate dropped from 49.6 percent in 2004 to 47.7 percent in 2016, the most recent figures available. Even that was better than in 2011, when it fell to 27.8 percent.
The same holds true for students’ scores on state standardized tests in English and math, assessments required by federal education law. For example, 63.3 percent of fourth-graders met or exceeded state standards on the English Language Arts test in 2004, but that fell to 30 percent on the spring 2017 exam. In math, the fourth-grade passage rate was 77.8 percent in 2004; last year, it was 28 percent. Scores for eighth-graders on the English and math tests in both of those years were much lower.
The situation is so dire that it brought direct comment from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, as well as a dramatic visit to the district from Elia and Regents Chancellor Betty Rosa for private, individual sit-downs with each of the five school board members.
“If a school is failing, you’re failing the students. The first obligation is to the students,” Cuomo said at a news conference last week when asked about the district. “If you don’t have a real, credible, immediate plan for correction, then the state should come in and take over the school.”
The governor said he has been “very aggressive in my posture” and that decisions will be made by Elia’s office.
The Bierwirth report, the latest in a legacy of disturbing documentation, tells the story of a school system in deep distress — revolving-door administrators, political infighting among board members and the community, financial stress, violence in schools and deteriorating facilities.
“Too many cohorts of students have cycled through a District that is not meeting their basic needs for a safe and healthy environment, let alone providing them with educational opportunities that inspire them to reach their fullest potential,” the former Herricks superintendent wrote in the 56-page action plan, released Jan. 8. “Any time lost in implementing the recommendations herein is a detriment to current and future Hempstead students — we do not have a moment to waste.”
In addition, dissension on the school board — another endemic feature of the landscape — roils the district.
Shimon Waronker, the new superintendent brought in by the former board majority with visions of turning around the district, has said he was stymied starting in November, when the board’s balance of power shifted.
The “master teachers” he brought into the district to implement his reforms were fired.
And the week that Bierwirth’s report came out, Waronker himself was placed on administrative leave and barred from all school property.
That came on a familiar 3-2 school board vote, decided by the majority trio of David Gates, LaMont Johnson and Randy Stith. Board president Maribel Touré and vice president Gwendolyn Jackson were opposed.
Over the last two weeks, the writings of the shelved superintendent and references to him have been removed from the district’s website.
The first to go was his “Open letter to the community,” dated Jan. 5. In the two-page missive, he appealed for collaboration, detailed his moves for improvements and accused the board majority of undermining him.
Earlier letters he posted on the district’s website — introducing himself; describing a district “listening tour” with Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers; and explaining his plans for curriculum changes and upgrades — also are no longer to be found. And his name is gone from the listing of district administrators.
The course of events grabbed Albany’s attention even further, bringing a sudden visit from Elia and Rosa on Jan. 11. The two education leaders met privately with each school board member, and as trustees emerged from those sessions they said the message was clear: The board should accept Bierwirth’s report immediately and start making changes.
The special adviser had highlighted governance — in words printed in boldface and underlined — as “the single most significant barrier to the District focusing its efforts and resources on the education of its students, which should be of paramount concern.”
On that issue, Bierwirth had critiques of the board members and of Waronker, recommending that all should undergo training by appropriate entities — in the board’s case, by the New York State School Boards Association, and in the schools chief’s, by the New York State Council of School Superintendents.
The confluence of the heave-ho given Waronker, Bierwirth’s report and the visit by Elia and Rosa made for a rapid succession of developments: On Wednesday night, the board voted unanimously to accept the recommendations in Bierwirth’s report and said it plans to send Elia a response plan by Feb. 2 — a deadline she had imposed.
Next, on Friday, Waronker sued the district in federal court in Central Islip, with his attorney seeking his reinstatement and arguing before U.S. District Court Judge Denis Hurley that the board’s action violates the educator’s constitutional rights to free speech and due process. Hurley ordered the school district’s lawyer to file its response Monday and set the next date in the case for Tuesday afternoon.
Local education experts are careful in discussing what effect the state’s involvement, this time, will have on turning around the district.
“It can be done. But there has to be willingness” among stakeholders, said Roger Tilles of Great Neck, Long Island’s representative on the Board of Regents. “This commissioner is very dedicated to making sure it happens, and I would say other commissioners were interested, but not dedicated. This one is committed to making something happen.”
Alan Singer, an education professor at Hofstra University who has tracked state interventions in the Roosevelt and Hempstead systems as well as other troubled districts, said of Elia’s journey to Hempstead: “The commissioner’s decision to go public put everything on the table, so it could no longer be swept under the rug.”
Regina Armstrong, a longtime Hempstead administrator who is serving as acting superintendent, said in an interview last week, “Things are already happening, but it’s a matter of definitely creating the timeline, assigning the responsibilities so we don’t miss deadlines.”
Armstrong said the district has begun discussions about developing a five-year capital plan and making assessments of its facilities, among other things.
“We do feel very confident that we’ll be able to address all the recommendations in the plan, and on time,” she said.
However, if the district’s leadership cannot — or does not — meet the challenge, matters may be taken out of local hands.
“If they don’t do it, the commissioner really has to take action,” Tilles said, adding “that could mean elimination of the board or replacement of the board.”
The first and only time that New York State has taken over a school district occurred on Long Island — in the Roosevelt system, from 2002 to 2013 — and it was an expensive proposition that officials have vowed they will not repeat.
However, Elia, as education commissioner, has the power to remove individual school board trustees, or entire boards, if they break state laws.
In August, she removed Carl Paladino from the Buffalo Public Schools board. Paladino, a Republican gubernatorial candidate who had made racially derogatory remarks about then-first lady Michelle Obama, was taken off the board on the grounds that he had illegally disclosed sensitive school district information.
Should the Hempstead board ultimately balk at implementing Bierwirth’s recommendations or other state directives, their action might be illegal and grounds for removal from office, said Jay Worona, deputy executive director and chief counsel for the New York State School Boards Association.
Worona emphasized that an individual board trustee or an entire board has to commit an illegal act to be removed.
State lawmakers have their eyes on the Hempstead district, too.
“It’s obviously a situation of grave concern,” said State Sen. Kemp Hannon (R-Garden City). “The state is now totally involved in it. We continue discussions with the state and the locals about resolving the problems outlined in the special educator’s report.”
Since Elia’s and Rosa’s visit, there have been some signs of movement in addition to the school board’s acceptance of Bierwirth’s report.
The need for heightened school security and strengthened measures to ensure student safety, as well as concerns about gang violence, were prominent both in the state’s 2004 report and the recommendations by Bierwirth, who noted that more than 50 fights had occurred at Hempstead High School since September.
Bierwirth wrote that some steps already have been taken, including hiring of more security staff “across all District buildings.”
“These are steps in the right direction, but it will take a more systemic change to ensure a truly safe and secure school environment,” he wrote.
Armstrong told those attending the school board’s Wednesday meeting of plans to increase the number of security officers on patrol during certain hours.
Maj. David Candelaria, commander of State Police on Long Island, said in an interview Tuesday that State Police, at the request of district officials, had met with Armstrong that very day.
“We’re assisting them in devising a better security plan with the high school,” Candelaria said. He said evaluating school security plans is part of the agency’s mission.
With Zachary R. Dowdy and Ellen Yan
Scott Eidler covers Nassau County government and politics for Newsday. Scott has worked at Newsday since 2012 and previously covered municipal government and education.
