Original Petition Letter
I thought it would be helpful to publish both the original email that launched the petition, along with Eric Sweeting’s response. Although both emails are in widespread circulation, not everyone may have seen them. (I did remove the personal email addresses.) Please share your thoughts by commenting below.
–Posted by Jane Cody
—–Original Message—–
Sent: Thu, Jun 18, 2009 11:35 pm
Subject: PLEASE FOWARD: Petition to Rescind Assistant Superintendent Appointment
At 12:24 PM on Monday June 15, 2009 the Hastings Superintendent of Schools and the Hastings Board of Education announced their intent to promote Dr. Rhonda Cohen to the newly created position of Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction and Personnel. At the Board meeting that same evening, the Board voted to appoint Ms. Cohen to the position, effective July 1, 2009. Given the inadequacy of the notice provided and the fact that Board voted to approve Dr. Cohen’s appointment prior to any public comment, there was no opportunity for meaningful public input into the determination.
The position to which Dr. Cohen was just appointed appears to be the second highest ranking position within the school district, giving her authority over Principals, Assistant Principals and teachers. It is a position that did not exist prior to June 15, 2009. In her current position as Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Personnel. Dr. Cohen’s salary is $141,878 (see adopted 2009-2010 budget, p. 26). In her new appointment as Assistant Superintendent, Ms. Cohen’s salary will be $160,000. She will be eligible for tenure as the Assistant Superintendent in March 2010- a mere 6 months after she commences the posit ion following the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year.
The manner in which this appointment was made raises a host of questions and concerns. Why was the first and only notice about the appointment sent in the middle of the day on the same day of the meeting? Why was the appointment made at the last board meeting of the school year, just prior to the 2 month summer break? Why was the opportunity for public commentary afforded only after the board made the appointment? Why was the manner of appointment to this newly created, high level administrative position handled by the board differently than the manner in which the board determined the appointment of Mr. Adipietro to the existing vacant position for the High School Principal? The appointment of Mr. Adipietro was made after an exhaustive, inclusive and open process. His appointment reflects the collective wisdom and experience of school personnel, the Board of Education and the Hastings community. In contrast, the appointment of Dr. Cohen to a newly created position, with an $18,122 pay raise and tenure eligibility after only 6 months on the job, wherein she will have the greatest authority in the school district other than the Superintendent, was done without notice and without the opportunity for any public commentary prior to the determination.
During the 2009- 2010 budget process this community was very vocal about the financial burden from ever increasing taxes. To address competing ne eds, multiple important positions and services (such as such as bus monitors, swim team, social workers, and others) were cut and/or reduced while Dr. Cohen’s salary as Director of Curriculum was increased to $141,878.20. This salary increase was the subject of publicly expressed community discontent. How can the Board now justify a rubber stamp salary increase of almost $20,000 less than two months after the budget process ended?
Furthermore, if one of the roles of the new Assistant Superintendent is to oversee all school personnel, what qualifications and experience does Dr. Cohen have to train, supervise, mentor, and/or discipline Principals, Vice Principals and teachers.
Given the significant level of authority the position will hold, including disciplinary and supervisory authority over teachers and principals, the high level of pay, the short period of probation and the long-standing, permanent fiscal and educational implications once tenure is achieved, any appointment to the position of Assistant Superintendent requires transparency and an opportunity for public input and scrutiny. Anything less makes the appointment suspect.
I therefore urge all Hastings residents to
request that the Board Of Education immediately rescind the a ppointment of Dr. Cohen to the position of Assistant Superintendent, which is scheduled to take effect July 1, 2009. In addition the Board should provide:(1) the opportunity for meaningful public debate about whether there is a need for this position and, if the position is deemed necessary,
(2) an open public hiring process to determine the most qualified person for the position. A petition with such request will be submitted to the Board on June 24th, 2009. To sign the on-line petition please go to http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/hastings-board-of-ed-to-suspend-assistant-superintendent-appointment
Jodi Hirschman, Hastings-on-Hudson resident
341 Petition Signatories, and Growing
In just three days, 341 people have signed the petition calling on the Superintendent and Board of Education to rescind the appointment of the Asst. Superintendent. More people sign every every day, and many people leave comments. I encourage everyone to read these comments, which provide insight into people’s thinking and reveal concerns about process, this administrative role, and expenditures and taxes. (Click here to see the petition site.) This is an opportunity for the Superintendent and School Board to demonstrate responsiveness and work towards consensus.
Posted by Jane Cody
Opinions posted reflect viewpoint of the poster.
Journal News Story
Click here to view yesterday’s Journal News article about the petition.
To join the mailing list for this blog, send an email to hastingstaxes@gmail.com with SUBSCRIBE followed by YOUR FULL NAME in the subject line; to get involved send an email to that same address with GET INVOLVED in the subject line.
And, please add your comments below. We want to know what you think.
Posted by Jane Cody
Petition Circulating to Rescind Appointment of Assistant Superintendent
Check it out:
Additional clarification: it should be noted that there has been a Director of Curriculum position for 2 years, which was included in the recently passed budget. This position is a tenure track position, with a salary allocated in the recent budget was $141 k.
The Asst. Supt. position replaces the Dir. of Curriculum position.
The Asst. Supt. position involves greater authority and $160 k salary, and a transfer of the time already accrued towards tenure (in the Director position) towards the Asst. Supt. position. (There are state laws that govern this; I am not familiar with them.) On Wednesday I requested job descriptions for the Director and the Asst. Supt.positions, as well as a copy of the organization charts and reporting structure before and after the appointment. I’ll publish them when I receive them from the school administration.
I glad to see that the discussion is focused on the public approval process and the priorities of our school system, as opposed to the individual in Dir. of Curriculum position. I want to reiterate that this discussion has nothing to do with her qualifications or capabilities, but rather the process and the priorities of our school district.
Posted by Jane Cody
Postings reflect opinion of poster
Signed, Sealed and Delivered
Asst. Superintendent position announced, approved
and staffed in a single day
Yesterday, at 12:24 pm, the Superintendent and the Hastings Board of Education announced the creation of a position called the “Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction & Personnel”. That same day, during the last School Board meeting of this academic year, the Board voted to hire Rhonda Cohen for this position.
This is an egregious violation of the public trust.
This is not about the merits or demerits of Rhonda Cohen. It is about the absence of an opportunity for the public to debate the need for such a position, to consider the merits of the candidate, to know whether there had been an open hiring process that solicited additional candidates, or to assess whether we can afford such a position. There was no information provided about the salary or terms of the position, whether it is subject to tenured position, and, if so, when.
Only after the Board had approved the position did the public have an opportunity to comment. Not surprisingly there weren’t many comments because few people even knew about the appointment because it had been announced only seven hours prior to the meeting. However three Hastings residents voiced their strong concerns about the lack of an open process. One resident asked the Board to rescind the appointment, based on the absence of an open process.
Despite our current state of austerity, the Superintendent and the Board did not solicit public input for such an important, high ranking, and probably highly paid position. This is a bold and outrageous move to avoid public debate and circumvent the normal vetting process for a public position that the Superintendent and the Board know may be controversial.
Below is the text of yesterday’s email announcing the position.
Speak up! Scroll down to Add Comments. We want to know what the community thinks:
- about the decision making process,
- whether or not there is a need for this position.
- whether the Board should rescind its decision
Posted by Jane Cody
From: Outreach Message Hastings-on-Hudson <hayesd@hastings.k12.ny.us>
Sent: Mon, Jun 15, 2009 12:23 pm
Subject: Board of Ed. to consider 3 admin. appointments
 |
|||||||
|
DISTRICT BUDGET PASSES
There was a brief bit on lohud.com.
Here is the note sent out by the district:
| HASTINGS-ON-HUDSON U F S D Message sent – 5/19/2009 2009 School Budget Vote and Election Results |
| Dear Hastings Community Member:
A school system without strong community support cannot succeed. On May 19th, the 2009-10 School Budget passed by a vote of 848 to 363. The 70% ‘yes’ vote will allow the District to continue the fine tradition of offering exceptional educational programs and creating a nurturing learning environment for all students. Residents also re-elected Board Members Lindsey Hicks, Eileen Baecher and Donna Laing, and elected Wendy Naidich as a new member to the Board of Education. On behalf of all of those associated with Hastings Public Schools, thank you for your support. Regards, Robert I. Shaps PROPOSITION 1: BOARD CANDIDATES (top four will be seated): |
***
Wendy Naidich is a longtime PTSA member with a Ph.D. in social work from Columbia and a good head on her shoulders. She was a write-in candidate.
RANDOM THOUGHTS ON OUR SCHOOLS ON THE EVE OF THE BUDGET VOTE
Jane, you are just so on top of this budget thing. I’ll probably decide in the voting booth. At least I won’t delegate the family voting to my significant other—unlike the guy sitting next to me on the train with tonight, who was carrying a guitar and watching an early Fassbinder film on his laptop). ”Budget vote? Huh?”
THE PENSIONS
As a longtime freelancer, I may be green with envy when I think of the pension and health insurance they don’t have to pay a cent for (our budget’s big K-O). But if I look at them as over-the-top perks to a vastly underpaid job, (more…)
ONE OPINION: A QUALIFIED “YES” ON THE BUDGET
I will vote for this year’s budget because I want to support a Board that is presenting the lowest budget increase in recent memory. My support is qualified because I’m disappointed that last-minute stimulus funding was used to restore spending that originally had been cut from the budget. That sent the wrong message.
That said, the Board and the Superintendent are headed in the right direction, but they need to go further next year. I challenge them to declare budget reduction targets for next year, right now. I suggest a 5% decrease. There is a full year to get creative, make our dollars go further, achieve economies of scale through quad-village cooperation, and make thoughtful cuts.
Going forward, budget discussions need to better consider the entire community, including our seniors. The opportunity cost of escalating budgets is that many Hastings residents are being priced out of their own homes and voting with their feet. Next year more of these underrepresented citizens will be voting at the polls.
I encourage the Board and the community to begin now to forge a consensus around a budget that the community can afford. This community supports our schools, but not at any price.
–Posted by Jane Cody
Comments reflect the personal opinion of the poster
WHY THE $100,000 CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST IS WORTH IT
OOPS, WE DIDN’T GET TO THAT
At Hillside, my daughter arrived in third grade without understanding the difference between the tens place and the ones place—kindergarten’s frequent visits by Zero the Hero notwithstanding. I remember her teacher saying on Back to School night that many students in the class were missing chunks of math skills.
In daughter #2′s tenth-grade Spanish class, the half of the kids who had been with her in ninth grade had not made it to the end of the Spanish I curriculum. The Spanish II teacher just skipped over what they missed—not a problem for the other half, who had learned it all, but definitely a problem for the others, who had fallen behind before the semester even began. If you think for a minute that they weren’t graded on what they hadn’t been taught, dream on.
Then there was the Math B Regents last June, failed by 30 of the 60 kids taught by one teacher-who-shall-not-be named. He hadn’t managed to cover in class all the units slated to be on the Regents.
DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT
These are just three instances, among many, why the job of the curriculum development specialist matters. Dr. Rhonda B. Cohen, who has held the position since 2007, “trues up” what’s taught in every class in every year so that, for instance, twins in the district don’t end up with vastly different educations. So that kids can go from one grade to another and not be behind the eight ball from the get-go. And so that the classes actually cover what students are expected to know on Regents exams.
Actually, when I sat with Dr. Cohen at the Dr. Shaps’ budget-boosting get-together last week, she didn’t talk much about that aspect of her job. Instead, she was intensely full of information, specific and credible, on the subject of (more…)
Most recent comments