State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia Thursday named Dennis Walcott as a monitor for the East Ramapo School District.
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Some people feel it’s a step in the right direction, while others say it misses the mark.
Now a former New York City public schools chancellor has been appointed by the state to examine claims of parents like Curry, who have demanded state intervention in a district they say is failing to serve their children.
Content Preview This content is exclusive for Optimum, Time Warner, Comcast, customers with access to News 12. From left are East Ramapo School Board President Daniel Schwartz and board members Yehuda Weissmandl and Eliyahu Solomon.
Walcott suggested he and his experts will find ways to sniff out the workings of the district 25 miles north of New York City.
Many parents have complained that the school board supports Jewish yeshivas at the expense of the public schools.
Last fall, a former federal prosecutor appointed by the state to investigate the school board, Henry M. Greenberg, determined that the board had diverted money from the district’s public schools to yeshiva children and recommended the appointment of a state fiscal monitor with the power to override school board decisions. 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 will lead a three-person team that will provide assistance, guidance, and oversight to the district, the sources said.
“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.
But Walcott won’t be able to countermand board actions, unseat a board member or even attend the board’s executive sessions unless he’s invited.
The board has maintained that a state aid formula hurts East Ramapo because of the district’s high proportion of private school students: about 24,000 in private school and about 9,000 in public school.
Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski (D-New City) and Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee (D-Suffern) have pushed for the unsuccessful measure to appoint a monitor with the power to veto the board’s decisions.
“This is less of a powerful position for the team, but in the circumstances where we don’t have collaboration with the district, there will be action taken”, Elia said.
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Mr. Walcott said that he, Dr. George-Fields and Dr. Sipple would begin their work immediately and would spend several days a week in the district.
