8 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • JANUARY 2019
HEMPSTEAD
SCHOOL
CRISIS
IN THE NEWS
AUDITOR FINDS:
PROGRESS, BUT PROBLEMS REMAIN
Officials hope to resolve the lack of high school student busing in the new year. (Getty Images)
BY ALAN KRAWITZ
In his first annual report on the
Hempstead School District, New
York State-appointed adviser Jack
Bierwirth painted a positive picture
while emphasizing much work
remains in the academically struggling,
gang- and corruption-plagued
district.
Bierwirth noted progress in special
education and improved scores
on state English language learner
and math assessments. The graduation
rate also improved to about
51 percent. The report credited the
district with completing year-end
financial reports on time and taking
steps to address maintenance issues
such as replacement of the Rhodes
School, science labs and a track.
In a visit to the district, state Education
Department Commissioner
MaryEllen Elia said that "significant
challenges" remain and the district
is not yet back on track.
“The constant attention to the
Hempstead District from the commissioner
is making a difference,”
Roger Tilles, Long Island’s State Regents
representative, told reporters.
“And it will continue to make a difference.
The district can’t afford to
slip back.”
Skeptics were not hard to find.
“The Hempstead school district, its
children and the community do not
have one more second to devote to the
character development of its leadership
or staff,” says newly elected state
Assemb. Taylor Raynor (D-Hempstead).
Former Hempstead school board
member Gwen Jackson says that Bierwirth
“has painted a picture of the
glass half-full and the Commissioner
drank the Kool-Aid.”
Jackson believes an independent
auditor should be appointed to monitor
the district’s business practices.
“I am calling on our newly elected
Assemblywoman Taylor Raynor and
Senator Kevin Thomas and even the
governor to send in an independent
oversight committee to monitor the
questionable decisions/practices of
the board, and the daily operations
of the district, especially in the business
office,” she says.
Alan Singer, a professor of Learning
Technology at Hofstra University
and vocal critic of the state education
department, also remains concerned.
“Hempstead High School continues
to be rated by New York State as ‘persistently
struggling,’’” he says. “ABGS
Middle School is rated as ‘struggling.’
Yet both schools were credited with
‘Made Demonstrable Improvement’
with scores of 83 percent on the latest
state education report.”
Singer says the report is "imaginary
school progress" that seems to
justify abandoning the children.
“In February 2018 the New York
State Education Department announced
it would not take over the
failing school district,” Singer says.
“Since then, it has done everything it
can to justify that decision.”
LONG TREK TO HIGH
SCHOOL
The years-long lack of bus
transportation continues to force
Hempstead High School students
to walk through crime-ridden
neighborhoods and across busy
intersections.
For students to qualify for
bus transportation in grades 9
through 12, they must live three
miles or farther from the school,
but no students in the district
currently meet that requirement.
“I spoke with a member of the
Hempstead school board who said
that the bus policy for grades 9
through 12 would not be able to be
adjusted until May of 2019,” said
New York State Assemb. Taylor
Raynor (D-Hempstead). “But, the
board is able to make amendments
to the mileage requirements. I will
bring this issue before the whole
school board in the new year.”
Sydney Daniel, a Hempstead
resident and adviser to Raynor,
said the state’s bus protocol has
never met the needs of students.
“This may work for communities
with many stay-at-home
parents, however in Hempstead,
many parents leave for work earlier
than the students leave for
school and it’s risky enough knowing
your child is waiting at a bus
stop, but to know your child has
to walk upwards of three miles to
school regardless of the weather
is quite sad, as the furthest home
is 2.8 miles away.”
Daniel added, “As a nurse, although
I like the idea of exercise,
many of the students do not have
the proper outerwear for such a
hike; no umbrellas, gloves, hats,
scarves, appropriate coats. Hempstead
is not shy from crime and
the recruitment begins as kids
journey off to school.”
Raynor said that in the
meantime she and her team are
exploring options including the
possibility of providing shuttles
for students during the winter
months.
"The report is 'imaginary school progress,'"
says Hofstra University Professor Alan Singer.
/LONGISLANDPRESS.COM
