4 THE QUEENS COURIER • DECEMBER 3, 2020 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
CEC 26 votes no confi dence in Carranza
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Community Education Council District
26 (CEC 26) has voted “no confi dence”
in New York City Schools Chancellor
Richard Carranza, citing a lack of leadership,
communication and untimely guidance
amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
CEC 26 approved the resolution on
Friday, Nov. 20, noting that the “vote of no
confi dence does not extend to, or refl ect
upon, the work of the council, school
administrators, principals, teachers and
educators.”
Th e council covers the neighborhoods
of Bayside, Flushing, Little Neck,
Douglaston, Floral Park, Bellerose, Glen
Oaks, Queens Village and Jamaica.
Th e council is calling for Carranza’s
removal from the NYC Department of
Education as the city’s public school system
— except for private schools — closed
for in-person learning on Nov. 19 and
through Th anksgiving with no timeline
for reopening.
In a letter to parents, Carranza had said
that the closure is temporary, and school
buildings will reopen as soon as it is safe
to do so.
Parents say the halting of in-person
learning gave them no time to make
arrangements for their children to switch
to fully remote learning.
“My daughter is in private school and
they’re open with all of the protocols in
place,” said Josephine Aordkian. “Giving
parents less than 24 hours’ notice with
closures and no timeline on reopening is
totally unacceptable, especially for working
parents that have to scramble on how
they will make plans for their children on
remote learning.”
Vito, a father of two children who attend
public school, said Carranza doesn’t have
a long-term plan ready.
“He shows that he is not the right person
to lead the largest public school system
in the whole country. During the
pandemic, there have been multiple incidents
where he did not consider the safety
of students and teachers as a high priority,”
Vito said.
CEC 26 is receiving support from
Councilman Barry Grodenchik and
Assemblyman David Weprin, who are
taking a stand with the school community.
“I’m sad that it’s come to this but I think
that we need to stand up and to be counted,
and to let the people at City Hall know
that the people in eastern Queens are not
happy with this,” Grodenchik said. “We
have accomplished great things in this
community, and I have great confi dence
in our people.”
Anthony Lemma, a staff member of
Weprin’s offi ce, said that the lawmaker has
long been supportive of the district.
“Our superintendents, teachers, students
and everyone in this district is topnotch,”
Lemma Sr. said. “I feel that we
deserve to have a chancellor who is also
top-notch.”
Meanwhile, the Presidents’ Council of
District 26, an organization of PTA presidents
that supports PTAs and represents
the interests of parents within the district,
also voted “no confi dence” on de Blasio
and Carranza in a statement released
Nov. 12.
Appalled and saddened by the crisis
of the leadership, the D26 Presidents’
Council is calling for immediate reinstatement
of the quarterly opt-in plan.
“Th e mayor and chancellor’s last-minute
gambit to pressure parents to upend
their lives once again, in order to justify
a plan that was unworkable from the
start, is now infl icting more fear, chaos
and instability on an already emotionally
strained population,” the Council said in
their statement.
Cathy Grodsky, president of the council,
said parents have had enough.
“It’s very troubling about what has been
going on. When the DOE decided on the
opt-in agreement and it was supposed to
be quarterly and then tried to scare parents
with only one opt-in period, that was
the last straw for parents,” Grodsky said.
Grodsky, who is a parent of four children
currently doing remote learning,
said so far it has been going well given
the administrators and teachers who have
been doing an incredible job.
However, what has been stressful,
Grodsky says, is the shift ing narrative
from the DOE and broken promises to
students and families.
“I think it’s traumatizing for kids and
their parents at this point,” Grodsky said.
“We teach our children to keep their
promises, and when they see that the head
of their school system continually breaks
promises, what message is that sending
our kids? All of that trust is gone now.”
According to Grodsky, there has been
no information forthcoming about admissions
processes for middle school, high
school and specialized high school exams.
“I have an eighth-grader who’s waiting
for that information. Th ey worked so hard
up until now, and to not have any guidance
and to be constantly told to wait for
it, it’s unacceptable,” Grodsky said.
Grodsky said it’s nonsensical to not
allow parents to put their kids back into
blended learning at a future date.
“Enough with playing games. Stick to
your promises. Th ey have lost all credibility,”
Grodsky said.
In a statement to QNS, the a DOE
spokesperson said the DOE has already
communicated to families that its prepandemic
admissions timeline was being
updated to ensure families have enough
time to explore their options prior to the
process launching.
“We understand that families, schools
and community leaders are eager for more
information and we will soon share more
File photo by Angélica Acevedo/QNS
details around a new timeline including
the deadline for middle, high school
applications and the dates for SHSAT
administration,” the spokesperson said.
According to the DOE spokesperson,
remote learning students are receiving
a high-quality education, and they
have provided hundreds of thousands of
free devices to families, conducted thorough
professional development opportunities,
and off ered curriculum tailored
to a digital environment to help support
fully remote classrooms and educators.
Th is also includes prioritizing students
with disabilities learning remotely, and
the continuation of support and services
for multilingual families.
In response the CEC 26 resolution, the
DOE spokesperson said it does not have
any binding consequences.
“Th e DOE holds regular meetings
with all CECs, including CEC 26, and
their leadership decided to postpone our
last meeting with them,” the spokesperson
said. “CEC 26 not only has regular
meetings directly with DOE staff ,
but their district is also represented on
the Chancellor’s Parent Advisory Council,
where they have the opportunity to meet
with the chancellor and off er suggestions/
ideas on policy.”
Furthermore, the spokesperson said
the DOE is working diligently to reopen
school buildings quickly and carefully
to ensure they can provide the maximum
amount of in-person education for
as many students that can be safely programmed
as possible.
“Th e chancellor is laser focused on supporting
students and families in the midst
of a pandemic and has been working
around the clock to ensure school communities
are safe,” said Katie O’Hanlon,
the DOE’s deputy press secretary. “Parent
empowerment is important, and the
chancellor regularly meets with families
to make sure their voices are heard.”
“He shows that he is not the right person
to lead the largest public school system in
the whole country. During the pandemic,
there have been multiple incidents where
he did not consider the safety of students
and teachers as a high priority.”
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