Hendrick Hudson Addresses Contract, Sees No Resolution
Though about 20 members of the Hendrick Hudson Educational Association sat at Wednesday’s school board meeting in matching blue T-shirts, none of them spoke up during public comment or would speak to a reporter after the meeting had concluded
The meeting actually focused more heavily on a proposed plan to move English Language Learner (ELL) students from Furnace Woods Elementary Schools, where programming for them had been centered, to the home schools they were originally zoned for.
Jason Rosenberg, a parent of two daughters in the program, said families were informed at a late-stage, without ample time to coordinate potential carpools and address other challenges.
“That’s grossly unfair at this stage,” he sai
Rosenberg said he wants the district to “do better” and “be more flexible” in handling the potential ELL changes.
“To go forward like this, I just like [my daughters and their classmates] are going to be disenfranchised as a group,” he said. “I’d really like to implore the board to stop this freight train that’s going on.”
Superintendet Daniel McCann tackled Rosenberg’s questions, saying that a special committee had been formed to address the situation and that nothing was set in stone yet. Assistant Superintendent Alice Gottlieb told Rosenberg his daughters were not among the small number of students who would be affected by the switch.
McCann also briefly addressed the ongoing contract negotiations with Hendrick Hudson’s teachers.
“We’re still continuing negotiations,” he said. “We have not yet reached an agreement but we certainly hope that we reach an agreement soon.”
School board president Marion Walsh echoed his sentiments.
“We hope we can conclude our negotiations and have a memorandum of understanding,” she said.
On a lighter note, school board member Mary-Pat Briggi praised Hendrick Hudson’s teachers for their skill and dedication, noting that seven students had received National Merit recognition, beating the national average once again.
“I think it really speaks to the quality of the education that our kids are getting,” Briggi said.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.
