Glass Ready to Enhance District’s Strengths, Address Shortcomings in Bedford
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It would be understandable for anyone taking on a new job, no matter their position or age, to feel a smidgen of trepidation when they start. But for Dr. Robert Glass, superintendent of schools in Bedford, who took over the district’s reins on July 1, his summertime expectation of the school system seemed to be on target.
“I think it’s pretty much everything I thought it was,” Glass said early last week before preparing to welcome the students and staff back to the buildings. “It’s an incredible place in terms of the depth of programming and the kind of rich experiences you can give to students in this district. It’s what I’m seeing all over the place. I’m seeing really caring, committed people who really want the best for students.”
Of course, with the dawn of a new school year, the challenges begin in earnest. Glass is part of a team that has interim administrators leading the business and special education offices, two critical areas for Bedford with last spring’s approval of the just over $60 million in bond projects and lingering criticisms that the district has shortchanged special needs students.
Coupled with making sure that all students and staff are safe and that Bedford fulfills its potential academically, there’s a lot for Glass to tackle in his first year.
But the veteran educator, who came to the district after leading the Eastchester schools, and prior to that, the Blooming Hills Schools in Michigan, said he is initially focusing on two broad areas: active and connected learning and advancing safety, trust and reliability.
The former area of concentration includes not only the student’s social-emotional well-being but making sure that after more than two years of COVID-19 there is as much hands-on experiential work in the classroom as possible.
The latter includes the obvious issue of maintaining safe schools but also improving communication with the community.
“When you boil it all down, it’s really two buckets – good solid learning and safety, trust and reliability,” Glass said.
A district as large and diverse as Bedford presents opportunities and challenges. On the academic side, Glass is excited for the integration of the new elementary math curriculum, character education, integrated learning programs and continuance of the district’s Dual Language Bilingual Education program that is available for elementary school students.
He said one of his missions this year is to learn whether some of the lagging standardized test scores is a result of the higher percentage of students who are foreign-born or who’s parents are immegrants or if there are other factors as well.
Glass hopes the district’s economic and ethnic diversity is seen by the community as a strength.
“When you have a broad range of diversity, there are a lot of different needs that are there, so over some point in time there’s going to be someone in the community who doesn’t feel that their needs are being met, or someone else’s needs are more than theirs,” he said. “I also think that the model here looks more like the country and I think that’s good for students and their preparation and their families. It’s good for the entire community.”
In the opening months of the school year, Glass will spend time zeroing in on the character and culture of the district, particularly in light of last year’s incidents involving several special education students being victimized in the bathroom.
Glass said that comments in the district’s Thought Exchange emphasized the need for school officials to address excessive bullying. He said he looks forward to working on that issue while also changing the perception for some.
“I think our culture is a real asset, but I don’t know that it’s always perceived that way,” Glass said.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/