Sewanhaka Board of Ed Notebook: SSEA Contracts, ESL Students

If you did not attend the standing room only board of Education meeting on Tuesday, here are some of the highlights:

• Carole Katz, head of the SSEA (the secretaries and clerks association) spoke to the board about the group being without a contract since July 1, 2010. Katz said that while she and other members of her group are aware of the economic situation facing New York State and the local districts, she wanted the board to realize that these workers are not "housewives of the 1950s who are working for extra pocket money and an escape from boredom." The group would like a "fair and reasonable contract," Katz said.
• She discussed another issue of using thumbprint analysis to enter and leave the buildings these people work in. "No administrator or teacher is being asked to do this," Katz said. "We are never in the buildings without administrators. We're not allowed to be," she added. She called this idea of palming in and out to be "disturbing, demoralizing and insulting."
• Many members and supporters of the SSEA were present at the meeting and the room was filled to beyond standing room only capacity.
• Cammi Spillane, a parent of a student at H. Frank Carey High School, came before the board at a recent meeting to ask if the program could be split up from being solely housed in Carey to being incorporated in other high schools. She asked the board for an update on this.
• After being told by Board Vice President David Fowler that the program was not going to be moved, Spillane responded, "I was told by many that going before the board would be a waste of time and energy. Our concerns would only go unrecognized. I, however, was naive and hopeful."
• Superintendent explained to other parents who also approached the board about this issue that it cannot be split into multiple schools because it would require a duplication of staff. The ESL students learn at different rates and take a variety of different classes, so appropriately staffing each school and possibly having class sizes of eight did not seem prudent, he noted.