'The Changes Will Come Through Our Children'
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Summer 2020 Volume 55, Number 9 American Federation NEWS of School Administrators, COUNCIL OF SCHOOL SUPERVISORS AND ADMINISTRATORS AFL-CIO Local 1 ‘The Changes Fair Student Funding Spared Under Current Will Come New York City Budget BY CRAIG DIFOLCO of advocacy from CSA and our individ- ual members. It also provides ELI with After what many council members the same funding as in recent years and Through Our described as the most difficult budget restores proposed cuts to the Single negotiations they’ve been a part of, the Shepherd program which employees Mayor and City Council reached an approximately 130 guidance counselors agreement just moments before the July throughout the city. 1 deadline. Most notably, the budget agreement Children’ This year’s negotiations were com- includes a plan to transfer responsibil- plicated not only by the tremendous ity of school safety agents and crossing economic impacts of the COVID-19 guards from the NYPD to the DOE. The Principals April Leong and Phoebe pandemic, but also the growing calls to mayor said the transition would take substantially reduce the NYPD budget place over two years, and Speaker Corey Grant-Robinson Discuss Their Work in the wake of protests against police Johnson announced tentative plans to brutality throughout the nation. hold hearings in order to create related During the Pandemic and Protests Thankfully, the budget agreement legislation. reverses the proposed $100 million cut “The first priority of our mem- to Fair Student Funding after months Continued on Page 3 In Memoriam Piercing Intellect, And n Members have helped their school Warm, Caring Soul communities find a way for- BY CHUCK WILBANKS “She knew all the par- ward on race ents and kids. She really while simul- When schools were involved herself in their taneously shuttered in March, Erin lives, and was emotion- confronting Garry, principal of the ally in touch with every- the fear and Urban Assembly Bronx one she worked with, pain over the Academy of Letters, bor- including school safety COVID19 pan- demic . rowed a bike and ped- officers, teachers, cafete- aled around the South ria workers and support BY CHUCK WILBANKS practice of “courageous conversations,” to Bronx delivering tablets staff.” help build understanding and empathy at to her students who Ms. Garry died sud- Phoebe Grant-Robinson her school. needed them. And when Erin Garry denly in her sleep on Well before the country was convulsed “Last year, P.S. 253Q submitted our she learned that some June 4 from complica- by demonstrations prompted by the killing naming request to be formally known as of them didn’t have tions stemming from a of George Floyd, Phoebe Grant-Robinson The Randolph Holder School for Social Internet or other necessities, she used heart arrythmia. She was 36 years old. was quietly fostering racial understand- Justice. He was a police officer from Far her own money to help their families “She raised people up to a stan- ing and emotional support in her Pre-K -5 Rockaway who several years ago was killed get what they needed. dard they didn’t see in themselves,” school. Now, in addition to Covid-related in the line of duty. It was important to have “Principals can tend to be on ped- Mr. Pilc said. “People in our school death and economic hardship in the Far conversations about the police and current estals, but she was very close to the community are absolutely crushed.” Rockaway school community, the school is civil unrest with our students, staff and fam- ground,” said Andy Pilc, a teacher Raised in a family of educators working at confronting questions surround- ilies. If there is a belief that all officers are who, like Ms. Garry, had been a New in a home on White Lake near the ing schools and the NYPD. bad, it’s important that the students under- York City Teaching Fellow, and had Catskills town of Bethel, NY, Ms. She describes how she has used tech- stand that’s not the case at all. We work worked with her at two schools. Continued on Page 9 niques including the Mood Meter, devel- very closely with the 101st precinct. We oped by Mark Brackett at Yale, and the Continued on Page 12 President Of ELI’s Annual Consult CSA Remembering AFSA: Let’s Summer Before You Exceptional Get Serious Sessions Change Titles School Leaders 3 4 5 8 2 CSA NEWS Summer 2020 PRESIDENT’S PAGE A School Year For Council of School The History Books Supervisors & Administrators American Federation of School Administrators, AFL-CIO, Local 1 Challenges Of Summer And Re-Opening Lie Ahead. By Mark Cannizzaro 40 Rector St., NY, NY 10006 Phone: (212) 823-2020 t has been a year like no other, one see me tearing up. Her colleagues and Fax: (212) 962-6130 www.csa-nyc.org that would have been momentous family described a woman of stunning even without the unthinkable hap- inner beauty, who had transformed President pening. more lives than most people ever touch. Mark Cannizzaro IWhen we returned to our buildings Listening from our kitchen, my wife Executive Vice President in September, we had no contract, Barbara dissolved in tears. Henry Rubio and we were battling over the thorny Because we want to spare lives, First Vice President reassembling our schools feels like Rosemarie Sinclair issue of paid parental leave. Our mem- bers stood solidly together, even if solving a three-dimensional jigsaw Treasurer Christopher Ogno they were beyond that stage in life. puzzle: physical, logistical and emo- Secretary Thousands of you wrote letters and ral- tional. To reopen in September will Steffani Fanizzi lied on the steps of City Hall. Finally, take skilled and creative programming Vice Presidents in February, our patience and solidarity as well as sufficient resources. Sam Akel Jose Garcia paid off: We secured raises, reversion Leadership teams will address the Ramon Gonzalez rights and much more. But the real philosophy of reopening, including the Lois Lee Katiana Louissaint emotional win was paid parental leave. paths to healing and grieving for those Nancy Russo, Retiree Chapter Just as we were celebrating, there we’ve lost, for irreplaceable time on Executive Director Operations were reports of coronavirus in Asia, task, for missed social life, and for fear Erminia Claudio then Italy. On March 1, we learned that a young of a new surge. To program a school for student success, General Counsel woman returning to Manhattan from Iran was even under normal conditions, takes an extraordinary David Grandwetter infected. Suddenly, a hot spot in New Rochelle. Few of amount of time. The DOE must set the parameters and us expected a bomb of disease to explode overnight. issue adequate budgets so that you and your team can Executive Director Field Services Yet, Governor Cuomo declared a state of emergency on create a schedule that best serves students. Sana Q. Nasser March 7. Your union fought relentlessly to close our Even if kids resist their natural need to socialize, dis- Field Directors Juanita Bass, James Harrigan, schools. On March 19, New York schools went dark. tancing won’t be enough. We will need access to soap, Christine Martin, Frank Patterson, At the outset of the pandemic, you rallied for water and sanitizer on entry to schools, screening for Mercedes Qualls our children, plunging into remote instruction. You signs of the virus in children and staff, and a bunch of Assistant Field Directors worked with your teachers to pull students together complex health protocols. And approaching the whole Beshir Abdellatif, Eleanor Andrew, Mildred Boyce, Laverne Burrowes, on learn-as-you-go platforms. Some kids came up with issue of transportation seems like a bridge too far. Dominic Cipollone, Peter Devlin, Kenneth online pranks; a few thrived; many couldn’t without At the heart of everything, will be overcoming the Llinas, Nancy Esposito, Roberto Flores, live contact. And some kids just didn’t show up. The emotional trauma of this pandemic and the resulting Ellie Greenberg, Ray Gregory, Joseph LaCascia, Monica McDonald, most economically challenged suffered most, many of economic crisis, now compounded by a social justice Dorothy Morris, Beverly Pascal-Miller, them simply lacking access to these platforms. protest movement that has rallied our city and the Wanda Soto, Yvonne Williams world. Some say it feels like we’re living through a • • • version of the 1918 flu pandemic, the Great Depression Grievance Director he health and safety of absentees worried you and the civil rights movement all at the same time. Dale Kelly as much as their need to learn, and you tried Our children will depend on us to help them make Assistant Directors to track them down. Some of you delivered sense of it all. Are we going to be ready to talk to them Carol Atkins, Robert Colon, T Jermaine Garden- laptops to children’s doors. Some helped launch the about this? That question has been eloquently raised Director of Communications grab-and-go meal program. Many of you have found by AFSA president Ernest A. Logan in his brief essay, Craig DiFolco ingenious ways to acknowledge your students’ achieve- “Are We Now Ready to Have a Serious Conversation Director of Political Affairs ments and keep alive commencement and other com- about Race?” Gabe Gallucci ing-of age rituals. Assistant Director, Political Affairs • • • Herman Merritt Then, on May 25, the nation witnessed the murder Assistant Director of George Floyd. Following so soon after the shoot- s school leaders, many of you have led the way John Khani ings of Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, protests and have provided a safe forum for conversa- Special Assistant to President erupted around the country and throughout New York tions.