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Help NYCAAPSE Lead The Way PAGE 3 Memo from HQ: Lose The Battle, Win the War PAGE 5 CSA Veterans Panel Leadership Seminar PAGE 8 Dec. 2020 Volume 56, Number 4 American Federation NEWS of School Administrators, COUNCIL OF SCHOOL SUPERVISORS AND ADMINISTRATORS AFL-CIO Local 1 Remedies, Jobs At NYC CTE School BY CHUCK WILBANKS Union Square Academy for CVS and Walgreens but St. John’s Health Sciences was born. University as well. Other partners In 2012, Principal Bernardo Since then, Mr. Ascona and include New York University’s Ascona, former principal of his staff have been recruiting stu- College of Dentistry, Peer Group Renaissance High in the Bronx, dents from a network of feeder Connection, College Bound was leading a turnaround of schools around the city. In a four- Initiative, iMentor, and the law Washington Irving High in year sequence beginning in ninth firm Cleary Gottlieb. Manhattan. He had undertaken grade, students prepare -- using Students must take the mission in 2008, and his the school’s mock pharmacy and the Pharmacy Technician efforts were bearing fruit, for a lab -- to become pharmacy tech- Certification Exam to become example, through a near dou- nicians, a job that can encompass certified pharmacy technicians bling of the graduation rate. a wide variety of tasks ranging during their senior year. Many Nonetheless, officials were closing from record keeping to mixing of them go on to secure jobs as the school, a move that was part formulas. They typically perform pharmacy technicians, and many of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s internships in hospitals such as continue on to college and higher push to shutter larger schools in Mt. Sinai or pharmacies including degrees in medicine and solid favor of smaller, more focused n Bernardo Ascona with students at Union Square Academy for Health Walgreens and CVS – two major careers in various facets of the ones. Mr. Ascona began looking Sciences. CTE programs lead to jobs and higher education. partners enthusiastically backing healing arts. to start a new high school that the school’s work. Dental stu- “It’s like a springboard to would have the full backing of at DOE Central, he set about dental services, a focus offered dents have internships at Bellevue other healthcare careers,” said the city government. researching specialty areas of by two other high schools in the or dental clinics around the city. Mr. Ascona. With the help of Career and study which would yield jobs city, and another that would be Union Square has formed By any measure, the execution Technical Education advisors for graduates. They settled on unique: pharmacy. With that, deep partnerships with not only Continued on Page 8 HISTORY The Creation Solidarity, Strength Amid Of Your Union’s Reopening, Budget Strain BY CRAIG DIFOLCO The City And State Determined That Retiree Chapter On Nov. 30, just as the long Thanksgiving weekend was Data Indicates School Buildings Are ending, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that all 3K, Pre-K, Relatively Safe And Can Reopen, So and grades K-5 would return Long As There Is Randomized Testing to in-person learning on Dec. 7. D-75 schools returned to in-person learning on Dec 10. tal capacity. Individual schools had already phased out blended The entire school system had may still be required to close learning for some or all of been shut down since Nov. 19 due to positive cases within their students before school when the seven-day average buildings. buildings reopened and some of the citywide positivity rate With the reopening were able to do so in the first for COVID-19 had reached the announcement, the DOE high- week. Though this required an established 3 percent threshold lighted the desire to gradually incredible effort to reprogram, for a system-wide closure. As of phase out blended learning some communities were for- mid-December, the city had still and released related guidance tunate to have enough space not yet announced a reopening to principals. CSA immedi- and staff members to comply schedule for middle schools or ately heard from members who with social distancing guide- high schools. wanted to phase out blended lines. CSA urged the city to The city and state deter- learning as soon as possible but communicate to families that mined that, though cases con- believed that doing so, espe- their new policies could result tinue to rise, data gained from cially in a haphazard fashion, in a change of teacher for some testing indicated to health would be a safety concern due students, and when they failed experts that school buildings are to a lack of proper space or staff- to do so, CSA members engaged relatively safe and can reopen, ing issues caused by the DOE’s with the media to inform the so long as there is weekly ran- instructional guidance. CSA told public. Behind the scenes, CSA n Irwin Shanes, a founder of CSA and of CSA’s Retiree Chapter, domized testing of the popu- the mayor and chancellor that demanded the city support prin- addressing active members in the early days of the union. lation. The mayor announced some schools would simply not cipals in the event they needed that subsequent citywide clo- be able to phase out blended to modify previously assigned BY IRWIN SHANES (RSSA), a fraternal organiza- sures will not occur as the result learning due to those concerns, teacher schedules. tion, with the newly created of an increasing positivity rate; while other schools needed As schools reopened, the city The year 2020 marked the Retiree Chapter of CSA. This the state also altered how they additional time to do so suc- thankfully made it clear to fam- fifteenth anniversary of the merger effectually marked the designate yellow, orange, and cessfully, given it necessitated ilies that students who enroll in merger of the Retired School creation of our current organi- red zones, de-emphasizing the modifying previously assigned blended learning are required to Supervisors and Administrators Continued on Page 6 positivity rate to focus on hospi- teacher programs. Some schools Continued on Page 3 2 CSA NEWS Dec. 2020 PRESIDENT’S PAGE Prepare, Collaborate Council of School And Stick To Your Plan Supervisors & Administrators American Federation of School Administrators, AFL-CIO, Local 1 Hold On To Your Priorities, You Will Meet The Moment. By Mark Cannizzaro 40 Rector St., NY, NY 10006 Phone: (212) 823-2020 s the winter holidays rush toward and “buy-in” time. For the most part, if staff, Fax: (212) 962-6130 us, we remain in a state of great students and families know what to expect www.csa-nyc.org uncertainty. Our school buildings before they leave for the summer, they will were opened, then closed and as feel more comfortable and grow increasingly President AI write this, some of them have once again excited. Successful implementation will be Mark Cannizzaro reopened. The mayor has said that students more likely to follow. Executive Vice President Henry Rubio will now attend school in-person five days The reopening should be a district-led per week. That may be doable for some but initiative, but don’t count on it. If your First Vice President Rosemarie Sinclair certainly not all schools. Where possible, we district isn’t starting to plan now, clear guid- Treasurer all would love to make it happen and, in fact, ance may not be “forthcoming.” Go ahead Christopher Ogno principals were the first to make this request and make a plan that is collaborative and Secretary when it became apparent that far fewer stu- share it with your superintendent. Don’t Steffani Fanizzi dents would attend school in person than deviate from that plan even if the DOE Vice Presidents City Hall had originally predicted. However, decides something else is important at the Sam Akel “orders” to comply, and demeaning rhetoric, eleventh hour. The pandemic year has been Jose Garcia Ramon Gonzalez won’t change anything in cases where it’s like no other, and so will the post-pandemic Lois Lee not possible. year, yet you must hold on to your priorities. Katiana Louissaint Constant change and chaos have become It will be a thrill to see all of your stu- Nancy Russo, Retiree Chapter the new normal for students, their families dents back, but keep in mind that it will Executive Director Operations and educators. We are headed straight into have been 18 months since they have had a Erminia Claudio 2021 with too many problems unsolved and a new mayoral “typical” school experience. You will find a broad spectrum of General Counsel election in the offing. Quite likely, a new chancellor will fol- academic preparedness and emotional well-being. However, if David Grandwetter low. Hope shines on the horizon as we anticipate an effective you’ve devoted a lot of time to preplanning, diagnostic assess- COVID19 vaccine to be widely distributed by late spring. We ment, distributed leadership, social and emotional support, Executive Director Field Services pray this will make possible a full return to in-person school in and professional development for your staff, you will meet the Sana Q. Nasser September. With that in mind, we must devise plans to meet moment. Field Directors students “where they are,” academically and emotionally, and James Harrigan • • • Frank Patterson get them back on track. We will also have to work with a new Mercedes Qualls administration to restore trust and faith in our public-school taff members have also experienced varying degrees of Wanda Soto system. stress and are mentally and physically exhausted. Thank Assistant Field Directors It is not too soon to start.

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