Chalkbeat

Newark candidates discuss diversity, board policies, and state aid at NAACP school board forum

2024-03-15T21:24:18+00:00

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Parent engagement, curriculum, and school equity dominated a school board candidate forum for New Jersey’s largest district.

During the two-hour forum, candidates answered questions about which Newark Public Schools policies they would revise or enact, strategies to tackle academic learning loss, and how they would use the record-high state aid proposed in Gov. Phil Murphy’s budget, among other questions.

The event, organized by the Newark branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, began with opening statements and questions from moderators Kaleena Berryman, the executive director of the Newark Youth Career Pathways program, and Ali McBride Jr., chair of the civic engagement committee of the Newark NAACP. Toward the end of the event, a small group of residents disrupted the evening and objected to the lack of community questions. Police arrived to ease tensions between the group and volunteer organizers.

Ten candidates are running for four seats, including one who is running for an unfinished one-year term left by former board president Asia Norton. Four are incumbents, four have run before, and two are newcomers. Returning candidate Jimmie White was not at Thursday’s forum.

Candidates discuss district policies, curriculum, diversity

The first question the moderator asked was about which district policies the candidates would revise.

Latoya Jackson, a former beauty salon owner turned full-time community advocate and two-time school board candidate, said she wants an open-door policy for parents who want to visit their children at school. Her son has a disability, and she said she had sometimes been denied access to his school.

Returning candidate Che J.T. Colter is running alongside newcomer Muta El-Amin on the “It Takes a Village” slate, a duo of parents and advocates. Colter, the father of a ninth grader, wants to focus on improving program and instruction policies that impact student learning. He wants more intervention for students struggling in math and reading.

Sheila Montague, a returning candidate and educator, pointed to third-grade scores on the state’s English language arts test that showed only 19% of public school third-graders reached proficiency levels for the second year in a row. She said she wants to address the issue and incorporate more phonics-based learning into the curriculum. Last fall, the district introduced new approaches to teaching phonics and implemented explicit writing strategies.

First-time candidate Debra Salters, who ran in the 2021 general election for New Jersey General Assembly District 29 and works with Newark teens, said she would revise the district’s harassment, intimidation, and bullying policy to encompass racial harassment and equity. She referred to student claims of racist harassment at the Newark School of Global Studies that raised questions about how the district handled those allegations.

Co-vice president Dawn Haynes is one of the longest-serving board members and is running for reelection along with Vereliz Santana and newly appointed board members Helena Vinhas and Kanileah Anderson on the “Moving Newark Schools Forward” slate.

Haynes also raised concerns about the district’s equity policy and school diversity issues that “keep coming up.” She also noted the school board’s work to rebuild programs and curriculums that were removed while the district was under state control. The state returned local control to the Newark district in 2020.

“Let’s not forget that the state had control of our schools for 25 years. We are building and driving the plane at the same time,” added Haynes during the forum, which was held at The Clubhouse community center in the Central Ward.

Newark students raise questions about student advocacy

Science Park High School juniors Nathaniel Esubonteng and Breanna Campbell each posed one question to the candidates during the forum. The Newark city council unanimously approved an ordinance in January to lower the voting age to 16 for school board elections, but students won’t be voting this April because of state and county delays in getting voter registration machines ready.

Esubonteng and Campbell asked candidates what inspired them to run and how they would learn about student needs. Anderson, who has a daughter with a disability and was recently appointed to the board in January, said she wants to see all high school student government association presidents convene regularly to discuss the biggest student problems and present them to board members.

El-Amin, a newcomer running with Colter, said he was inspired to run after he found out his children were failing math and English language arts last year. He runs the community center at Bradley Court, a public housing complex that he said needs more city services, youth, and community engagement.

“This triggered an alarm system that went off in my head. I as a father have to do something. I as a community advocate have to do something,” said El-Amin, who joined the Newark Community Street Team’s safe passage to schools initiative to help city teens.

Santana, who is running for reelection, said the state legislature should revise the funding formula used to calculate aid to school districts and account for inflation and cost of living. Although the district is slated to get a record-high $1.25 billion in aid for next school year, those dollars “are just going to supplant what federal dollars have been funding,” Santana added.

Federal COVID relief funds sent to school districts are set to expire this fall, and those dollars have been funding the district’s academic programs such as after-school and summer programs, Saturday school, and tutoring, Santana said.

During the forum, returning and new candidates also expressed their concern about the “Moving Newark Schools Forward” slate, which garners support from state and local leaders like Mayor Ras Baraka and Senate Majority Leader M. Teresa Ruiz every year. The slate has won every election since 2016. Seven current board members were part of that slate.

Vinhas, who is of Portuguese descent and the mother of two public school students, said she would advocate for more services and resources for English language learners and immigrant families trying to navigate the public school system.

Montague wants to involve parents in board decisions about school curriculums and policies. She also wants to see new members on the school board who are not backed by the mayoral slate that has historically won every election since 2016.

“The most important issue is that we remove politics from the education of our children,” Montague added.

The forum was disrupted when a small group of residents arrived at the end of Haynes’ closing remarks. One resident, who claimed he was the chairman of the new Black power movement in Newark, asked why community residents could not ask candidates a question. McBride tried to address the concerns, but the conversation became volatile. After the police arrived to calm those in the audience, the remaining candidates gave their closing remarks.

NAACP Newark president Deborah Smith Gregory addressed the crowd and said residents were not given an opportunity to ask questions because the event was designed to allow the community to hear from the candidates.

City residents can vote in person on April 16 at their designated polling location or vote by mail if they register for that option seven days before the election. Ballots must be postmarked no later than April 16 and received by the Essex County Board of Elections no later than six days after polls close on election day.

Residents can watch the NAACP Newark candidate forum in full on the organization’s Facebook page.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

20 Newark schools exit state comprehensive, targeted status this year

2024-03-14T16:52:05+00:00

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More than half of Newark’s public schools are no longer designated as underperforming or in need of support following a state review of high-poverty schools.

This year, 20 Newark schools moved out of state designations for schools in need of support due to low student performance, among other criteria. Among those were Weequahic High School and Rafael Hernandez Elementary School. Both exited one of the lowest designations given to schools in need of recurring support, according to Superintendent Roger León, who announced the school designations during a board meeting last month.

The schools joined a list of more than 30 other schools that did not receive a designation this year.

Although an improvement over past years, the district remains under the state’s average graduation rate and proficiency scores on standardized tests. Seven Newark schools continue to need state support to raise student achievement next school year.

The district’s goal is to have the number of state-supported schools range from “small to zero,” said León during the meeting.

Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, known by its acronym ESSA, New Jersey must ensure that all students have access to a high quality and equitable education. The federal guidelines set minimum requirements around measuring and reporting school performance and require states to identify the lowest performing schools.

Schools in need of assistance receive federal funds meant to help raise the performance of the lowest-achieving students. High-poverty schools also can be identified as needing additional support through the Title I program. All Newark schools qualify for Title I.

New Jersey considers a variety of factors when identifying schools in need of support, including academic achievement, academic growth for elementary and middle schools, high school graduation rates, English language proficiency, and chronic absenteeism. The state then designates a score.

Last year, the state analyzed data from the 2018-19 and 2021-22 school years and identified 25 Newark public schools in need of support. The state required the district to write an action plan and engage the community to help identify and tackle school challenges.

This year, seven schools entered a new state status or remained under the same designation, a significant shift from last year’s state review. During this year’s review, the state analyzed 2022-23 school year data – a time when Newark Public Schools’ state test scores went up 2 percentage points in both math and English language arts, pointing to students’ slow academic recovery post-pandemic.

The pandemic had a devastating effect on student performance and mental health, particularly among Newark’s most vulnerable students, including English language learners and students with disabilities. Third graders’ English language arts scores remained at 19% last spring, prompting concern among advocates who consider that grade a critical year for long-term success.

Two schools – Grover Cleveland and Thirteenth Avenue elementary schools – performed at or below the bottom 5% of Title I schools, which means they will enter “comprehensive status” for the coming year. Last year, Thirteenth Avenue exited that status. High schools enter comprehensive status when they have a graduation rate of 67% or lower.

In the coming year, Barringer High School will move out of “comprehensive II status,” a designation for schools that require intensive support again and didn’t meet the state’s criteria to exit the category. The high school entered “additional targeted status” meaning that a student group at that school is “consistently underperforming.”

Barringer offers a special education program for students with behavior disabilities, and roughly 48% of Barringer students are English learners, according to 2022-23 state fall enrollment data. Natasha Pared, Barringer’s principal, used to lead Rafael Hernandez Elementary school, which moved out of a state designation this year.

“So we have confidence she’ll be able to do the same thing here at Barringer,” said León during the February school board meeting.

Chancellor Avenue and Sussex Avenue elementary schools will continue with “additional targeted status,” while Quitman Street Elementary School and Malcolm X Shabazz High School will continue with “comprehensive II” status.

Quitman offers a bilingual and special education program for students with autism in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Shabazz also offers a special education program for students with behavior disabilities. In recent years, the school has seen declining enrollment, struggles in student performance, and safety challenges. In 2022, Shabazz reported a 64.2% graduation rate, compared to the statewide rate of 90%, according to school performance report data. This fall, it will launch a new bilingual program for ninth and 10th grade students.

In total, 36 schools were not identified for any status and 20 schools exited comprehensive status, according to the state’s review this year. The schools that exited a state designation this year must write a sustainability plan, which details how schools will continue to support student academic achievement.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark Public Schools to get electric school buses through federal grant of nearly $3 million

2024-03-04T20:51:19+00:00

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Newark Public Schools is one of five New Jersey districts slated to receive electric buses through a federal grant from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Through the agency’s Clean School Bus Program, Newark, the state’s largest school district, will get six electric buses to service some of the city’s roughly 126 routes to public schools. Bloomfield Township, Elizabeth, Lakewood Township, and Union City will also receive funding through the $19 million award.

The new funding comes after the Newark Board of Education announced an increase in student transportation costs included in its $1.3 billion budget in 2023. Federal, state, and local leaders say the new grant will help provide cleaner air and reduce health risks in communities, especially for children with respiratory problems like asthma.

“There is still a lot of work to make Newark the most environmentally friendly and equitable city it can be,” Carlos Vega, public information officer for the EPA, said last week in response to emailed questions from Chalkbeat.

Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in New Jersey, making up 37% of all emissions, according to the state’s Department of Environmental Protection. In Newark, residents often experience air quality levels higher in pollutants than other areas throughout the state and country. The city is home to several major roads and is near major highways, the Newark-Elizabeth Marine Port, factories, and an international airport that contribute to unhealthy air quality levels, according to the EPA.

One in every four children in Newark suffers from asthma — three times the state average — and asthma is a leading cause of students missing school, according to an EPA study monitoring air quality in the area. In 2019, Superintendent Roger León named asthma as one of four health issues that hinder student achievement.

The $19 million grant will be awarded to the private transportation company Van-Con, Inc., which will purchase and distribute the electric buses. These buses produce lower tailpipe emissions compared with traditional school buses that run and emit more pollutants, according to the EPA.

Newark will receive $2,667,222 to cover the costs of six electric buses and $180,000 for bus charger installation costs. The district will receive the buses within the next year and Van-Con must provide semi-annual reports to the EPA for all school districts awarded in New Jersey.

In 2023, the Newark Board of Education said it spent just over $7 million on a contract with 20 transportation companies to service 126 routes to schools. That year, the district also launched a monthly NJ Transit bus pass program to provide free rides for high school students.

In late January, New Jersey Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette announced the launch of the Electric School Bus Grant Program providing up to $45 million in funding over three years to replace diesel school buses with battery-electric school buses, and to install associated charging infrastructure across the state. School districts can apply for this funding until May 17.

In total, the federal government is providing more than $1 billion to fund electric buses across 280 school districts nationwide.

In Illinois, Chicago Public Schools is expected to get $20 million to buy 50 electric school buses and Detroit Public Schools nearly $6 million to buy 15 electric buses. In Colorado, Aurora Public Schools received $2 million to buy seven new electric school buses.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark residents outraged over removal of teen novel as board changes policy for controversial books

2024-01-29T23:52:33+00:00

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Leer en español.

Newark school officials’ removal of a teen book about a 12-year-old Palestinian boy from its curriculum spurred a public outcry at a recent school board meeting. Moments later, the board axed the superintendent’s power to make decisions on controversial reading materials.

A school board spokeswoman says the policy change is unrelated to the book removal, which drew dozens of community members to a board meeting last week. Educators and parents, outraged over the district pulling the book from the sixth grade curriculum, said the decision evokes book bans, which have been on the rise in recent years amid culture wars and campaigns for censorship over social justice issues.

After an hour and a half of public comments that at times became fiery, the nine-member Newark school board, which had just appointed two new members, voted to update its policy on books and other classroom materials that receive complaints from the public.

The policy originally assigned the superintendent to make final decisions on what happens to those materials that are challenged, but, with the amendment, that power transferred to the school board. Deering said the amendment came as a recommendation from the state School Boards Association.

Though the board says it’s unrelated, the policy change occurred as controversy brews over the fictional book, “A Little Piece of Ground” by Elizabeth Laird, and how or why it was removed from the curriculum.

The book, about a 12-year-old Palestinian boy navigating his life in the Palestinian city of Ramallah, with war and conflict at the center of his struggles, was in sixth grade classrooms across the district beginning the fall of 2022, district spokeswoman Nancy Deering confirmed in an email.

In the summer of 2023, district school officials removed the novel, which was first published in 2003.

Educators and parents who spoke at the Jan. 25 meeting questioned why the book was removed from the sixth grade curriculum. They talked about its importance and relevance for students trying to understand the Israel-Hamas war and the violence in Israel and the Gaza Strip, even though the removal occurred before the war began on Oct. 7.

They also questioned whether the district had been influenced by outside organizations to remove the book. A recent announcement from the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ, a nonprofit organization and the local arm of a larger national group, spurred community members to go to Thursday’s meeting and demand answers from the board.

The Jewish nonprofit says it lobbied Newark Public Schools officials, including board members, and city and state officials, for a year to get the book off Newark’s classroom shelves.

“It is a rare event for us to weigh in on curriculum issues, much less try to get a book removed from classroom study,” said Dov Ben-Shimon, the organization’s CEO, in a statement last month. “But the stakes were too high for us to ignore this one.”

Ben-Shimon also said in that statement that his team tried to meet with “educators and civic leaders” but “were often met with closed doors, unreturned phone calls and outright hostility.” But, he added, “lay leaders and major donors who had deep connections within the City of Newark” supported their efforts “ultimately leading to a successful outcome.”

Still, Superintendent Roger León said, the district did not “ban” the book, but rather it was removed as part of a curriculum update.

“No student or staff member has been forbidden from reading any material or any literature,” León said.

Some school board members said they were concerned that the book was removed from the curriculum without their knowledge and disappointed that they were not consulted before the decision was made.

“It is a disservice to our community. It is a disservice to the Muslim community. It is a disservice to the sixth grade parents. And it is a disservice to anybody who had to take their time with 53 speakers to come and talk about a book ban that we did not authorize,” Board Co-Vice President Dawn Haynes said at the meeting, which was held at Newark Vocational High School.

Haynes said the decision to remove the book was not reflected in meeting minutes over the last year for the program and instruction committee, which oversees curriculum decisions in the district.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka’s press secretary Susan Garofalo said the Baraka administration is “unaware of any meetings” held with the Jewish Federation and city officials about the removal of the book.

“Mayor Baraka has not read the book in question to determine the veracity of claims that it is anti-Semitic,” Garofalo said. “However, as a general principle, the mayor’s stance is against banning books.”

The Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ declined to comment.

Threat of book bans spark policy changes

In the fall, the Essex County school board association passed legislation on county book bans called the Protect the Freedom to Read act. The resolution addresses the book bans popping up around the county at local school boards and aims to protect academic freedom, the board said.

Last month, the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ issued a statement that outlined its efforts to ban “A Little Piece of Ground” in the Newark Public Schools and its recent success in that effort.

“After over a year of intense lobbying efforts on the part of our Jewish Community Relations Council, I’m pleased to let you know that a deeply troubling and prejudicial book which had been assigned to sixth graders in the Newark Public School system for the last year, has just been pulled from 200 classrooms across the city,” said the organization’s CEO Ben-Shimon, in a blog post on its website on Dec. 29.

That blog post, shared widely on Facebook and first reported by The Star-Ledger, drew dozens of parents and educators to Thursday’s board meeting.

“While I understand that reading lists change over time based on the decisions made by trained educators, I see the removal of ‘A Little Piece of Ground’ as being a clear example of a book ban,” said Karl Schwartz, a longtime Newark resident who spoke at the meeting.

Schwartz quoted from Ben-Shimon’s statement and said it’s worrisome that any organization would influence the district to remove the book.

“It’s very concerning when a private group is able to do something like that and have outside influence on the curriculum,” he said.

Whitney Strub, a longtime Newark resident and professor of history at Rutgers University-Newark, said he too is opposed to the book’s removal.

“It’s extremely upsetting and disturbing to see my own hometown of Newark walk right into an incredibly avoidable error of an egregious case of censorship,” said Strub, who added that he focuses on censorship in his academic writing. He and others who spoke against the removal of the book said the novel is not anti-Semitic.

Sarah Alaeddin, a Palestinian American and member of the Newark Teachers Project program at Montclair State University, said she had to recently explain to her students that book bans can happen anywhere. “Even here in Newark, a city that is so progressive and deeply, richly diverse,” she added.

Haynes addressed the public at the meeting, defended the school board, and said it was not aware of the decision to remove the book.

“None of the members had anything to do with a book banning here in the city of Newark,” she said. “We do not agree with book banning at all, specifically one that talks about a community of oppressed people.”

Book bans have been a contentious issue in recent years across the country and state. Last week, New Jersey state lawmakers introduced the Freedom to Read Act to set guidelines for evaluating book removals from libraries across the state.

The Newark school board’s amended policy, titled “Complaints Regarding Instructional Materials’' and adopted in 2019, had a first reading on Tuesday at the board business meeting. A key change to the policy states that the final decision on “controversial reading matters” will rest with the Board of Education, whereas the original policy stated it would rest with the superintendent.

Another change in the policy stipulates that the superintendent should develop procedures for requests, suggestions, or complaints about instructional materials. The original policy did not include the need to develop a procedure for such requests.

Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark. Reach Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.

People’s Prep to leave Bard High School building as Newark Public Schools looks to expand amid rising enrollment

2024-02-14T11:00:00+00:00

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This summer a Newark charter school will vacate the space it has rented from the city’s public schools for more than a decade, the latest move in the district’s push to reclaim school properties as enrollment rebounds.

People’s Preparatory Charter School will leave its location inside the Bard Early College High School building following a nearly four-year legal battle with Newark Public Schools over whether the school breached its contract by using more space than permitted under the lease, failing to pay past rent for the extra space, and, ultimately, interfering with the expansion of Bard.

The departure, set to happen by July 15, will allow the public school district to increase enrollment at Bard this fall, the district has said. It also reflects a step forward in Superintendent Roger León’s strategy to reclaim public school buildings and expand the district as student enrollment has increased over recent years.

When the district was under state control, from 1995 until 2020, state-appointed superintendents closed many public schools while the charter sector rapidly expanded. León, a Newark Public Schools graduate who moved up the district ladder and was appointed to his role in May 2018, has been clear about his attempt to stop the expansion of charter schools, which are privately run but publicly funded schools.

Last year, the district appealed the state’s decision to expand North Star Academy Charter School by arguing that the school did not meet enrollment demands that warranted an expansion, placed a financial burden on the public schools, and created “a segregative effect” on the school system.

León also called for the closure of People’s Prep in a 2020 letter he sent to state education leaders considering a renewal for the charter to operate in Newark. He argued that the charter school’s presence in the shared building had prevented Bard from expanding.

People’s Prep’s expected move comes a year after the state’s department of education approved a merger between the school and Achieve Community Charter School to create a new K-12 Newark school renamed Gateway Academy, a partner of the BRICK Education Network with schools in Newark and Buffalo, New York.

Bard is a selective magnet high school in Newark where students can earn associate degrees from New York’s Bard College. The expansion of the school will allow the district to enroll “as many students who wish to graduate from high school with an associate’s degree,” said Newark Public Schools spokesperson Nancy Deering.

Former People’s Prep executive director Keith Robinson is now the Newark Regional Superintendent at BRICK Education network serving the new Gateway Academy school. In an email to Chalkbeat Newark last week, he wrote that the merger between the schools “ensures 8th graders have a guaranteed seat at a high-quality high school with more than a decade of college access and persistence experience.”

Tensions between NPS and People’s Prep grew over the years

People’s Prep is a small charter high school that has rented space in the Bard building since 2011. It welcomed 95 ninth graders that year, growing to a total enrollment of 340 for the 2022-23 school year, according to state fall enrollment data. The school’s lease for the space at Bard was created under former state-appointed Superintendent Cami Anderson and amended five times with rent increasing with each amendment.

The district’s August 2020 lawsuit against People’s Prep claimed the school breached its contract by “exceeding the square footage area permitted under the lease.” The lawsuit also claimed People’s Prep interfered with the district’s ability to provide the “highest quality of educational services to its students.” The lawsuit does not specify how much money People’s Prep owed.

The charter school alleged in a counterclaim that a year before the lawsuit, the district was trying to suppress charter enrollment by instituting “arbitrary caps” as part of its universal enrollment system, Newark Enrolls. The tensions between the district and charter schools grew after the enrollment system was revamped in 2019. In 2022, People’s Prep and six other charter networks broke away from their longstanding agreement with the district to participate in Newark Enrolls and instead signed on to a new enrollment platform.

The case between People’s Prep and the district was dismissed in 2023, but the settlement details are not available due to amendments to a state law barring the release of records about tenants who faced eviction over unpaid rent during the pandemic but were not ultimately evicted.

In an email to Chalkbeat Newark last week, Thomas Johnston of the Johnston Law Firm, who represented People’s Prep, wrote “Gateway Academy Charter School is pleased to have settled those differences with Newark District.”

In November 2022, People’s Prep purchased the historic Temple B’nai Abraham building at 621 Clinton Avenue in the South Ward for $2.5 million, according to property records.

Robinson said parents have been informed about People’s Prep’s move and school officials have a plan for where the school will be next year. School officials expected to share the news about the move with families at last week’s parent-teacher conferences, but have not confirmed if they disclosed where People’s Prep would move to.

León aims to acquire properties and expand district

Newark Public Schools said it is reviewing leases with other charter schools it houses for the “possible return of those school properties to the Board of Education,” according to a January district committee report. It is also looking to reclaim 12 district buildings previously transferred to the city under Anderson.

In 2020, the district sued the Newark Housing Authority, claiming it violated the agreement that the city would sell the buildings and return most of the profits to the school system. Among those properties is the Maple Avenue School, a former district school shuttered in 2015, and State Street School, Newark’s oldest school building.

In 2017, the city sold the Maple Avenue property for $1.2 million to Newark-based developer Hanini Group. In 2020, the property was sold for $10 million to a nonprofit connected to KIPP New Jersey, another charter school operator in Newark, and now houses KIPP Seek Academy.

Last year, the district also repurchased State Street school from the Hanini Group but details about the agreement between the public schools and the developer have not been disclosed, according to documents in a 2023 lawsuit filed by Skyway Publishing LLC, a New Jersey-based company that publishes TAPInto Newark, against the district over the agreement. The district plans to renovate the school as a district museum, León has previously said. The district remains in court to acquire the rest of the properties previously held by Newark Public Schools.

Last March, the district obtained the former four-story University Heights Charter School building. The charter school struggled to improve student test scores, increase enrollment, and retain its leadership team before the state shut it down. The building was then purchased by the state’s School Development Authority in 2022, which pays for school construction projects in 31 high-poverty districts, including Newark.

The school building was transferred to the district as part of the state’s promise to provide it with a new prekindergarten through eighth grade school. The building reopened this school year as the new Mandela Elementary School and is part of the district’s five-year capital plan. Property records show the building and land are valued at roughly $6.6 million but list the sale price as $1.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Bilingual program to launch at Malcolm X Shabazz to serve Newark’s growing population of English learners

2024-02-05T11:00:00+00:00

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A new bilingual education program will launch in the South Ward this fall to help Newark’s growing population of English language learners access services closer to where they live.

High school students learning English as a second language will be eligible to enroll in the new program next school year at Malcolm X Shabazz High School, where concerns over declining enrollment, student performance, and safety challenges have remained in recent years. The program will start with ninth and 10th graders and then add one grade per year.

The new program comes as the district’s enrollment grows amid the latest influx of immigrants to New Jersey. It also comes almost three years after the district agreed to overhaul services for English language learners as part of a settlement following a years long investigation by federal officials.

More than 10,000 students – a quarter of the city’s public school enrollment – are English language learners, district officials said.

The new program at Shabazz will offer South Ward high school students learning English the option to receive services near home, according to Superintendent Roger León, who announced the new program at a recent school board meeting.

“There are students that live in the South Ward that take two or three buses to get to Eastside or Barringer High School because they’re in a bilingual Spanish program,” León said.

Currently, South Ward high schools offer no programs for English language learners, León said.

The program previously existed at Shabazz but was removed under state control of the district, according to district spokeswoman Nancy Deering. Since León was appointed to the board in 2018, when local control was reinstated, the district has added an engineering academy, cosmetology program, and an aviation program to the school as part of the district’s high school redesign strategy.

Last school year, 272 students attended Shabazz and less than 2% were English language learners, according to 2022-23 state data.

The district’s English learners include a mix of students born in the country and abroad. Most speak Spanish or Portuguese, although some speak Arabic, French, Haitian Creole, or other languages.

With the influx of second-language learners in the district, officials are also wrestling with a shortage of bilingual teachers who can communicate in different languages.

During a January school board meeting, board member Vereliz Santana said the new program at Shabazz would alleviate some of the staffing pressures at Eastside and Barringer high schools. Barringer has “the highest number of bilingual and ESL vacancies,” she said.

“It’s a student population that we’re committed to serving and to educate and we’re rising to the challenge,” Santana said.

In 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice launched a nearly four-year investigation that found “wide-ranging failures” in the district’s English language program, officials said. The department’s civil rights division launched the investigation when the state still operated the Newark school system and in response to a complaint that the district was failing to properly serve English learners.

As part of a settlement agreement with federal officials, Newark agreed to overhaul how it serves English learners, but León has shared few details about plans to expand bilingual education districtwide.

In 2022, the Newark school board approved a 15-page resolution that restated the district’s responsibilities to meet the needs of students learning English as mandated by state and federal laws, such as screening students to identify English learners and providing teachers of English learners with relevant professional development opportunities.

Teachers and students are also grappling with the challenges of having English language learners in classrooms where there’s little support.

Sani Scott, a junior at Central High School, during the board meeting in January, said it’s tough to communicate with her bilingual classmates in her history class, and teachers are often stuck translating lessons and notes for students – “a process that takes up to at least 10 minutes of class time.”

Bilingual students “don’t get the proper education they deserve because they’re so busy trying to translate everything just to keep up with us,” Scott said. “That keeps them isolated and makes their social groups very small because of the language barrier.”

Yvette Jordan, chair of the Newark Education Workers Caucus, said at January’s board meeting that teachers aren’t getting enough support to help bilingual students. Teachers have to use their prep time to translate materials, which puts a strain on their time to plan lessons, Jordan said.

She read a statement from one of her Latina students who feels insecure because her classmates don’t understand her: “I don’t know if they are making fun of us, because they don’t understand me or my friends, and I feel bad.”

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark Board of Education swears in two new members, passes on charter school teacher

2024-01-26T11:00:00+00:00

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After months of uncertainty, during which the Newark Board of Education refused to swear in a charter school teacher chosen to fill an empty seat, the board welcomed two new members on Thursday night.

Helena Vinhas and Kanileah Anderson were sworn in at a ceremony at Newark Vocational High School during this month’s school board meeting. Family members joined Vinhas and Anderson on stage as they took their oaths of office, and later, seats as appointed board members during the meeting.

Community residents, family members, and council members Larry Crump and Michael Silva cheered in the audience as they celebrated the long-time residents, who will serve until April’s school board elections.

The inductions come after the board did not swear in Thomas Luna, a KIPP charter school teacher, to fill one of the empty seats after it first unanimously chose him to join the board in October. A two-time school board candidate, Luna could run for a seat on the nine-member board come April.

Earlier this month, Nancy Deering, the district’s spokesperson said the board had no plans to swear in Luna at school board meetings in January, Deering added.

Vinhas, the vice president of Mayor Ras Baraka’s Commission on the Status of Women, a jewelry store operator, and mother of two public school students, received support from Silva. In a Facebook post on Wednesday, he said Vinhas’ presence on the board would mark the first time in nearly a decade that his ward would have a voice on the school board.

Vinhas, who is also a volunteer with the Science Park Parent-Teacher-Student Organization, said Thursday that she accepted the challenge to become a school board member to give back to the community that raised her and her brother and provided her immigrant parents with an opportunity to build a business in Newark.

She also highlighted issues she wants to address such as overcrowded schools, outdated facilities, and the need for more specialized and foreign language teachers.

“I am committed to the charge and I promise to work to the best of my ability to help ensure the voiceless are given a voice. I say that because our eastward has needed representation for quite some time,” Vinhas said.

Helena Vinhas was sworn onto the Newark Board of Education on Jan. 25.

Anderson is known for her community work and advocacy work with Newark students. In the past, Anderson has rallied around education issues and also supported the rights of students with disabilities through advocacy for her daughter who attended Newark schools.

On Thursday, Anderson called herself “a social worker by career and by heart, I am a giver, a doer, and an achiever.” She comes from a family of advocates and community leaders and her induction to the board reminded her of her grandmother, who in 1987 was also appointed to the board to fill a vacancy.

“So you know, it’s in our bloodline,” Anderson said. “There’s power, there is success. There is a lot of greatness and I want to pour into everyone up here with me and I am hopeful that we do extremely well to move the district and the city forward.”

During Tuesday’s business meeting, board members interviewed seven candidates, including Anderson and Vinhas, vying to fill two empty seats — one vacated by former president Asia Norton in November, which was slated for Luna, and another by former member A’Dorian Murray-Thomas who won a seat on the Essex County Board of Commissioners in November.

Kanileah Anderson was joined by her family on stage as she was sworn onto the Newark Board of Education on Jan. 25, 2024.

At Tuesday’s meeting, President Hasani Council did not explain why the board decided not to seat Luna. Instead, he attributed the decision to a public records request that triggered a review of school board candidate applications last fall and their eligibility for the board. The request also triggered a review of School Ethics Commission opinions, principles of the School Ethics Act, and other school laws, said Council on Tuesday.

Last week, the New Jersey Children’s Foundation sent a six-page legal memo to the Newark school board that recommended the board seat Luna as a board member. The memo concluded there is no legal basis for the delay in swearing him in after he was chosen by the board to fill a vacancy.

As a result of the review, the board in December decided not to swear anyone into office, Council added.

Luna, who has twice run for the school board, said last week that he had not heard from the board or district about his role since the December school board meeting when a motion to swear him in failed but failed by a 4-2 vote, with two abstentions. He did not comment on the new appointments.

Past board members have held ties to the KIPP charter school network while serving on the board.

Former board member Rashied McCreary was also a teacher at KIPP Rise Academy when he was elected to the board in 2012. Norton, who was first elected in 2018, was a kindergarten teacher at KIPP Life Academy charter school when she ran for a seat on the school board. She left that position in June 2018, according to her LinkedIn profile.

In 2021, Murray-Thomas’ appointment to the board of directors of the KIPP Foundation, a nonprofit that assists KIPP charter schools through training and fundraising, sparked ethics questions.

Both Vinhas and Anderson could decide to run in the April 16 school board election for their seat when the city’s 16- and 17-year-olds will be allowed to vote for the first time in history. They have not publicly said yet if they will run in April.

Residents interested in running for a seat on the school board must submit their applications to the Newark Board of Education by Feb. 26.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Judge to review Global Studies report as part of Newark Teachers Union’s open records lawsuit

2024-01-24T22:25:25+00:00

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Newark Public Schools officials have two weeks to provide a state Superior Court judge with a copy of the report on the cultural dynamics at the Newark School of Global Studies to determine whether it can be released publicly.

The scathing report, which the district has not made public, was commissioned after incidents of racial harassment against Black students and staff at the high school surfaced more than a year ago. The Newark Teachers Union sued the district in November for access to the report after its public-records request was denied.

Judge Mayra Tarantino on Tuesday ordered the district to submit the document by Feb. 6 for the court’s private review. The judge also called for both sides to submit arguments on whether the report should be public record and whether any materials held by Creed Strategies, the consulting firm that compiled the report, are also subject to the Open Public Records Act.

Raymond Baldino, an associate at the Zazzali law firm representing the teachers union said the union requested the court’s private review of the document “rather than accept the district’s claim at face value that the report cannot be made public.”

The next hearing for this case hasn’t been scheduled, Baldino said. The district could appeal the judge’s order, he said, but attorneys have not had any discussions about that or a settlement.

Nancy Deering, the district’s spokesperson, and Craig Novak of the Taylor Law Group, who represents the district on the case, did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday afternoon.

In documents submitted to the court in December, Superintendent Roger León argued that releasing the report would have a “chilling effect” on discussions about racial dialogue and sensitivity practices at Newark School of Global Studies and districtwide.

The new court order comes amid persistent tensions between the community and the district over the lack of solutions and transparency on the issue after incidents of harassment against Black students and staff at the high school first surfaced in late 2022. The issues sparked heavy criticism from the community about the response from school and district leaders, who had known about the problems months before they became public.

The situation resulted in at least half a dozen Black students requesting transfers out of the high school and two Black teachers resigning. The former teachers have also filed legal claims with state and federal offices, alleging they experienced harassment and racial hostility from students and supervisors.

In early 2023, the Newark school board commissioned a report on the cultural, religious, and racial dynamics at Global Studies High School. But later that year, León said the report would not be released publicly despite requests from members and community leaders. The district last fall shared only parts of the report that contained three recommendations for the district.

The union filed a public records request for access to the full report on Sept. 29, 2023, arguing that it has an interest in the release of the report and in knowing of any changes or recommendations to the district’s approach to handling student and staff issues related to “anti-Blackness” or “cultural sensitivity,” ultimately affecting teachers in the district.

The district denied the request, citing a legal exemption that allows some draft documents or advisory documents to be withheld from the public. Other parties, including Chalkbeat Newark, have also requested access to the report.

The recommendations released in the fall called on the district to assess the effects of “anti-Blackness” on the school system, foster conversations about racial issues, build school staff capacity to identify cultural gaps, and create an environment that is racially conscious and inclusive.

The recommendations came as the high school’s vice principal, Hoda Abdelwahab, left the district. She was among those called out by community leaders during board meetings and in legal claims filed by former teachers at the high school for handling the issues poorly.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark Teachers Union wants its second contract under local control to go beyond 2019 deal

2024-01-22T15:16:27+00:00

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The Newark Teachers Union is negotiating a “historic” and “unprecedented” contract that demands higher salaries, more autonomy, and respect for teachers, says union President John Abeigon.

Negotiators for the union and the district held their first meeting on Jan. 11 to discuss the contract. If approved, it will be the second contract for teachers since the state ended its 23-year takeover of Newark Public Schools in 2018 and the third union negotiation with Superintendent Roger León since he was appointed by the city’s school board in 2018. It would replace the union’s 2019 contract, which expires at the end of June.

“We look forward to successful negotiations over the next few months for the benefit of our staff and the ultimate beneficiaries, our students,” said Newark Public Schools spokesperson Nancy Deering.

The end of the state’s takeover of the district signaled a change for teachers who had long wrestled with New Jersey officials about the declining conditions in city schools and their roles in them.

The union’s 2019 contract, for instance, ended the practice of paying teachers based on their students’ performance, rather than how many years they spent in the district or the degrees they attained – a provision of the union’s 2012 contract. In the past, the union head fought incessantly with state-appointed superintendents Cami Anderson and Christopher Cerf, resulting in tense negotiations and public feuds.

Anderson, who was superintendent from 2011 to 2015, closed and consolidated schools causing a pool of displaced educators in the district, and she oversaw the city’s rapid expansion of charter schools. Cerf, who replaced Anderson in 2015, was also criticized by teachers and community advocates for his charter-friendly stance and for closing low-performing schools in the city.

Today, Abeigon, who was elected as union president in 2015, has a more amicable relationship with León. Regardless of who is on the opposite side of negotiations, though, Abeigon said his team is focused on fighting to improve teachers’ current working conditions.

“We will continue to fight for those same things we gained in 2019 but instead of stopping at where we once were, we intend to move beyond that, and forge new territory and create a mecca for teachers who wish to be recognized in the manner the profession demands,” Abeigon added.

The union will continue to negotiate with the district every Thursday until they reach a deal, Abeigon said.

Pay raises for teachers

In 2019, the union reached a deal to raise salaries by 2.9% the first year with raises growing each year, capping at 3.3% in the 2023-24 school year. The contract also included pay increases for advanced degrees, substitute teachers and aides, and more planning time for teachers.

Now, the union is looking to secure the highest teacher salary in the country, Abeigon said. Currently, New York teachers have the highest average salary in the nation, with some earning over $90,000 a year, according to 2021-22 data from the National Education Association. In New Jersey, the average teaching salary hovers around $79,000 annually, according to the same data.

In June 2022, the district agreed to raise the starting salary for new teachers to $62,000 a year after it negotiated with the union as part of a recruitment strategy amid staffing shortages during the pandemic.

Abeigon says higher pay means more respect for teachers who are still working through the negative effects of the pandemic on students, such as learning loss and an increase in mental health needs. It also communicates more respect for teachers, Abeigon added, which in turn, retains them, a problem the district has endured amid teacher and principal turnover.

“With a higher salary, we’ll be able to recruit and retain the best,” Abeigon said.

Improving working conditions to keep teachers in Newark

But pay alone won’t keep teachers from leaving the district, Abeigon said. Uniformity and more teacher involvement in the decision-making processes will help retain teachers, he said.

Teachers need more educational responsibilities and less pressure to fulfill duties outside of their teaching role, Abeigon said. Some teachers have been asked to serve as security guards, fix classroom leaks, or other tasks outside their day-to-day duties, he said. District leaders also need to focus on teacher and staff morale, as some face burnout and frustration.

He envisions a “teacher-led” school district that relies on everyone to do their job, said Abeigon.

“You show me the school and I’ll tell you the level of morale. Some of them are so worn that the morale is in the basement,” Abeigon said.

Other teachers are frustrated with changing curriculums, inefficient professional development, and lack of understanding of the challenges they face in the classroom, Abeigon said. They plan on creating a schoolwide and districtwide curriculum committee that oversees curricula across all grade levels and helps workshop those lessons with teachers. The goal is to have uniformity across the district and leave decisions about learning to teachers.

“Let’s replace the useless mandates, and the time consuming data consumption with responsibilities, educational responsibilities,” Abeigon added.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

New Jersey state school board gains two new members with ‘fresh perspectives’

2024-01-17T19:02:53+00:00

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For the first time under Gov. Phil Murphy’s tenure, the New Jersey State Board of Education welcomed two new members: a former Newark Public Schools program director and a former Union City school board member.

Mary Bennett, of Irvington, and Jeannette Peña, of Union City, took their oaths of office before a full conference room during Wednesday’s board meeting at the state Department of Education building in Trenton.

“How exciting for us to have new perspectives on the board,” acting Education Commissioner Angelica Allen-McMillan said at the meeting. “With your vast experience, I know that our board is in good hands.”

Bennett has extensive experience as an educator in various roles, including a Newark Public Schools program director, high school principal and vice principal, English language arts teacher, educational consultant for Seton Hall University, and education mentor at Montclair State University.

Peña was a former bilingual school psychologist for Jersey City schools and previously served as president of the Union City school board.

“This is an honor and a responsibility that I do not take lightly,” Bennett said following the swearing-in. “I will serve with sincerity, professionalism, and utilize my five decades of experience that I bring to this role on behalf of all the children in public schools in New Jersey.”

“I’m still pinching myself,” Peña said about her excitement for her new role.

New Jersey Superior Court Judge Robert Lougy administers the oath of office to Jeannette Peña, of Union City, a new member of the state Board of Education. Mary Bennett, not pictured, was also sworn in at the board meeting on Jan. 17, 2024.

Members of the state school board serve six year terms and are appointed by the governor with confirmation from the state Senate. The board is supposed to have 13 members but has been down two members after recent resignations, and the remaining 11 members are sitting in expired seats.

Murphy has nominated six members to the board, but only Bennett and Peña have been confirmed by the Senate. Seven members currently on the board were appointed by Gov. Chris Christie, who left office in 2018, and four were appointed by previous administrations.

Peña filled the seat formerly held by Ernest Lepore, who served from 2004 through 2022. Bennett replaced Mary Beth Gazi, who was appointed in 2017 and served one term.

The new members join the board as Allen-McMillan prepares to step down as acting education commissioner on Feb. 1. Wednesday was her last board meeting.

Reflecting on her three years in that role, Allen-McMillan said she’s proud of the work the department and board has done during the pandemic.

Board member Mary Beth Berry said she welcomes the new members’ “fresh perspectives.”

“It’s a lot of work, but it’s wonderful to think we can collaborate and do the very best for children of New Jersey,” Berry said.

Some of Bennett’s family members attended the swearing in ceremony, traveling from Newark on a blistering cold day to show their support.

“She’s been in education for so long and has so much knowledge to bring,” from her professional experiences and “as a mother and grandmother,” said Cynthia Breuton, Bennett’s cousin, of Newark. Breuton noted Bennett has long volunteered for various community organizations, including their church’s education ministry.

The state school board is responsible for setting rules and standards to implement state education laws, and supervising the state’s public schools. The board also advises on the education commissioner’s proposed policies and confirms state education department staff appointments.

The next meeting is scheduled for Feb 7.

Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark. Reach Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.

Battle continues a year after Newark Global Studies’ students first described pattern of racism

2023-12-20T20:06:31+00:00

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When Newark’s School of Global Studies first opened three years ago, it was hailed as an international-themed magnet high school that would value diversity and encourage students to engage with other cultures and global issues.

Instead, over the last year, students and teachers have come forward to describe a pattern of racist harassment on campus that led students to transfer out midyear because they felt the district failed to handle their situation. Teachers claimed they suffered “unlawful and unreasonable treatment” at the school, forcing them to resign.

Superintendent Roger León promised to fix the issues, but he has not been forthcoming about his plans to tackle racial harassment on campus or changes made at the school since the issues came to light.

Tensions between the community and the district have grown over the last year due to the lack of solutions and transparency on the issue. Now, the school community ends the year with continued demands for justice for students, and it still wants the district to release the scathing report on the cultural dynamics at the Newark School of Global Studies.

“We need the findings to be made public,” said Deborah Smith-Gregory, president of NAACP Newark, at the school board meeting on Tuesday, referring to the report. “We can’t fix what we don’t know.”

Earlier this year, León said that the report, which was commissioned by board members nearly a year ago, would not be released publicly despite requests from board members and public records requests from Chalkbeat.

“People not having the report in their hands doesn’t mean that there isn’t work … occurring” at the school, León said at the meeting Tuesday. He also pointed out that a few recommendations from the report have already been addressed publicly.

But despite the continued calls for more transparency, the report remained under wraps this week.

The situation began when a group of Black students from the school spoke out at a board meeting in November 2022 about the ongoing racial harassment they said they experienced on campus. The issues drew heavy criticism from the community about the way the school and district leaders handled the situation.

Over the last year, half a dozen Black students transferred out of the high school. An analysis of the school’s cultural dynamics was completed and recommendations to fix the problems were provided to the district. Two Black teachers resigned and filed legal claims over a hostile work environment, and the school’s vice principal Hoda Abdelwahab, who was at the center of complaints, also resigned. Most recently, the Newark Teachers Union filed a lawsuit over the public release of the report.

A year later, district plans remain unclear

The frustration has been building since November 2022, when León and school board members listened intently as one student described being called a “smart chimpanzee” in his English class because of the color of his skin. Another said his friend’s hijab was pulled off while they were walking in the hallway. Others later described how they were called “the n-word, a slave, a caricature.”

Mayor Ras Baraka visited students in December 2022 to discuss the issues but did not provide solutions for students. León also visited the students, and at the time, asked if they would like a basketball team at the school, further frustrating them. Emails obtained by Chalkbeat Newark showed that school and district leaders had known about the issues months before.

Students and parents complained to León, principal Nelson Ruiz, Abdelwahab, and other school leaders begging for an end to the ongoing harassment and demanding stronger consequences for students who used derogatory language.They would later describe an administration that wasn’t taking the situation seriously enough, and they called for Ruiz’ removal.

In January, student testimonies prompted school board members to hire Dr. Lauren Wells and her firm, CREED Strategies, to examine the cultural, racial, and religious dynamics at Global Studies and provide recommendations to fix the issues. The review was the first mention of the district’s long-awaited plan to mend problems at the high school after the incidents came to light.

That same month, nearly half a dozen Black students transferred out of the school, including the Black Student Union president and school board vice-president Dawn Haynes’ daughter, who spoke at December’s school board meeting about the racial and religious harassment she experienced before transferring during her junior year.

In March, Baraka hosted a town hall event to discuss unity among Black and brown communities and invited Global Studies students to speak about their concerns.

Over the summer, León shared limited details about the school’s cultural report during a press conference. He offered no insight on the report, which he said would serve “as an internal document” for the district to consider. León also said the report was meant to help the district design a strategy to tackle racial issues in city schools but details about that plan have not been made public.

Legal battles mount for transparency into Global Studies incidents

In more recent months, community leaders repeatedly attended school board meetings to demand the release of the Global Studies report. Others continue to press the district to create a plan to prevent the problems from happening again or at other schools.

The district is also facing mounting pressure from former educators. In August, two former English teachers at the school filed legal claims against the district alleging they suffered “severe emotional problems” that led them to seek psychological counseling after experiencing harassment and racial hostility by students and supervisors. The filings could lead to a lawsuit, said their lawyer, David Balk.

In September, Newark Public Schools released three recommendations from the Global Studies report that call on the district to assess the effects of “anti-Blackness” on the school system and foster conversations about racial issues. In addition to the recommendations, principal evaluations were changed to include “equity indicators” and base performance on their school’s climate.

Haynes, who privately read the full report in September when it was made available to board members said it was “traumatizing to read.”

During a school board meeting last month, a year after the students first raised concerns, member Crystal Williams said she expected an update about the changes at the school over the last year and raised questions about the school’s progress. Over the last several months, board members have asked León to provide the public with answers.

“What does the diversity in this school look like? What is the climate like? What is student life like in this building right now?” Williams asked.

Also during that meeting, member A’Dorian Murray-Thomas said the district needs to be “firmer and clearer” on its plans for the sake of students. Board member Allison James-Frison said she continues to “look for justice for those kids.”

“I think more should be done and I hope there’s a day that this report will be released,” said James-Frison at last month’s meeting.

Without knowing what the report says, it’s unclear the extent of how the situation affected teachers, said John Abeigon, the Newark Teachers Union President, last month. In November, his union filed a lawsuit against the district for the release of that report.

The union’s lawsuit is the first court battle to unlock the findings of the Global Studies report and its recommendations. Previously, the district received public records requests for the report, including two filed by Chalkbeat Newark, but denied those requests.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark Public Schools seeks to improve science scores with renewed emphasis on state standards

2023-12-12T11:00:00+00:00

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Newark Public Schools says it has developed a plan to improve student achievement in science after spring state test scores showed students performed below the state average for a second year in a row.

Officials didn’t provide details of the plan, but the district’s director of science education, Kathleen Tierney, suggested it would involve reinforcing a key element of state standards that call for three-dimensional learning, an approach to teaching science that supports students’ understanding of science content and its application to the real world.

The plan comes three years after the state adopted new science learning standards, including a requirement for climate change education across multiple grades and subjects.

Results of this year’s New Jersey Learning Assessment show Newark students continue to need academic support in English language arts, math, and science to recover from the pandemic. The state science test is given to students in fifth, eighth, and 11th grades. This year, 11th graders had the highest proficiency rate, and eighth graders the lowest.

Most Newark students saw small gains on this year’s state science test but continued to perform below the state’s average. Overall, nearly 8% of students demonstrated proficiency on the tests, a roughly one-percentage-point increase from last year. Across the state, roughly 25% of students passed this year’s science test.

To improve student performance, students have to make science connections to the real world, said Janice McDonnell, a science, engineering, and technology agent for the Department of 4-H Youth Development at Rutgers University. That means teachers have to find a way to blend key ideas so students can apply them in their daily lives.

“We just came out of COVID. where everyone had to learn how to interpret graphs and charts and trends,” McDonnell said. “Now we’re focusing on climate change education and questioning things like if it’s better to have an electric car or natural gas car. All of those things tie back to your understanding of science and the impact of science.”

Plan focuses on ‘three dimensional learning’ and applied science

At a school board committee meeting last month, Tierney said the district’s plan focuses on emphasizing three-dimensional learning, a reference to New Jersey state science standards that are expressed as “three dimensions”: disciplinary core ideas, science and engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts.

That means showing students how scientists develop theories and models based on core ideas, how engineers investigate data and identify patterns, and how both use these skills to create explanations and solutions to real world problems.

The standards call for integrating the three dimensions into science instruction and creating assessments to gauge how well students understand and apply them. The standards were developed to provide flexibility in the way that students can show proficiency in the subject, according to the state. McDonnell describes the approach as a braided cord.

The state’s standardized tests require students to show that they understand core concepts and practices and can identify patterns in the real world to apply what they learned in the classroom. But Newark’s public schools have faced challenges in securing school science facilities and equipment that create opportunities for hands-on learning.

A 2010 report found that Newark’s “K-8 teachers are attempting to teach science without basic equipment such as faucets and sinks, lab tables, microscopes, and balances.” The report also said the district’s magnet high schools had better science facilities than its comprehensive high schools.

Since then, the district has worked with the city and the nonprofit Students 2 Science to create virtual science labs for more hands-on learning. It also uses the Inspire Science curriculum for elementary students, which uses a framework known to support in-depth, collaborative, evidence-based, and project-based learning opportunities.

For middle school students, the district uses IQWST, which stands for “investigating and questioning our world through science and technology,” a curriculum that aims to support the real-world applications of science.

At November’s committee meeting, Tierney also stressed the importance of three-dimensional teaching and said teachers would get resources to help with the lessons. But the district did not say what resources or support they would receive.

Even for students who are not interested in pursuing a career in science, it’s “more important than ever” to ensure they understand these ideas because of the “grand challenges that we’re facing,” McDonnell said.

“Always answering the ‘Why should I care about this?’ is really important, because they are kids,” McDonnell said.

In 2020, the state became the first in the country to adopt standards requiring K-12 public schools to teach about climate change across grade levels and in nearly all subjects. The requirement challenges students to think critically and broadly about the effects of climate.

McDonnell also says ideas such as how we use our land and how we fuel our cars are key in helping students apply real world challenges to their science education in schools.

Newark students need academic support in science, too

The state science assessments, given three grades apart, each cover several years of science education, not just what a student learned during the year they take the test.

Since remote learning caused by pandemic disruptions impeded students’ academic progress, school districts are paying more attention to state tests and using them as a measure to gauge recovery.

Trends in this year’s science scores are in line with results in English language arts and math that show students’ slow academic recovery after the pandemic.

According to state data, 13% of Newark Public Schools’ 11th graders met proficiency standards on the science test this year, a slight improvement from results in spring 2019, when 10.7% met the standards. For fifth graders, the proficiency rate was 7%, down from 10.3% in 2019. Among eighth graders, the proficiency rate was roughly 4%, even with 2019.

Students with disabilities and English language learners scored the lowest and continue to need the most support.

The Newark district also uses curriculum and benchmark assessments as well as grades as an indicator of students’ progress.

Tierney told board members last month that the district’s Office of Science developed benchmark assessments for grades 2-11 that include biology, chemistry, and physics.

The data gathered from those assessments will be used to inform teachers, schools, and, ultimately, the district’s science strategy, Tierney said.

Ultimately, McDonnell said, it’s important for students to think critically about the application of science in their lives and build their knowledge in science, technology, engineering, and math so they feel confident making decisions about their environment and future.

“You don’t have to be a scientist to vote and be engaged in these kinds of conversations about climate change and how we use our resources,” McDonnell said.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark school board did not swear in Thomas Luna as new member

2023-11-22T22:11:06+00:00

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The Newark Board of Education did not swear in a city charter school teacher as its newest board member Tuesday, nearly a month after the candidate won a unanimous vote to fill the vacancy.

The board did not provide a direct explanation for why it delayed the swearing in of Thomas Luna, who has been a teacher in Newark for 10 years, most recently at KIPP RISE Academy.

Board President Hasani Council attributed the delay in the swearing in to information the board received from a public records request since the last meeting and a review of School Ethics Commission opinions regarding conflicts of interest for board members.

He didn’t explain further and couldn’t be reached for comment after the meeting. Newark School District Spokesperson Nancy Deering didn’t respond to requests for comment, and Luna declined to comment on the matter.

Luna was set to be sworn in during November’s school board meeting and serve on the board until April when school board elections for the new year take place. It is unclear if he will be sworn in during December’s school board meeting.

The news comes as board members continue to work on hiring their separate attorney, focus on improving student achievement, and push for the release of a long-awaited review of the cultural climate at Newark School of Global Studies a year after students and teachers reported incidents of racial harassment at the school.

Luna’s selection was the latest reshuffling of board members after Council was sworn in as president last month following former board President Asia Norton’s abrupt resignation two weeks after the start of the school year.

After Norton’s departure, the Newark board had 65 days to fill her vacant seat, according to New Jersey law. They solicited nominations from the community and received 10 applications, including one from former board member Flohisha Johnson. The current board interviewed the candidates during a private executive session in October and then voted unanimously to move forward with Luna. The vote was public.

Luna is a science teacher at a Newark KIPP school. He said his first order of business would be to make sure he gets his “personal bearings” about the work the board is doing.

Luna ran for the school board twice before. Both times, he lost to the Moving Newark Schools Forward slate, which included Council and board members Josephine Garcia and Allison James-Frison in 2023. It included board members Daniel Gonzalez, A’Dorian Murray-Thomas and Crystal Williams in 2022. Historically, the slate has had strong backing from powerful state and local politicians including Mayor Ras Baraka and state Senator M. Teresa Ruiz, who oversees Essex County.

Chalkbeat Newark interviewed Luna for the 2023 school board voter guide where he said, “The most pressing issue facing Newark schools today is achievement.”

The board must also fill another vacant position after Murray-Thomas won the Nov. 7 general election for a seat on the Essex County Board of Commissioners. Murray-Thomas ran as a Democrat against Khalil Kettles, who ran as an Independent, to represent District 2, which includes Newark, Irvington, and Maplewood.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark Public Schools has plans to tackle difficulties in student reading, writing

2023-11-20T11:23:00+00:00

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Newark Public School officials have created a plan aimed at boosting student achievement after spring state test scores showed difficulties in writing and English language arts.

The director of the district’s English language arts department, Jazleen Othman, spelled out three problems with the district’s instruction at a recent Board committee meeting: ineffective reading instruction during the pandemic, simplifying the curriculum, and inadequate writing instruction.

Othman told the board that her department hopes to combat these problems through several tactics, such as introducing new approaches to teaching phonics, implementing explicit writing strategies, and supporting teachers’ knowledge of an evidence-based reading approach known as the science of reading.

The targeted plan comes just weeks after the results of this spring’s state test scores showed Newark students continue to need academic support to recover from the pandemic. For the second year in a row, most Newark students performed worse than pre-pandemic levels in reading. In grades 3 to 9, an average of 29% of Newark students passed the English language arts portion of the exam, compared to 36% in 2019 before the pandemic.

Some grades fared worse – only 19% of the district’s third-graders passed ELA, the lowest of any grade in Newark for a second year in a row. Seventh and eighth graders had the highest English language arts scores, each at about 37%, which increased this year by about 4 and 5 percentage points respectively.

Public school leaders are attributing reading issues in early grades to the switch to remote learning during the pandemic, which they say has hindered students’ reading progress and caused disfluent readers.

District officials also said they designed a new ELA curriculum for grades K-8 currently used in classrooms this year. Newark Public Schools has released limited details about the new curriculum to Chalkbeat Newark through a public records request.

District to focus on new reading and writing strategies

The district’s work to improve student’s skills began over the summer when roughly 10,000 public school students with low attendance, grades, and state test scores were required to attend summer school to target problem areas in math and reading, like sounding out words, handwriting, and reading comprehension, among others.

Students are struggling with alphabetic knowledge, the basic ability to recognize letters and their sounds, Deering said.

But Othman laid out even more specifics last month to the school board.

The district’s Office of English Language Arts is adopting a structured approach to teaching phonics by implementing SIPPS, also known as Systematic Instruction in Phonological Awareness, Phonics, and Sight Words. Through this research-based approach, students are guided through the reading development process, and new and struggling readers learn through explicit routines focused on word sounds and spelling, and high-frequency words, or words that appear most often in writing.

The district is also implementing Wilson Fundations, a curriculum rooted in the science of reading that builds the foundations for reading, spelling, and handwriting. That work is supplemented through the Geodes Classroom Libraries, a collection of books that help new and developing readers, and builds on skills from the Wilson Fundations curriculum.

Deering said this isn’t the first time the district has used elements of the science of reading. It has adopted components of the approach since 1998 that focus on students learning the basics of reading and writing by decoding words and sounding out letters.

During the presentation to board members, Othman said that as soon as children learn to decode words, they should be provided with grade-level reading and writing opportunities and discuss grade-level work to promote critical thinking.

After finding problems with their writing instruction, the district recruited The Writing Revolution, an organization that helps school districts implement its explicit writing strategy known as the Hochman Method. According to the organization, the approach is not a separate writing curriculum, but rather a set of strategies embedded in student learning.

Preparing teachers in the foundations of reading instruction

Othman and her office found that the district’s ELA curriculum is simplified, she told the board, resulting in limited learning on grade-level content and critical thinking. Teachers, vice principals, department chairs, and teacher coaches will need to learn how to unpack the new curriculums.

The district will train teachers and school leaders through professional development to support the new shifts in learning approaches, Deering said, and officials will adjust the approaches as they monitor students’ academic progress.

Since August 2022, over 1,800 Newark public school educators enrolled in The Writing Revolution’s online training to learn and work with the new method. The group has worked with district schools and leaders to visit classrooms and provide ongoing support, according to the organization. Over the summer, the strategy was embedded in the first two units of the English Language Arts curriculum.

The district said officials will monitor the effectiveness of the new curriculums and approaches mainly through students’ academic progress in reading, but also using state test scores and periodic assessments such as the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) MAP growth assessment.

Officials will adapt their approach based on student achievement and growth.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark Police still struggling to fill crossing guard vacancies

2023-09-15T10:30:00+00:00

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D’Renna Johnson stood at the intersection of Lyons Avenue and Aldine Street while cars, trucks, and motorcycles whizzed by on Monday afternoon — just as George Washington Carver, a K-8 school, dismissed its students for the day and hundreds of kids streamed out of the building.

All the while, the sky fluctuated between a drizzle and blazing heat. Johnson left her post only to put away her rain jacket or to put it back on. But her eyes remained fixed on the street no matter the weather.

“That was very dangerous!” yelled Johnson to a teenaged boy who ran across Lyons seconds before a bus passed fast enough to spray rain water several feet in the air.

“Sorry ma’am,” he said, as Johnson reminded the young girl trailing behind him to tie her shoe.

For the past year, Johnson has stood guard at various intersections around the city as kids commute between home and school. But she’s not a school crossing guard. She’s the director of the Newark Community Street Team, an outreach organization that tackles violence prevention, offers victim services, and runs Safe Passage, a program working to ensure students get to and from school safely.

For the last three years, Newark Community Street Team and other advocacy groups have been requesting that more crossing guards be stationed throughout Newark.

At the heart of the push is student safety.

According to New Jersey’s 2021 Highway Safety Plan, 22% of pedestrian-involved crashes from 2014-2018 happened between 3 p.m. and 5:59 p.m. — the height of school dismissal and student travel time. Almost 12% of those accidents involved children 15 and younger.

One of the New Jersey Department of Transportation school zone design guides also notes that the “proper placement of well-trained crossing guards is one of the most effective methods” in improving student safety.

But this school year, 87 crossing guard positions in Newark remain unfilled, according to the Newark Police Department. And, since 2021, the number of guards has fallen from 137 to 84.

In Newark, all school crossing guards must be hired by the police department, so Johnson is limited in the duties she’s legally allowed to perform.

“I’m not able to help them actually cross the street because I’m not a crossing guard, but at least I can make sure the little ones are safe,” said Johnson.

On Monday, Johnson estimated that 40 members of the Newark Community Street Team were stationed at high-risk posts throughout Newark. While they aren’t able to act as crossing guards, they can keep an eye on students as they commute.

D’Renna Johnson stands in front of George Washington Carver elementary and middle school.

Pointing down the street, Johnson rattled off the names of seven schools in the area: Weequahic. George Washington Carver. Chancellor Avenue. Chancellor Annex. Eagle Academy. NJ Regional Day School. Bruce Street School for the Deaf.

“But,” she noted, “there’s only one guard around here.”

In a statement to Chalkbeat, Newark Deputy Director of Police Operations Sharonda Morris said the Newark Police Division is actively recruiting school crossing guards and setting up informational tables at senior citizen buildings, precinct community meetings, and community service events.

Newark Community Street Team has continuously proposed solutions to the Newark Police Department and the state legislature since 2020.

Elizabeth Ruebman, managing director and co-founder of Newark Community Street Team, says a New Jersey statute that requires crossing guards be “of good moral character” and not have “been convicted of any criminal offense involving moral turpitude” acts as a barrier.

“Moral turpitude is extremely subjective,” said Ruebman. “We have had many people say to us, ‘I’ve applied and I’m not eligible.’”

Ruebman also noted that other states allow crossing guard hiring to be handled outside of city police departments. In Los Angeles, for example, these positions are managed by the city’s Department of Transportation.

Last year, progress was made when Newark Community Street Team partnered with State Sen. Teresa Ruiz to draft a bill that would make more people eligible to apply. However, Ruebman says she hasn’t heard from Ruiz since March 2022.

Ruiz’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

In January 2022, Ruiz joined Newark Community Street Team’s biweekly roundtable to hear the organization’s suggestions. But at this week’s meeting on Tuesday, which Newark police representatives attended, the same problem was rehashed again: There aren’t enough guards, and the hiring process is obstructing change.

“When I get my granddaughter at Rahway, there’s a crossing guard at every corner,” said Sharon Redding, an activist and Newark Community Street Team member. “Let the [Newark Police Department] director know, tell him, that our children are more important than money.”

And Toby Sanders, Newark Community Street Team’s director of education, said “I’m not begging y’all to start accepting the viability of the formerly incarcerated … I’m saying it’s a must that we do that, because that is where the hope is.”

The organization has worked closely with Parents Educating Parents, a group founded by Yolanda Johnson, a Newark parent, to improve communication between schools and families.

“If I want to see change, I need to step in myself,” said Yolanda Johnson. “Yesterday, I finished orientation to become a crossing guard.”

She was struck by the intensity of the application process.

“It feels like applying to become a police officer,” she said. “They ask if you have even a juvenile record, and you have to provide an explanation with documentation.”

The application asked questions such as: “Have you ever had a record expunged or been accepted into pretrial intervention or Conditional Discharge Program?” and “Have you ever been apprehended by any law enforcement officer as a juvenile?”

Yolanda Johnson was also surprised to find that the application required information about her husband, such as his address and the location and date of their marriage.

“I have a hard time with this issue because my grandma relied on crossing guards to get me to school when I was growing up. She could only walk as far as the porch,” she said. “I know how important crossing guards are.”

At the end of Tuesday’s roundtable, Ruebman concluded “We will always bring this up with great passion because we love the children. This will not go away.”

Newark Community Street Team’s next public safety roundtable will take place on Sept. 28 at 10 a.m.

Samantha Lauten is a fall reporting intern for Chalkbeat Newark covering public education in the city. Get in touch with Samantha at slauten@chalkbeat.org or reach the bureau newsroom at newark.tips@chalkbeat.org.

Newark Public Schools students head back to class

2023-09-05T18:13:37+00:00

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Deion Searles woke up around 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday to get dressed, eat a hearty breakfast, and wait for a van to come and take him to his first day of high school.

Deion, a new freshman at the Newark School of Data Science and Information Technology, receives special education services and rides the district-provided shuttle van to get to school every day. Last September, his mother, Veronica Searles, spent $80 on Lyft after her son’s transportation never arrived on the first two days of school.

This year, a large sign that read “Congrats Grad” hung by the table in the kitchen – a reminder that Deion “graduated” from middle school. The 14-year-old felt a mix of emotions as he savored his eggs, bacon, and toast.

“I’m nervous but that nervousness is going away,” said Deion in between bites, noting that he had gone to a summer orientation so “I kind of know how the school looks and like what to expect.”

At 7:35 a.m., his van arrived. Deion grabbed his red and black backpack, put on his glasses, and walked out the door.

“His van came! That’s already a great start to the year,” said Veronica as the shuttle drove away.

Deion joins more than 38,000 students returning to Newark Public Schools this morning — some sporting new backpacks like him, others showing off new uniforms. This year, district officials continue to deal with the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, three years after it first disrupted learning and took a toll on students academically and emotionally.

As Newark students return to class on Tuesday, officials are hoping summer initiatives such as high-dosage tutoring aimed at helping those who have fallen behind will improve student performance this school year. This summer, roughly 10,000 students were in need of mandatory summer school, double the number from last year.

School leaders will also have to confront some of the district’s most pressing concerns such as improving schools, raising attendance rates, refining reading and literacy skills, boosting low test scores, and grappling with the impacts of harassment and diversity issues affecting students and employees in city schools.

In addition to tutoring, Superintendent Roger León said lowering the district’s chronic absenteeism rate, which reached 35% last fall, is one of his top priorities this school year. He visited two schools with new principals Tuesday morning: Avon Avenue and Nelson Mandela elementary schools.

Newark public school students flooded the streets on the first day of school for the 2023-24 academic year.

As the temperature began to hit 90 degrees while León stood in front of Nelson Mandela Elementary greeting families, the heat was top of mind for the first day. There were no immediate plans for early dismissals or changes to schedules, he said, adding that families will be notified if that changes.

This is León’s fifth school year as superintendent, halfway through his contract, and the third year of his 10-year strategic plan to improve the district. León was hired in 2018 by the city’s Board of Education when the district regained local control after 23 years under the state’s purview.

This year, León said the district continues to fill vacancies and hire new educators, especially those able to work with the growing number of students with disabilities and English language learners. The district allocated funds for an additional 211 instructional positions this school year, according to a district committee report.

During a board meeting in late August, board member Josephine Garcia reported there were 118 instructional vacancies, 10 fewer vacancies than last year at that time. León said in June that the district’s vacancies “have been the lowest in years.”

Outside schools, crossing guards held stop signs as students rushed their way across busy streets. At the start of last school year, the city’s police department reported it was at 72% of its budgetary allocation for school crossing guard with an additional 27 in the hiring process.

Kashmir Harris, 3, is greeted by music teacher Whitney Smith on the first day of school at Nelson Mandela Elementary School in Newark, New Jersey, on Tuesday, September 5, 2023.

Last week, Newark Police Lt. Tremayne Phillips reported 82 vacancies in the department’s crossing guard force during its biweekly call with the Newark Community Street Team, a nonprofit that recruits volunteers to patrol school routes.

Ahead of this school year, the district announced the appointment of 10 new principals at elementary and high schools. Eight of the new principals are at elementary schools and two will work at high schools. Some are first-time principals, while others are veteran educators and established administrators in the district.

Ryan Silver is the new principal at Nelson Mandela Elementary, located at the former University Heights Charter School location. The school welcomed its first set of pre-K-3 grade students on Tuesday and will increase enrollment by one grade level each year until the eighth grade.

Outside of the building, first grader Noah stood at the front of the line sporting a red hat, red sneakers, and a red backpack to match. Like the other kids in line behind him, he also wore the school’s gray polo with its stitched-on elephant insignia. And, much to the delight of administrators who stopped to help parents neaten up uniforms, Noah’s shirt was already tucked in.

“It’s always exciting when your child actually wants to go to school,” said Dishon Ross, mom to Noah. “I think a fresh start is always good, too.”

Other parents also noted the school’s clean slate as a draw to enroll their young children.

“We were excited about the idea of a brand new administration,” said Dante Cotton, whose 3- and 4-year-old daughters started pre-K and kindergarten today.

And for some parents, the school’s name — honoring former South African president and anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela — itself led them to enroll their child.

“Nelson Mandela was great, so I think this will be great,” said Nally Kadio as her daughter Jayna, 3, held onto her leg.

Ryan Silver is the new principal at Nelson Mandela Elementary, located at the former University Heights Charter School location.

As students trickled through the doors, the sun rose over surrounding buildings, reminding families of the high temperatures to come — weather forecasts show a heat wave for the area this week. Luckily for these students, a brand-new school also means air-conditioned classrooms.

Just when the heat became noticeable, Silver, a Newark native and alumnus of the district, announced that it was time for families to say good-bye.

“Start giving those motivational hugs and kisses now!” he said.

As district and school leaders prepared to continue their work with students and their families this year, parents enjoyed the last moments with their students Tuesday morning.

Noah’s parents took a few last photos and called “I love you!” and “Be great!” before their son led the way through the doors — and into the new school year.

Catherine Carrera contributed reporting.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark parents have long complained about school lunches. This coalition is looking to change that.

2023-11-14T21:45:26+00:00

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School gardens, culturally diverse foods, and options that reflect not only dietary restrictions but also students’ preferences: These are just a few of the things the Coalition for Healthy Food in Newark Schools hopes to see in the near future.

Now, thanks to a $3.8 million grant from Novo Nordisk, a health care and pharmaceutical company, these changes might be possible.

According to a press release announcing the coalition’s launch, the program’s first year will likely include the planting of more school gardens, further funding for partnerships with local farmers, and in-school nutrition education, among many other initiatives.

The coalition will use the funding across three years with the first year serving as a baseline assessment to test the greatest needs.

Newark families have long complained about school meals, citing processed and unhealthy lunches. This is a step towards changing that.

The coalition, which officially launched on Oct. 26, is headed by the Greater Newark Conservancy, alongside partners Common Market, FoodCorps N,J., Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, R.W.J. Barnabas Health, United Way of Greater Newark, and the Urban Agriculture Cooperative.

The conservancy has worked to promote environmental, social, and racial justice in the Newark community since 1987, putting on family events centered around nutrition education, leading community garden initiatives, and between July and October, welcoming the Newark community to their expansive farm stand.

Over the course of its community work, the conservancy found that families were generally unhappy with the meals being served to children in Newark’s public schools.

In recent years, Newark’s school breakfast and lunch programs have been met with mixed reactions. While families have complained of processed, unhealthy meals, the N.J. Department of Agriculture has praised Newark’s meal services on several occasions.

In a September press release, the N.J. Department of Agriculture food and nutrition division director Rose Chamberlain said, “The Newark Public School District sets an excellent example of how a high-quality school lunch program can work.”

But in October 2021, just days before the N.J. Department of Agriculture gave similar praise to Newark’s food programs, parents complained of “horrible” lunch options for their children, most notably through an online petition.

The coalition is hopeful that some of the parents’ demands can now be met.

Between August and October of this year, the coalition surveyed a 100-person sample of community members, students, school staff, and food providers in order to assess the issues most pressing in Newark’s school cafeterias.

The survey showed that access to “from-scratch” food in students’ lunches was the most requested change. Survey respondents took issue with the frequency at which students are served heavily processed meals.

Other common complaints included a lack of meals reflecting students’ cultures, insufficient nutritional education, and inaccessibility of green space or gardens.

Natasha Dyer, executive director of the Greater Newark Conservancy, said that over the next three years, the coalition will spend about half of the Novo Nordisk funding fortifying existing programs and the other half on piloting new initiatives.

For now, Dyer said, the coalition’s work will take place in a select number of schools: Hawthorne Avenue, Avon Avenue, Mt. Vernon, Lincoln, McKinley Elementary, Thirteenth Avenue, Harriet Tubman, and Peshine Avenue.

“Luckily, our funding partner is allowing us the flexibility to adjust our plans as we go. Our goal in the first year is to assess our programming and figure out what works with the hope of leveraging policy in the district as a whole,” said Dyer.

Sarah O’Leary, the Greater Newark Conservancy’s director of youth and family education, said her personal hope is that the coalition’s work will get more students excited about health and nutrition.

O’Leary said that when children are given the opportunity to try healthy food they do not normally eat, they often discover they like it. She said that cafeteria “taste tests” of seasonal vegetables are particularly fun for students who may not have access to certain foods at home.

“For example, kids love spaghetti squash! Then they go home and tell their parents about it and that can lead to healthier meals even outside of school,” O’Leary said.

Community gardens have a similar effect, said O’Leary. Being surrounded by plants and green space, along with understanding the value of nutritious local produce, can be important for a student’s development.

“It’s exciting for kids to eat something they grew,” O’Leary said. “Getting to use tools and get their hands dirty to actually grow their own food is the best marketing for nutritious eating.”

Newark Teachers Union files lawsuit seeking release of Global Studies report

2023-11-03T16:04:37+00:00

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The Newark Teachers Union is asking a judge to order the release of a report on the racial and cultural dynamics at Newark’s School of Global Studies that Superintendent Roger León said would remain internal.

The union filed a lawsuit seeking the report after the district denied a public records request demanding the release of the scathing review of cultural, religious, and racial dynamics at Global Studies. The review was conducted after incidents of harassment against Black students and staff at the school surfaced a year ago.

The district denied the union’s request in October, citing a legal exemption that allows draft documents or advisory documents prepared to recommend or form part of a deliberative process to be withheld from the public.

The union filed the public records request on Sept. 29, a day after the regular board meeting that month. In both the public records request and the lawsuit, the union cites its “Common Law Right of Access,” or right to ask for the review, arguing that it has an interest in the release of the report and in knowing of any changes or recommendations to the district’s approach in handling student and staff issues related to “anti-blackness” or “cultural sensitivity,” ultimately affecting teachers in the district.

During the September meeting, community members, including the Newark Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, also demanded the release of the full report.

Earlier that week, the district had released three recommendations within the report, providing the first glimpse into the scathing review.

“We were surprised that the board was not more forthcoming about what was in the report and more importantly, what they were going to be doing to resolve the issues that came up in the report,” said John Abeigon, president of the Newark Teachers Union, after the lawsuit was filed in Superior Court of New Jersey on Thursday afternoon.

The union’s lawsuit is the first court battle against the district for the release of that report, conducted by consulting firm CREED Strategies led by Dr. Lauren Wells. The district has also received other public records requests for the release of the report, including two filed by Chalkbeat Newark.

The review of the school began in January when board members approved a data-sharing agreement with CREED strategies in an attempt to mend problems after students spoke publicly last November about their experiences of racial harassment on campus. The issues drew heavy criticism from the community about the way the school and district leaders handled the situation and led several students to transfer and some teachers to resign.

But during a June press conference, León said details about the review would not be made public but rather, would serve as “an internal document” to help inform a strategy to tackle racial issues in city schools. Details about that strategy have not been shared with the public.

During that press conference, León also said he would call on Global Studies principal Nelson Ruiz to help other principals deal with similar issues at their schools and provide guidance as needed.

In September, two days before the monthly regular board meeting, the district shared a glimpse of the unreleased report after it revealed three recommendations included in the review. The recommendations suggest Newark must assess the effects of “anti-Blackness” on the school system, foster conversations about racial issues, and commit to “culturally responsive-sustaining education transformation.”

In addition to the recommendations, principal evaluations were modified to include “equity indicators” and base performance on their school’s climate, among other existing criteria, according to a board committee report detailing the recommendations.

But Abeigon said without knowing what the report says, it’s unclear the extent of how the situation affected its teachers. Board members have also called on León to share the report with the public. In August, the district told them they could read the report by setting up a time with them to view it.

“But we try to be proactive, especially when the district is being less than forthcoming with information,” Abeigon added.

Students and teachers were at the center of the racial and religious harassment at Global Studies. In August, two former teachers of the high school filed a legal notice against the district and claims with the New Jersey Division of Civil Rights after suffering “severe emotional problems” because of the racial harassment they experienced at Global Studies, according to those teachers.

They also filed a complaint with the district’s affirmative action office alleging principal Ruiz, vice principal Hoda Abdelwahab, who started a new position at Millburn Township Public Schools in August, and department chair Shagun Kukeja created a hostile work environment at the high school based on race. Newark Public Schools completed its own investigation of those incidents in July.

That review led by Yolanda Mendez, the district’s affirmative action office, did not find “sufficient evidence” to support a finding of harassment, discrimination, hostile work environment, or retaliatory conduct in violation of district policy or state or federal laws.

“At this point, we don’t know what we will find, but we are curious why they are so reluctant to share this document with the public,” Abeigon said.

The incidents at the high school last fall also received attention from Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who met with students last December and hosted a town hall this spring to discuss unity among Black and brown communities.

Before the issues came to light last November, emails obtained by Chalkbeat Newark showed that parents emailed Ruiz, Abdelwahab, and other school leaders begging for an end to the ongoing harassment. At least one parent called for the removal of Ruiz, who remains the principal of the school.

Global Studies first opened its doors in 2020 welcoming ninth graders to a high school offering a global perspective where students could study different cultures and prepare to study abroad.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

N.J. doesn’t have long-term plans to fund school construction in Newark. Who will pay for it?

2023-10-20T10:00:00+00:00

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During the first week of school, temperatures soared into the 90s causing sweltering heat in some of Newark’s oldest buildings with no air conditioners and faulty water fountains.

Parents packed frozen water bottles for their children to cool off during the day while others wondered why some classrooms in New Jersey’s largest school system were unprepared to deal with high temperatures.

“No air conditioner in these schools is crazy,” wrote Jacquetta Thomas last month in a Facebook group after her grandson stained his polo shirt with blood due to a nosebleed caused by the heat. A handful of parents responded to Thomas’ post with their own concerns about hot classrooms and deteriorating conditions in city schools.

But this wasn’t the first time that Newark students dealt with uncomfortable conditions in city classrooms.

Newark’s public school buildings are among the oldest in the state, and Superintendent Roger León estimated last month that it would take more than $2 billion to fully repair and update them. The state is responsible for funding school construction projects in high-poverty districts like Newark, but a judge in a long-standing legal case said the state has not created a long-term financing plan to support the work.

In Newark’s school budget this year, 86.3% of the district’s funding comes from $1.2 billion in state aid, but that money can only fund school operations and education costs. Over the years, state officials have poured money into these projects on a “pay as you go” basis, leaving no room for long-term funding. And in comparison to wealthier school districts in the state, districts like Newark have a smaller property tax base, which limits their ability to bond for school construction projects to supplement the cost.

Now, the state, through the Schools Development Authority, is obligated to fully fund these projects in Newark and 30 other high-poverty districts, including East Orange, Elizabeth, and Paterson. That mandate was a result of a series of landmark decisions dating back to 1985 in the New Jersey Supreme Court case Abbott v. Burke. Those decisions ultimately helped establish the SDA. (The districts often are referred to as SDA districts.)

Formerly known as Abbott districts, the Schools Development Authority’s 31 high-poverty urban school districts are among the poorest in the United States.

In 2008, the state allocated $3.9 billion in funds to the SDA, of which $2.9 billion went to high-poverty districts. That was the largest, and most recent, cash infusion to SDA before Gov. Phil Murphy unlocked nearly $2 billion over the last two budget cycles resulting in 19 new construction projects, and hundreds of building repair projects for districts across New Jersey included in the SDA’s 2022 strategic plan.

But in March, a report submitted by the judge to the New Jersey Supreme Court said the state isn’t doing enough to prove that it will keep funding the SDA and school construction projects. Now, it’s up to Murphy’s administration and state legislature to find a way to fund them.

“There’s an enormous amount of need, and the state is just putting in a fraction of the money that [schools] need,” said Danielle Farrie, research director at Education Law Center.

State delivered nine new schools in Newark since 2006

Newark Public Schools is home to just over 39,000 students across its 63 schools. Its buildings have been crumbling for decades, and state officials have been slow to address the needs.

Dozens of those schools need new mortar and bricks, boilers, and roofs, among other needs. Over the years, parents and advocates have pressured the district to make classrooms more comfortable by installing central air conditioning systems and updating deteriorating buildings. In 2016, the district asked the state to fix more than 100 school buildings but only 11 projects were approved.

Since the state’s Schools Development Authority was established over two decades ago, more than $760 million has been spent on renovation projects in Newark, the most of any school district in New Jersey. But only nine new school projects have been finished, including Science Park High School, rebuilt in 2006, Speedway Avenue Elementary School, rebuilt in 2010, and Elliot Street Elementary School in 2016, which was the first new school built in the East Ward in 104 years.

In 2022, the SDA granted the district two new prekindergarten through eighth grade schools, along with 14 other projects across the state to address high-priority needs and overcrowding. One of those schools is the recently opened Nelson Mandela Elementary School, housed in the former University Heights Charter School building. The SDA purchased the building after the state shut down the school in 2022.

A second elementary school was promised for Newark, but district and SDA officials agreed to move forward with the construction of a new University High School building instead, said SDA spokesperson Edye Maier. The project, which is in the planning stage, is meant to alleviate overcrowding as school officials project the district’s enrollment will continue to grow as the city’s population increases.

The SDA is also working on eight other projects across all SDA districts, which consist of underground vault repairs and demolition, roof replacements, masonry repairs, and stucco repairs and replacement, according to an SDA report released during its October meeting. In Newark, Technology and University high schools, along with Cleveland and Salome Ureña elementary schools, are slated for those repairs, which are valued at roughly $7 million.

In 2022, the SDA also completed structural repairs at Shabazz High School and basement water infiltration at Roberto Clemente Elementary School. The price tag was more than $3.5 million.

The projects are part of Murphy’s cash infusion to the SDA after it authorized almost $1.85 billion for school construction and capital maintenance projects for SDA districts during the 2022 and 2023 state budget cycles. In 2021, $75 million was allocated to districts for capital maintenance and infrastructure projects. Newark received roughly $6.5 million as part of that allocation.

Yet, the funds cover a fraction of facilities improvements in SDA districts. Newark Public Schools is slated to receive more funds for school construction projects as part of the state’s 2024 budget after Murphy allocated another $75 million to the SDA. Those funds have not been disbursed yet, Maier said.

The district is also working on a new assessment of school building repairs and new schools to update its needs since 2016, León has said.

School construction funding up to the state, for now

Newark hasn’t raised its property taxes in the last three years, but school officials have warned that will be an exception rather than the norm moving forward. In recent school board meetings, León has hinted at asking taxpayers to foot the bill for school construction projects.

Through a weighted student formula created under the School Funding Reform Act, New Jersey determines how much aid to send to districts to support education and programming costs across its schools. Newark saw an increase in state aid this year, but it remains $27.7 million short of the budget recommended under the formula, said Valerie Wilson, the district’s school business administrator, during March’s budget hearing.

But state aid calculated under the formula is not meant to pay for school construction or renovation projects.

“You can’t reallocate funding away from staffing and day-to-day operations of a district to fund the facilities needs that are as severe as Newark has right now,” said Farrie from the Education Law Center.

In 2021, the Education Law Center went back to the courts to compel the state to meet its constitutional obligation to fund SDA projects. The court appointed retired Judge Thomas Miller as a special master to write an analysis of the construction projects in those districts.

In his 87-page report, Miller wrote that there is a significant remaining need in the SDA school districts but no long-term plan to fund construction projects.

“The state Supreme Court has clearly said that this is not something that school districts should be funding,” Farrie said. “Newark cannot budget its way out of this hole that SDA has created.”

Last month, in a virtual conversation with Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, León said he would need to meet with city and state officials “to really figure out how to grapple and attack” the needs before presenting a bond to city residents. But that solution might not be feasible in Newark.

Wealthier school districts, which have a strong property tax base, often can support a bond for school construction projects, but a city with a smaller property tax base, like Newark, might not have that option.

Newark Public Schools’ operations are supplemented by $138.3 million from local property taxes, or 10.3% of the district’s 2023-24 budget. That number has remained the same for the last three years because Newark taxpayers haven’t seen an increase in their property taxes.

So far, there has been no mention of a bond on the November ballot.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark Public Schools’ state test scores show slow gains as post pandemic recovery efforts continue

2023-10-03T15:36:46+00:00

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Newark Public Schools’ state test scores went up 2 percentage points in both math and English language arts this year, according to data released by the district.

On average, 15% of Newark students in grades 3 to 9 passed math assessments while about 29% passed English language arts tests, spring 2023 New Jersey Student Learning Assessment preliminary scores show. Additionally, English language arts scores did not increase this year for Newark third graders, a grade considered critical for long-term success in literacy.

This year’s new state scores, only the second since 2019, highlight Newark students’ slow recovery from the disruption of remote learning. Last year, district officials implemented tutoring and other academic recovery measures after 2022 state scores showed dismal drops that Superintendent Roger León called “horrible” at the time — passing rates of 13% in math and 27% in English language arts.

The state’s Department of Education has not yet released statewide scores.

“We’re coming out of a unique and historic window caused by the pandemic. And students have been seen to have lost a lot of ground in regard to their achievement,” said Rochanda Jackson, executive director of the Office of Policy, Planning, Evaluation, and Testing, who presented the scores at a school board meeting last week.

Many of the trends in Newark — such as a large decline in math scores — are on par with national trends. Test scores in 2022 and this year show results were still behind pre-pandemic levels. In 2019, about 26% of Newark students passed the math test and roughly 36% passed English language arts.

And as schools across the country continue to reel from the effects of the pandemic, marginalized students, such as those from low-income families and different ethnic and racial groups, are among the hardest hit and remain the furthest from recovery.

“I want everyone to understand that the impacts of the pandemic are very real,” said León during last week’s presentation.

Third-grade reading levels remain stagnant

While about 29% of Newark Public School students passed their English language arts tests, only 19% of third graders passed the assessment this year, the lowest of any grade in the city for a second year in a row.

Experts say reading is part of a developmental process that starts at a young age and impacts a child’s likelihood of graduating high school, pursuing college, and ultimately a career. Reading proficiency levels among Black third graders in public schools started to decline in 2019, even before the pandemic, according to a report by The Racial Equity Initiative.

Last year’s initial drop prompted local groups like JerseyCAN, a statewide organization advocating for high-quality public school education, to urge state leaders to develop a plan to improve literacy in public schools. In July, Mayor Ras Baraka launched a 10-point Youth Literacy Action Plan that called on the city’s community partners and programs to get young children reading and writing amid low state test scores.

This year’s scores are “unacceptable,” said Paula White, executive director of JerseyCAN.

“The warnings that began shortly after the pandemic have now escalated to real-time results, with Newark children being deeply affected,” White said.

Among all grade levels, seventh and eighth graders had the highest English language arts scores, each at about 37%, and the greatest increases, surpassing the district’s passing rate. Seventh grade scores increased this year by about 4 percentage points and eight grade scores by roughly 5 percentage points.

In grades 3, 4, and 6 the passing rates remained the same at about 19%, 22%, and 26% respectively.

“Any effort short of overhauling the district’s literacy infrastructure will not work. Newark is in crisis, and we owe it to our children to review every area of the learning process, from teacher training to actually developing a new curriculum,” White added.

Among the district’s 41 elementary schools, 26 increased their proficiency rates in English language arts in comparison to last year’s results. Ten high schools also increased their passing rates in the same subject from last year with five schools increasing their scores by at least 5 percentage points or more.

Of more than 39,000 students across 41 elementary schools, 3,538 students across 41 schools increased their English language arts proficiency levels since 2022, according to Jackson.

Newark Public Schools’ state test scores increased by 2 percentage points, according to spring 2023 results.

Math scores are “the biggest lift” ahead

Newark public school officials have “the biggest lift” in helping students refine their math skills, said León during last week’s presentation.

The overall math passing rate increased from 13% to 15% with grades 3, 4, 7, and 9 surpassing the district average this year by 1 to 8 percentage points.

“The increase in math performance, overall nominal, is there,” Jackson added.

This year, third and fourth graders increased their scores by 4 and 5 percentage points respectively, and sixth and seventh grades each by around 2 percentage points.

Among the district’s 41 elementary schools, 27 increased their math passing rates. Of those, six increased their proficiency levels by at least 5 percentage points. Eight high schools also increased their passing rates this year and of those, three did by at least 5 percentage points.

Jackson said it is important to track student recovery and proficiency increases from one level to another as the district continues to work to address learning loss.

Of more than 39,000 students, 3,146 moved up in math levels since 2022.

District works to address student learning loss

In an effort to improve student achievement, the district has created new curriculums, placed an emphasis on student attendance, and pushed for tutoring at least three times a week.

“It’s extremely important that students are taking advantage of tutoring opportunities,” León added during Thursday’s school board meeting when the results were presented.

Last year, León emphasized the district’s Excel after-school program for grades K-8 as a way to address student trouble areas in reading, writing, math, and other subjects. This year the district also mandated roughly 10,000 public school students attend summer school in an effort to refine critical skills amid low state test scores.

After Jackson’s presentation, board member Crystal Williams was the only member to ask a question about the district’s strategy to improve student performance. León said the district’s program and instruction committee would discuss plans and goals for the year for English language arts when the committee meets in October.

Also in response to William’s question, board member A’Dorian Murray-Thomas said the district aims to reach a “30%” passing rate in the math test by next year, double the number of this year’s 15% math passing rate.

Williams called this year’s results “alarming” on Thursday.

“I would be upset if my child didn’t rank proficient. I just want to know what the plan is,” Williams added.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark schools must assess effects of ‘anti-Blackness,’ identify cultural gaps, Global Studies report recommends

2023-09-28T19:10:05+00:00

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Newark Public Schools must assess the effects of “anti-Blackness” on the school system and foster conversations about racial issues, an unreleased report examining harassment at the city’s School of Global Studies recommends.

The report also calls on the district to build school staff capacity to identify cultural gaps and create an environment that is racially conscious and inclusive.

The recommendations provide a glimpse into a scathing review of the cultural, religious, and racial dynamics at Global Studies after incidents of harassment against Black students and staff surfaced nearly a year ago. The news also comes as the high school’s vice principal Hoda Abdelwahab, who was among those called out for handling the issues poorly, left the district.

It’s unclear if the recommendations will be implemented in all public schools.

This is the first time Newark revealed details about the report, which were shared in a board meeting this week. In June, Superintendent Roger León said the review would not be released publicly but rather would serve as “an internal document” to help inform a strategy to tackle racial issues in city schools.

In a call with Chalkbeat Newark on Wednesday, vice president Dawn Haynes, one of the board members who has read the report, said: “It was traumatizing to read.”

“Those students and staff that were affected by the environment at the School of Global Studies show a deeper concern with America as a whole with racism and separation that should never be tolerated in any school,” said Haynes, whose daughter was among those who transferred out of the school due to the ongoing religious and racist harassment she experienced.

Last November, Global Studies students spoke publicly about their experiences of racial harassment during their time at the high school. The issues drew heavy criticism from the community about the way the school and district leaders handled the situation and led several students to transfer and some teachers to resign.

The investigation, conducted by consulting firm CREED Strategies, began in January after board members approved a data-sharing agreement with the firm.

Three recommendations were mentioned during Tuesday’s school board meeting but during the discussion, Haynes said there “were more than three recommendations that we agreed to have as well as implement in each school.”

According to the recommendations shared by the district, Newark schools must work to do the following:

“Assess how anti-Blackness and other deficit beliefs” impact existing school systems and practices and “replace them with those that create a culture that is intentionally racially conscious and inclusive.”
Create and nurture a school culture where “issues of race, culture, and other emotionally charged topics can be discussed openly” and “are integrated into the instruction and learning of the school.”
“Commit to culturally responsive-sustaining education transformation” that develops the capacity of all school staff “to identify cultural gaps in their practices and builds the knowledge and skills they need to integrate students’ race, ethnicity, and culture.”

Newark Public Schools spokesperson Nancy Deering did not respond to a request for comment on the recommendations or the district’s plan to implement them.

Emails obtained by Chalkbeat Newark in March show parents emailed the school’s principal Nelson Ruiz, vice principal Abdelwahab, who started a new position at Millburn Township Public Schools in August according to her LinkedIn profile, and other school leaders begging for an end to the ongoing harassment. At least one parent called for the removal of Ruiz, who remains the principal of the school.

Also in June, León said he would call on Ruiz to help other principals deal with similar issues at their schools and provide guidance as needed.

Dr. Lauren Wells led the report of the high school and interviewed students, staff, and parents at the center of the incidents. Wells is Baraka’s former chief education officer whose firm also helped create NPS Clarity 2020, the district’s one-year plan laying the foundation for change in schools after returning to local control.

During the August school board meeting, board members said they had not reviewed the unreleased CREED Strategies report. Board members were told they could read the report by setting up a time with the district.

Last month, two former teachers filed legal claims with the state after suffering “severe emotional problems” due to the incidents they experienced at the school, they said. The claims are the first legal actions against the district since the issues surfaced and could lead to a lawsuit.

In July, Newark Schools completed its own investigation of the incidents after the former teachers filed complaints with the district’s affirmative action office alleging the school’s principal Ruiz, Abdelwahab, and department chair Shagun Kukeja created a hostile work environment at the high school based on race.

Global Studies first opened its doors in 2020 welcoming ninth graders to a high school offering a global perspective where students could study different cultures and prepare to study abroad.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark schools receive $8.9 million federal grant to implement mental health programs

2023-09-14T16:36:12+00:00

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New Jersey’s largest school district was awarded an $8.9 million federal grant to boost mental health support as the district continues to address the mental and emotional effects of the pandemic on students.

Newark Public Schools is one of two districts in New Jersey to receive the Project AWARE grant funding, awarded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Through the grant, Newark will receive $1,799,924 a year for the next five years to implement programs, practices, and policies that are “recovery-oriented, trauma-informed, and equity-based.”

School districts previously awarded the grant used the funds to hire mental health coordinators, counselors, and social workers. Others used the money to provide professional development training or expand existing school-based social-emotional programs.

Newark plans to create new policies and programs to support student wellness and create healthy learning environments.

“Included in the goals of AWARE is to increase and improve access to culturally relevant, developmentally appropriate, and trauma-informed school and community-based activities and services,” wrote Dani Bennett, spokesperson for SAMHSA.

Mental health problems among young people were on the rise before COVID, but spiked during the pandemic. Teens also reported feeling disconnected as the pandemic disrupted student learning and limited access to their friends, school-based social services, and after-school activities such as sports and clubs.

As a result, the need for mental health and behavioral support intensified after the pandemic. But a study released last year found that Black and Latinx students in New Jersey have less access to school mental health staff today than they did a decade ago. In 2008, public schools across New Jersey had 8.2 mental health staff per 1,000 students on average, which increased to 8.6 staff per 1,000 students in 2020, according to the New Jersey Policy Perspective.

In Newark, where more than 90% of public school students identify as Black or Hispanic, youth and families experience inequities in accessing mental health and behavioral resources, an issue the school district aims to tackle through Project AWARE - Newark. This is the first time the district has received this funding.

Newark plans to boost mental health support

As part of the initiative, Newark will work to meet 18 goals so all students in the district get better access to mental health support and services tailored to their needs, according to the district’s strategy. Newark will work with the New Jersey Department of Education, the state’s mental health agency, and the city’s community mental health agencies to establish a tiered system of mental health support over the next five years.

Among its goals, Newark will develop “a culturally aligned, affirming socio-emotional universal curriculum” for all students, according to the district’s strategy. The district will also develop positive messaging to motivate students and safe spaces in schools such as after-school clubs “that promote affinity spaces for historically marginalized youth.”

The district must also create a suicide awareness training policy, implement prevention programs for suicide and substance use, train staff on mental health awareness, and develop a school safety and violence prevention program, among other goals to promote healthy learning environments for students and staff.

Bennett, the spokesperson for SAMHSA, said Newark must also develop a “Disparity Impact Statement,” a report that identifies racial, ethnic, sexual, and gender minority populations at the highest risk for experiencing behavioral health disparities. The district must also track and collect data about its new programs and report to SAMHSA on a quarterly basis.

Since the return to in-person learning, Newark schools have worked to create more mental support for students. In the district’s 2022-23 school year budget, Newark allocated funds to boost social workers and counselors for the district’s 39,000 students. The budget covered salaries for 45 new social worker positions, for a total of 164 social workers, and one new counselor position, for a total of 89 counselors.

In 2022, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy also announced extra support for mental health services through a regional model, known as the New Jersey Statewide Student Support Service Network. The model aims to provide mental health services to more students across the state, according to Murphy’s administration last year.

Between 2018 and 2022, 205,874 students across the country have been referred for mental health or related services under Project AWARE. Additionally, 796 policy changes across the country have occurred at the state and local levels to improve mental health-related programs and services as a result of the grant.

The Jersey City Board of Education was also awarded this grant in New Jersey.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark students struggle in hot schools amid heat wave

2023-09-08T10:00:00+00:00

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The night before the second day of classes in Newark, Quera McGilvery placed water bottles in the freezer so her two children could enjoy ice cold water throughout the school day.

But by the time her freshman son, Tyquir, was done with first period on Wednesday, he noticed that the frozen water in his bottle had completely melted. His school doesn’t have central air conditioning or water fountains dispensing cold water and relies on fans or window units to ward off the heat.

With temperatures soaring into the 90s this week, his water was only getting warmer.

Newark Public Schools students returned to classes this week amid a heat wave bringing thick humidity and scorching temperatures to the city of more than 300,000 people. The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for Newark and the surrounding areas earlier this week while school districts in other parts of the state dismissed students early from school.

This week, Newark residents saw temperatures as high as 97 degrees on Thursday.

Parents such as McGilvery were hoping Newark would issue early dismissals, especially for students who are enduring the heat with no air conditioning and few operable water fountains in the district’s older buildings. Newark Public Schools students followed a normal schedule this week.

“Can you imagine having to travel up and down a stairwell with people everywhere around you in hot weather?” said McGilvery whose son goes to American History High School. “How could you really sit there and think straight in this heat?”

Studies have shown Newark is one of the hottest cities in the nation. The average school building in the district was built more than 90 years ago, and many suffer from inoperable water fountains, outdated boilers, no central air conditioning systems, and dilapidated restrooms.

Rundown buildings can lower students’ enthusiasm for school and, in some cases, make their learning environments uncomfortable. Last year, Newark worked on opening new schools such as Nelson Mandela Elementary School and building new ones such as the School of Architecture and Interior Design.

The district has plans to build more schools and undertake repairs at more than 60 existing schools, but little is known about the work to install central heating, ventilation, and air conditioner systems in older schools such as Lincoln, Lafayette, and Avon elementary schools, among others. The district also approved a nearly $5 million contract to purchase and install touchless water fountains across all district schools but the installation work is ongoing.

Newark Public Schools did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Jacquetta Thomas is the mother of a senior student at Eagle Academy High School, located on the fourth floor of Weequahic High School. Thomas, an alum of Newark Public Schools, says she dealt with no air conditioners and faulty water fountains as a student and also faced the problem with her other son, a now-22-year-old alum of American History.

“We need our kids to go to school to get funding but kids will be uncomfortable sitting in their hot classrooms,” Thomas said.

On the first day of school, Thomas packed frozen water bottles for her son since the water fountains at Eagle and Weequahic don’t work properly, she said. On the same day, her grandson, who goes to Chancellor Avenue, stained his polo shirt with blood after a nosebleed due to the heat.

Thomas said she spoke with Newark’s school business administrator Valerie Wilson and offered to donate window air conditioner units for classes but was told the district was working on other solutions. She doesn’t understand why the problem continues.

“Wilson said she’s been handling the budget for 27 years and for 27 years she couldn’t find money in the budget for an AC?” said Thomas about Wilson, who’s been the district’s business administrator since 1996.

Teachers are also dealing with the effects of the heat wave.

One teacher at Peshine Elementary School, who asked to remain anonymous due to fear of losing employment, said the window unit in her eighth grade classroom broke and “it’s been really hot in the hallways.”

On the first day of school, she also got dizzy in her classroom and her students kept asking if they could get an air conditioner. The water fountains at her school do not work properly and cold water isn’t easily accessible, the teacher said.

“Everyone was coming to me asking me if I had water or ice. I felt so bad I ran out,” the teacher said.

Last year, Superintendent Roger León promised that touchless water fountains would be installed districtwide by the start of last school year but the water fountains are found in only a few schools including NJ Regional Day, Newark School of Global Studies, and John F. Kennedy School. McGilvery said she has seen touchless water fountains at other schools but none at American History or University High School where her daughter goes. As of late August, the district reported fountains still needed to be installed in 16 schools.

Since Monday, the Newark Teachers Union has asked the district to let students out early this week and encouraged parents to keep their children home or pick them up early if they felt the need to do so, said union president John Abeigon.

Union officials also encouraged teachers to use their PTO time if they felt unwell, he added. Having no air conditioners in some schools is a recurring problem that happens every year, Abeigon said.

“I’m not blaming the current administration but the neglect of having no AC in schools has been going on for decades,” he added.

Weather forecasts predict lower temperatures for Newark next week but as children continue to deal with hot learning environments, parents such as McGilvery and Thomas will keep freezing water bottles and advocating for their kids.

The district “has billions of dollars and they’re building this building and that building,” McGilvery said. “Worry about the schools you have right now and take care of them.”

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark Board doubles pay for consulting services from Attallah Shabazz, Malcolm X’s oldest daughter

2023-08-30T14:00:21+00:00

The Newark Board of Education approved an extra $200,000 pay for a consulting firm operated by Attallah Shabazz, the oldest daughter of slain civil rights leader Malcolm X, which is working with two city high schools, including one named after her late father.

The firm Legacy Inc., “Everybody Has One,” founded by Shabazz, will receive a total of $400,000 for consultancy work at the Newark School of Global Studies and Malcolm X Shabazz High School — double the original $200,000 approved in March. The initial contract was approved in October 2021 for a two-year period ending in October 2023 but was extended to August 2025 after being renewed in March.

The scope of work was also amended to include “study abroad and international research projects,” said Valerie Wilson, school board business administrator, during last week’s school board business meeting.

Shabazz’s work will support students with “study abroad and international research projects” and “getting our students the ability to have internships,” Wilson said during Tuesday’s meeting after board member Crystal Williams questioned the resolution to increase the pay.

The amended contract with Shabazz, who describes herself as a global ambassador and cites expertise in global issues, comes amid concerns about racial and cultural tensions among students at both high schools but the specifics of her work remain unclear.

This school year, racial tensions at Global Studies prompted some students to transfer out of the high school and several teachers to resign in the wake of reported incidents of racial harassment. A separate consulting firm conducted a review of the school’s cultural climate, but it has not been released publicly.

In 2022, Shabazz High School grappled with violence, disorder, and low academic achievement. At that time, the district said reported incidents at the school were investigated and addressed and steps to improve learning and safety at the school were taken.

Shabazz did not say if she was aware of the issues at the high schools during a call with Chalkbeat Newark on Friday. She said she has plans to support students in their study abroad programs this year but did not go into detail about her work.

Shabazz did not provide details about her previous work with the high schools but said she looks forward to presenting her work “when we are in a position to present” and when “young people can speak about it.”

“I will inform you when it’s time to do that,” said Shabazz after being asked about her work with students this year. “I need to make sure all key people are part of it, and that includes the students.”

District spokeswoman Nancy Deering, in an email after this story was originally published, said that Shabazz “is a leading expert in every topic she discusses.” Deering added that Shabazz’s “efforts in service of the district, are in keeping with her own ‘parents’ legacy building.”

According to the amended contract, Shabazz and her company will provide “unspecifiable global education enhancement consultancy” with the goal of engaging in “strategic partnerships needed but are not limited to local, regional national, and international partners” that will “increase extended classroom experiences.”

The services will include a review and evaluation of courses, as well as helping students find “suitable study abroad programs that align with their academic interests and personal goals,” the contract read.

Shabazz will also provide students with guidance on understanding and adapting to different cultures, customs, and communication styles, support students in their research on global issues, facilitate collaboration with international experts, encourage students to embrace diversity, and conduct workshops, according to the contract.

The contract points to the district’s need to hire a consultant with “an extensive global network” to provide services and connections for the Global Studies and Shabazz High School students.

“The overall goal for the consultant is to assist principals and [the] district with developing strategic partnerships that will enhance the content major studies in Arabic language and International Relations, and Chinese language, STEAM fields, and International Business,” the original contract reads.

In February 2020, Newark Superintendent Roger León and Shabazz met to “strategize major new initiatives at Malcolm X Shabazz High School and the Newark School of Global Studies,” prior to Global Studies’ opening in September of that year, according to a press release on the district’s website. It is unclear what initiatives Shabazz worked on at both high schools.

According to Shabazz’s biography and cover letter, the former Prime Minister of Belize recognized her as a “key advisor on International Cultural Affairs and Project Development.” In 2002, he appointed her as “the Ambassador-at-Large representing the country of Belize internationally and in perpetuity.”

She is the oldest of six daughters born to Dr. Betty Shabazz and Malcolm X Shabazz.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark failed to investigate sexual harassment complaints, U.S. Department of Education finds

2023-08-29T15:00:02+00:00

Newark Public Schools repeatedly failed to investigate dozens of complaints of sexual harassment and did not take appropriate action to address substantiated complaints over a six-year span, a federal compliance review found.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights found nine violations of Title IX, a federal law protecting students from discrimination on the basis of sex in schools and colleges, according to a letter sent from the department to Newark Superintendent Roger León on Monday.

The district last week approved a resolution agreement to ensure compliance with Title IX regulations and its response to complaints and reports of sexual harassment and assault in schools.

“OCR determined that the district discriminated against students based on sex by failing to respond to incidents of sexual harassment and assault and that it failed to coordinate its responses through its designated Title IX coordinator, among other Title IX violations,” the federal department said in a press release on Monday.

The review included an analysis of 80 sexual harassment complaints across district elementary and high schools, including Barringer and Weequahic High Schools and Dr. E. Alma Flagg Elementary School, which reported a high number of incidents. The complaints include allegations that employees sexually assaulted, kissed, and touched students, as well as incidents involving sexual assault between students.

OCR also interviewed 27 current and former staff and reviewed the district’s sexual harassment procedures in handling sexual harassment complaints. The new findings are the latest in a series of harassment and diversity issues impacting students and employees in city schools.

In June 2022, a lawsuit filed by a former employee claimed she was harassed and intimidated by district upper management and a lawsuit filed in August 2022 alleged that Science Park High School principal Darleen Gearhart discriminated against an employee, made racist comments, and created a hostile and retaliatory work environment at Sussex Avenue School. Most recently, students at the Newark School of Global Studies reported experiencing racial and religious harassment at the high school last year.

Newark Public Schools did not respond to a request for comment about the review on Monday.

U.S. Department of Education reviews Title IX compliance

As part of the federal office’s review, OCR reviewed 80 complaints and “closely reviewed” schools with a high number of complaints, according to the department’s letter to the district. During the investigation, the office found an additional employee-to-student complaint for the 2016-17 school year and five more during the 2021-22 school year that the district had not investigated.

The review included nine of the district’s 18 high schools and 23 of the district’s 41 elementary schools that received sexual harassment complaints. As part of the review, the department selected Barringer, East Side, West Side, and Weequahic High Schools for “close review” and found that Barringer and East Side High Schools received the most complaints, or roughly 26% each, according to the letter. Weequahic High School received three complaints, two involving students with disabilities, the letter further read.

In addition to selecting schools with a high number of complaints for close review, the office also reviewed incidents of sexual harassment of students by employees at Central High School, Chancellor Elementary School, Horton Elementary School, and Peshine Avenue School.

Specifically, OCR found that the district failed to investigate and “respond appropriately” to reported incidents of sexual harassment of students by employees during school years 2016-17 through 2019-20 and 2021-22, the letter said. It also failed to investigate multiple incidents of alleged sexual harassment among students during the 2018-19 and 2019-20 school years. Instead, the district deferred the investigation of employee-to-student harassment to the state’s Department of Children and Families Institutional Abuse Investigation Unit to determine what measures should be implemented, the letter said.

“The district repeatedly failed to respond to incidents of student-to-student sexual harassment and to address the effects of such harassment on targeted students, did not take sufficient steps to prevent recurrence of harassment, and failed to provide adequate notice of the investigation outcomes to targeted students and their parents,” according to the letter to León.

OCR also reviewed two more high schools that restricted student admission by application: Science Park High School, which reported one incident of student-to-student sexual harassment, and Eagle Academy for Young Men, which reported no incidents, the letter said.

Among elementary schools, the office decided to “closely review” Flagg Elementary “because it received 19% of the complaints at elementary schools alleging student-to-student sexual harassment,” the letter further read.

Among the procedural violations, the federal office found that Newark’s Title IX coordinator did not, and currently does not, oversee the district’s response to sexual harassment complaints among students. The district’s Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying coordinator, Rashon Dwight, currently oversees student sexual harassment complaints. Parents and employees were also unaware of the coordinator’s role, the letter to León read.

Newark also failed to implement and comply with a grievance procedure that complied with new amendments to Title IX regulations. OCR also found concerns with the district’s recordkeeping system to track incidents of sexual harassment across schools.

Under the agreement with the department approved on Thursday, Newark agreed to resolve the violations.

The resolution agreement says Newark Public Schools will:

Ensure the Title IX coordinator oversees all of the district’s efforts to comply with the federal sex discrimination law and district investigations of sexual harassment involving its students and employees.
Develop a program to assess the effectiveness of the district’s Title IX anti-discrimination efforts.
Revise federal anti-discrimination policies and procedures to comply with Title IX regulations.
Train staff and students on how to identify sex discrimination and the reporting procedures.
Maintain records of sexual harassment reports.
Review incidents of employee-to-student and student-to-student sexual harassment from school years 2017-2018 through 2021-2022 to determine if further action is needed to provide a resolution for each.
Provide a notice of nondiscrimination that complies with federal sex discrimination laws.
Conduct an annual school climate survey for district employees and students to evaluate the climate at each district school as it relates to sexual harassment and identify the next steps for OCR to review and approve.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark school board attorney search delayed after attempt to ramp up hiring fails

2023-08-23T20:46:27+00:00

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Newark school board members will not hire an attorney before the start of the academic year despite plans to ramp up the hiring process over the summer.

Instead, the Newark Board of Education will hear from an education law expert next month to better understand the function of an attorney for the nine-member school board, according to discussions during the first school board business meeting of the year on Tuesday.

During the meeting, board president Asia Norton said she wants to ensure the board doesn’t do anything that would “jeopardize the district, whether it be intentionally or unintentionally.” She asked the district’s general counsel, Brenda Liss, for guidance in the search during a board committee discussion meeting prior to Tuesday’s meeting.

“I still think that we are digesting what [a board attorney] actually means,” said Norton on Tuesday. “And so to bring in a third party that has familiarity in this area will assist us in framing what our expectations of this individual will provide us.”

Tuesday’s discussion comes nearly eight months after the board passed a resolution to hire a separate attorney for the board after news of Superintendent Roger León’s contract renewal in January sparked criticism from community members and raised questions about the board’s legal authority. It also comes after board members raised concerns over a “drawn-out” hiring process in June the need to secure an attorney before the start of the school year, and the ongoing battle to release a long-awaited review of the cultural climate at Newark School of Global Studies in the wake of reported incidents of racial harassment at the school.

In May, the board solicited proposals from interested law firms and in June, received 12 proposals. During a school board meeting in June, board members discussed creating an ad-hoc committee to evaluate candidates, review proposals, and conduct interviews before a decision was made in August. Since then, the board has not started its process of interviewing candidates.

In response to Norton’s request, Liss suggested the board hear from David Rubin of The Busch Law Firm, a New Jersey attorney who’s practiced education law in the state since 1977, during the board’s Sept. 30 retreat meeting. The retreat had previously been scheduled for Aug. 19.

“He has done a number of presentations to board members and school attorneys,” said Liss, who also described Rubin as the “preeminent education attorney in the state of New Jersey, on all matters relating to public school districts.”

Rubin represents a number of school districts as well as schools and is an expert on school board governance, Liss added.

Norton also proposed the idea of selecting a firm that is already pre-authorized by the district to serve as the board’s legal counsel. The firms could serve as the board’s attorney since there is no conflict of interest according to the rules of attorney ethics, Liss said.

“Those who are already representing the school district are not in an adverse relationship to the board of education and that’s part of what Mr. Rubin, I believe, we’ll be discussing,” Liss added.

Board attorney is an ‘urgent matter,’ members say

Board member Crystal Williams did not agree that a district-authorized law firm could serve as the board’s attorney. During the meeting, Williams said hiring a lawyer for the board is “an urgent matter.” She added that a law firm approved by the district “cannot represent the nine-member board without that conflict there” or be able to provide “great legal advice without repercussions from the district.”

“Our attorney is for us to go to, for me to call and say hey, this is what just happened. I don’t know. It seems a little gray and I need advice,” Williams said.

Board member Murray-Thomas said there could be a possibility of a potential conflict of interest within the board of education. A board attorney “that is paid by the district may at some point, have different interests than the board members elected to serve that district,” Murray-Thomas said.

She also pointed to the early years of Newark Public Schools before schools were racially integrated, and the state’s 25-year takeover of the district as reasons to protect the nine-member board for the future.

“We have a history and a legacy of injustice and in order for that to be undone, there has to be processes and procedures in place to prevent that from ever happening again,” Murray-Thomas said.

Vice president Dawn Haynes said she had “no problem listening to counsel Rubin” but did not understand why the board is considering listening to a presentation after June’s discussions about potentially interviewing candidates.

She also mentioned her ongoing requests to make public the CREED strategies report, a review of the racial, cultural, and religious dynamics at Newark’s School of Global Studies, and the need for a board attorney to help understand why the report has not been released.

In June, León said the report was meant to help the district design a strategy to tackle racial issues in city schools and was meant to serve as “an internal document for us to consider.” Board members have not received the report but were told they could read the report by setting up a time with the district to do so.

“We’re still waiting for information that can ultimately either help our district and bring it out of the dark ages of racism and white supremacy and discrimination within our district or we can be stagnated in this same space,” Haynes added.

She would have rather had a discussion about the candidates who submitted proposals, Haynes said during the meeting. In response, Norton said she is treading lightly on the board attorney process because “the board is still learning about the process as we are creating the process.”

Board members agreed to hear from Rubin but voted to do so before September’s retreat meeting. The board will select dates and issue notice of a special meeting in September, Norton said.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Former Newark teachers suffered ‘emotional problems’ due to harassment, racial hostility, according to legal claims

2023-08-18T10:00:00+00:00

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Two former Newark teachers claim they suffered “severe emotional problems” leading them to seek “psychological counseling” after experiencing racial harassment at a city high school, according to legal claims filed in June.

Before resigning from their roles earlier this year, Tammy Davis and Nubia Lumumba, Black women and former English teachers at the Newark School of Global Studies, said they “suffered harassment and racial hostility by students and supervisors” last school year. The former Newark teachers also filed claims with the New Jersey Division of Civil Rights, which are currently being reviewed by the state.

As a result of the “unlawful and unreasonable treatment” at Global Studies, both educators felt their “worth as a teacher and human being has been diminished,” according to a tort claim, a legal notice prior to a lawsuit that describes acts from a person or employer that harm another person.

Davis and Lumumba’s lawyer, David Balk of The Balk Law Firm, filed the claims on their behalf and named Global Studies principal Nelson Ruiz, vice principal Hoda Abdelwahab, department chair Shagun Kukeja, affirmative action officer Dr. Yolanda Mendez, and Newark Superintendent Roger León as recipients of the claim. The claim also says Davis and Lumumba complained about the harassment to Kukeja, Ruiz, and Abdelwahab during the school year.

The filings could lead to a lawsuit, Balk said. Under the New Jersey Tort Claims Act, Davis and Lumumba can file a lawsuit six months after filing their claim.

“The claim was filed because both Ms. Lumumba and Ms. Davis were afforded no recognition of their legitimate complaints by the school administration or the board of education,” wrote Balk in an email to Chalkbeat Newark.

The Newark Board of Education received the claims in June but two members of the board’s legal committee, where district leaders discussed the allegations, recused themselves from the conversation, according to the committee’s June report.

The district does not comment on legal matters, Nancy Deering, Newark Public Schools’ acting communications director, said in an email to Chalkbeat Newark. Balk said he has not received a response from the district regarding the claims.

“All along my clients’ concern was for the education system to make sure that students and teachers were treated with respect and consideration regardless of their ethnic background,” Balk added.

The claims are the first legal actions against the district after students, teachers, and parents appeared at a school board meeting last November and described a pattern of racist harassment at Global Studies.

The students said they endured months of microaggressions and racial slurs from their peers and felt administrators did not issue stronger consequences with at least one parent calling for the removal of Ruiz, who has stayed in his role. Several students, including the Black Student Union president and the daughter of school board president Dawn Haynes, requested transfers mid-year.

Davis, the school’s former Black Student Union advisor, and Lumumba joined the students during the November meeting and spoke publicly about their experiences after their resignations in February and March respectively.

The allegations also come after a review of the racial, cultural, and religious dynamics at Global Studies was completed this spring. The review, conducted by consulting firm CREED Strategies led by Dr. Lauren Wells, began in January and is the first mention of the district’s long-awaited plan to mend problems at the high school after the incidents surfaced last fall.

But during a June press conference, León said details about the review will not be made public. During the June school board meeting, board members also said they have not reviewed the draft report from CREED Strategies.

Balk, Davis, and Lumumba requested a copy of the review from Wells but so far have not received a response, according to emails shared with Chalkbeat Newark.

In July, Newark Public Schools completed its own investigation of the incidents after Davis and Lumumba filed complaints with the district’s affirmative action office alleging Ruiz, Abdelwahab, and Kukreja created a hostile work environment at the high school based on race.

According to a July 5 letter from Mendez, the district’s affirmative action officer, to Davis and Lumumba, the district did not find “sufficient evidence to support a finding of harassment, discrimination, hostile work environment, or retaliatory conduct in violation of district, state, or federal laws.”

Davis has said she resigned from her role in February after her therapist advised her to leave to protect her mental health. Lumumba resigned in March after six months of working at the school.

Global Studies first opened its doors in 2020, welcoming 114 ninth graders to the high school where they study diplomacy, learn Arabic, and take courses in economics while gaining fluency in Chinese culture and language.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

El personal docente de Newark no siempre coincide con la diversidad de la población estudiantil

2023-08-16T10:30:00+00:00

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Cuando los padres de Melissa De Almeida emigraron a Newark en la década de 1990 desde Brasil, navegar el sistema de las escuelas públicas para sus dos hijas fue una de sus batallas más difíciles.

La hermana mayor de De Almeida luchó por aprender inglés en un sistema donde pocos maestros hablaban su portugués nativo. Cuando Melissa se inscribió unos años más tarde, se encontró con maestros que podían comunicarse con su familia, pero era desigual.

Sin embargo, había una luz de esperanza: la maestra de segundo grado de De Almeida en Oliver Street School. De Almeida recuerda con cariño que su maestra hacía malvaviscos y limonada fresca para su clase, pero la gran diferencia era que podía hablar con los padres de De Almeida en portugués.

Ahora, la estudiante de segundo año de 19 años de la Universidad Estatal de Montclair quiere ser maestra bilingüe y ayudar a familias como la suya en Newark, su ciudad natal, donde aproximadamente el 9% de los estudiantes hablan su idioma nativo.

“Necesito ser el cambio que necesitaba mi hermana”, dijo De Almeida, quien se graduó de East Side High School el año pasado.

En Newark y otras ciudades de Nueva Jersey, el personal docente y el liderazgo escolar no siempre reflejan la diversidad de la población estudiantil. Los datos demográficos muestran que los estudiantes afroamericanos y latinos representan alrededor del 90% de la población estudiantil total de Newark, mientras que los maestros de esos orígenes representan poco más de la mitad del personal docente.

Aproximadamente el 20% de las escuelas de Newark tienen una mayoría de maestros blancos. Otras ciudades de Nueva Jersey tienen proporciones aún más bajas de maestros de diversos orígenes raciales y étnicos.

Una mirada cercana revela que los estudiantes latinos, que aumentan en número anualmente en el distrito, están claramente subrepresentados en el personal docente del distrito, según un análisis de Chalkbeat de los datos demográficos escolares proporcionados por el estado de 2021-22.

Los maestros blancos constituyen la mayoría del personal docente en una de cada cinco escuelas del distrito, y los maestros negros son la mayoría del personal docente en poco más de una de cada cuatro escuelas. Pero ninguna escuela en el distrito tiene un personal docente mayoritariamente hispano o latino, a pesar de que aproximadamente la mitad de todas las escuelas del distrito tienen una mayoría de estudiantes latinos.

Una de las escuelas secundarias del distrito tiene una población estudiantil latina de más del 61%, pero no tiene maestros hispanos ni latinos. Otras tres escuelas tampoco tienen maestros que se identifiquen como hispanos o latinos.

De manera similar, la población de niños latinos del estado se ha expandido, aproximadamente un 25%, desde 2010, pero un análisis de NJ Advance Media encontró que aproximadamente el 30% de todas las escuelas no tienen ningún maestro hispano. Además, los distritos han visto una creciente población de estudiantes identificados como aprendices del idioma inglés al mismo tiempo que enfrentan una escasez de maestros bilingües.

Muchos expertos dicen que los fallos de los tribunales relacionados con la desagregación, que una y otra vez no lograron integrar por completo a los cuerpos estudiantiles y al personal, han contribuido a la cantidad desproporcionada de maestros blancos.

Sin embargo, numerosos estudios muestran que un personal docente diverso, especialmente uno que represente a la comunidad escolar, puede fomentar lazos más fuertes entre maestros y estudiantes, relaciones más sólidas entre maestros y familias, y lecciones que responden mejor a la cultura: los beneficios que De Almeida experimentó de primera mano con su maestra de segundo grado.

Los datos demográficos de las Escuelas Públicas de Newark también muestran un rayo de esperanza cuando se trata de acercarse a una fuerza laboral docente que refleje su cuerpo estudiantil: un puñado de escuelas primarias con mayoría de estudiantes latinos tienen una cantidad notable de maestros latinos, que oscila entre el 33% y 44%. Y es más probable que los estudiantes negros tengan una representación proporcional en la administración y el personal docente, según muestran los datos.

Tener maestros con los que los estudiantes de entornos subrepresentados puedan identificarse racial y culturalmente es solo un componente de la calidad de los maestros y la escuela, pero puede ayudar a mejorar la asistencia, los puntajes de las pruebas y la probabilidad de tomar un curso avanzado, según la investigación.

“Si no abordamos de manera más agresiva la falta de coincidencia demostrada entre los estudiantes y el personal escolar que los atiende, es posible que no veamos una aceleración del rendimiento académico de todos nuestros estudiantes”, afirma Leslie Fenwick, decana emérita de la Universidad de Howard, cuya experiencia es sobre la diversidad docente y la equidad educativa. “Debemos hacer un mejor trabajo de reclutamiento, retención y promoción de maestros y directores de color”.

‘Estamos viviendo con las consecuencias de la historia’

Como ilustra la historia de De Almeida con su hermana, muchos estudiantes no tienen maestros que compartan sus antecedentes, y se espera que la brecha entre los estudiantes y maestros hispanos o latinos se amplíe, a nivel estatal y nacional, según sugieren los estudios.

A nivel nacional, los maestros blancos constituyen el 80 % de la fuerza docente, y en Nueva Jersey es el 83%. Mientras tanto, la fuerza docente del estado, que también refleja las tendencias nacionales, es 8% hispana y 6.5% negra, mientras que la población estudiantil es 32% y 15%, respectivamente

Una demanda ante el Tribunal Superior de Nueva Jersey en Trenton argumenta que el estado, con uno de los sistemas escolares públicos más diversos pero segregados del país, es responsable de abordar el hecho de que más de la mitad de los estudiantes negros e hispanos o latinos asisten a escuelas que son predominantemente no blancos. La demanda, encabezada por The Latino Action Network y NAACP-NJ, argumenta que el estado está violando su propia constitución y la decisión de la Corte Suprema de Brown contra la Junta de Educación de Topeka de hace casi 70 años.

Ese fallo histórico de la Corte Suprema, y varios fallos de eliminación de la segregación que siguieron, declararon que la educación segregada era una violación de la Decimocuarta Enmienda. Pero también condujo a una proporción desigual de maestros blancos a maestros de color como personas, incluidos aquellos en el poder que defendían creencias segregacionistas, se resistieron a los esfuerzos de desegregación, según muestran los análisis de documentos históricos.

“Estamos viviendo con las consecuencias de la historia que ocurrió, no como resultado de Brown [v. Board of Education], sino de la enorme resistencia blanca a ella”, dijo Fenwick, autor del libro “Jim Crow’s Pink Slip: The Untold Story of Black Principal and Teacher Leadership”.

El racismo y las creencias segregacionistas llevaron a despidos, despidos y degradaciones ilegales generalizados de maestros negros, más de 100,000, entre las décadas de 1950 y 1970, dijo Fenwick en una entrevista telefónica reciente con Chalkbeat y descrita en su libro.

Los esfuerzos de eliminación de la segregación también deben invertir en la diversidad de docentes, dice Fenwick. Sin eso, los estudiantes de color seguirán perdiendo las oportunidades masivas que puede ofrecer un personal docente que los refleje, incluso a nivel socioemocional, así como académico y conductual, lo cual ha sido documentado por décadas de investigación.

“A menos que abordemos este problema de diversidad en el liderazgo escolar y las fuerzas docentes, me temo que no lograremos el tipo de progreso que necesitamos en el país”, dijo Fenwick.

Newark trabaja para crear una cartera de maestros diversa

Aunque los maestros afroamericanos constituyen la mayoría del personal docente en algunas escuelas del distrito de Newark, la proporción de maestros afroamericanos ha disminuido alrededor de 10 puntos porcentuales desde fines de la década de 1990, cuando el distrito estaba bajo control estatal, según un análisis de 2021 de New Jersey Policy Perspective.

El distrito realiza esfuerzos de reclutamiento para atraer maestros de diversos orígenes, incluido uno que crea una fuente de “maestros locales” al incentivar a los estudiantes actuales a especializarse en educación y obtener un puesto docente garantizado en el distrito después de graduarse de la universidad.

Durante una conferencia de prensa en junio, el superintendente Roger León estuvo de acuerdo en que diversificar su personal “es bueno porque genera diferentes puntos de vista” y señaló las estrategias de contratación del distrito, que incluyen una iniciativa de canalización de maestro a director que se enfoca en maestros afroamericanos y latinos.

El distrito se asoció con la Facultad de Educación y Aprendizaje Comprometido de la Universidad Estatal de Montclair para crear la Academia de Maestros Red Hawks Rising, un programa de inscripción doble en las escuelas secundarias East Side y University donde los estudiantes obtienen créditos universitarios sin costo mientras se preparan para una carrera en la enseñanza. El programa recluta estudiantes para la profesión a una edad temprana, brinda tutoría y garantiza una oferta de admisión al programa de formación docente de la universidad después de la graduación de la escuela secundaria.

Una parte esencial del programa es que anima a los estudiantes a volver a enseñar en el distrito de su ciudad natal después de graduarse de la universidad.

León ha prometido a los participantes que un contrato de maestro con el distrito los estará esperando después de que completen el programa de la universidad.

De Almeida, una graduada del programa en East Side, dice que ser parte de él la ayudó a imaginarse un futuro ayudando a los estudiantes que hablan diferentes idiomas nativos. Pero lo que la ayudó a ver que podía tener éxito, dijo, fue el ejemplo establecido por las codirectoras del programa Mayida Zaal y Danielle Epps, mujeres de color que se graduaron de distritos escolares urbanos.

“Creo que es un poco refrescante tener a alguien hablando contigo que entiende y que ha pasado por lo que has pasado y ha recorrido ese camino contigo”, dijo De Almeida.

‘Retener a los maestros es el problema’

En una entrevista telefónica reciente, el presidente del Sindicato de Maestros de Newark, John Abeigon, dijo que apoya los esfuerzos de reclutamiento del distrito, pero que “retener a los maestros es el problema” que León debe abordar, particularmente cuando se trata de maestros de color.

“Tenemos blancos, negros, hispanos, marrones, el arcoíris”, dijo Abeigon sobre la diversidad de maestros en su sindicato. “Todos los que vienen a este distrito, la mayoría de ellos se van dentro de un par de semanas o meses de trabajar en este distrito. Eso es endémico del distrito y la forma en que trata a su personal”.

Las investigaciones ha encontrado que es más probable que los maestros de color enseñen en “escuelas con necesidades altas, difíciles de dotar de personal, con entornos de trabajo desafiantes y tasas de deserción más altas para todos los maestros”, indicó un informe de FutureEd sobre la diversidad de maestros.

Sin embargo, a medida que los maestros de diversos orígenes navegan por distritos con bajos recursos y condiciones de trabajo desfavorables, a menudo se sienten subestimados y pasados por alto, según los comentarios de los grupos focales en un informe de 2019 que examinó la retención de maestros de color.

Nubia Lumumba, una educadora negra y musulmana y ex maestra de inglés en una escuela secundaria de Newark, renunció a su cargo después de solo seis meses de trabajar en el distrito. Lumumba dijo que experimentó y fue testigo del acoso racial mientras enseñaba, pero la falta de sensibilidad de los administradores de la escuela para manejar las preocupaciones sobre el acoso racial provocó tensiones que finalmente la llevaron a renunciar.

Hubo una falta de “empatía genuina por lo que había pasado”, dijo Lumumba, y agregó que los estudiantes fueron testigos de lo que ella experimentó. “Si, como adulto maduro, me dolió profundamente haber experimentado acoso racial y religioso y no obtener ningún apoyo significativo de los líderes escolares y del distrito, entonces, me imagino, debe ser aún más perjudicial para los estudiantes negros”.

Lumumba, quien enseñó durante ocho años antes de su último cargo, dijo que las escuelas deben contar con estrategias y programas que brinden “una verdadera comprensión y celebración de la diversidad” y apoyen a los estudiantes de diferentes orígenes raciales y étnicos. Esto podría conducir a una mejor retención, dijo.

Los maestros de color en el estudio de caso de 2019 estarían de acuerdo. Entre las soluciones descritas en el informe: los líderes del distrito deben asegurarse de que “las escuelas sean lugares que afirmen culturalmente a los maestros de color”, empoderar a los maestros con caminos hacia el liderazgo y ofrecer compensación por el trabajo adicional.

Un grupo de trabajo de Nueva Jersey sobre la escasez de personal escolar, elaborado por orden ejecutiva del gobernador Phil Murphy el año pasado, publicó un informe a principios de este año que muestra signos de que el estado está prestando atención a la retención de maestros.

Proveer apoyo a las escuelas en “implementar políticas y prácticas que creen un ambiente de trabajo libre de prejuicios, incluidas las microagresiones”, así como aumentar el salario de los maestros y expandir la “tutoría y el desarrollo profesional para educadores de carreras tempranas” fueron algunas de las recomendaciones enumeradas en el informe.

Los estudiantes necesitan apoyo a través de la educación superior

Para los codirectores de Red Hawks Rising, Zaal y Epps, sus esfuerzos con el distrito para diversificar la fuerza docente comienzan apoyando a los estudiantes de Newark y convirtiéndose en su “comunidad de compromiso” mientras navegan por la escuela secundaria, la universidad y carreras a largo plazo, dijo Epps.

No podemos centrarnos simplemente en el reclutamiento de jóvenes que representan a las comunidades negras y latinas, y luego no ser intencionales sobre cómo vamos a apoyarlos para que lleguen a la meta”, dijo Zaal. “Tiene que haber apoyo en el camino para que no tengamos una especie de tubería con fugas hacia las escuelas”.

Según el Centro Nacional de Estadísticas de Educación, la tasa general de inscripción universitaria entre los jóvenes de 18 a 24 años disminuyó del 41 % en 2010 al 38 % en 2021. La tasa general de inscripción universitaria ese año fue aún más baja entre los estudiantes negros de 37 años. % y estudiantes hispanos en 33%.

Mientras están en el programa de inscripción dual, los estudiantes se enfrentan a diferentes conceptos erróneos sobre la educación superior, como la idea de que para seguir una carrera tienen que dejar su ciudad natal o que la universidad está financieramente fuera de su alcance, o la creencia de que “la universidad no es algo para ellos”, dijo Epps.

Muchos estudiantes del programa son bilingües o biculturales y tienen experiencia en el manejo de desafíos educativos que, a su vez, podrían ayudar a sus futuros estudiantes.

“Se criaron en familias resilientes donde pudieron encontrar su camino a la universidad como estudiantes de primera generación”, dijo Zaal. “Entonces, tienen una cantidad significativa de capital social para ofrecer”.

De Almeida, quien se graduará en 2026, retribuye a su comunidad trabajando con los padres en su iglesia local y ayudándolos a comprender la tarea de sus hijos o brindándoles apoyo de traducción. Ella se relaciona con esas familias, dice, y les habla sobre ayudar financieramente a su propia familia mientras hace malabarismos con el trabajo escolar y persigue su sueño de enseñar.

La aspirante a maestra bilingüe está ansiosa por ingresar al aula y espera dejar una marca duradera en los estudiantes con antecedentes similares a los suyos.

“Por lo general, soy a quien todos acuden con este tipo de cosas. Me encanta poder ser esa ayuda”, dijo De Almeida sobre trabajar con padres de diferentes orígenes. “Y creo que una vez que sea maestra y regrese a trabajar en Newark, haciendo este trabajo oficialmente, seré 10 veces mejor”.

Esta traducción fue proporcionada por Reporte Hispano, en asociación con el Centro de Medios Cooperativos de la Universidad Estatal de Montclair, y cuenta con el apoyo financiero del Consorcio de Información Cívica de NJ. La historia fue escrita originalmente en inglés por Chalkbeat Newark/NJ Spotlight News y se vuelve a publicar en virtud de un acuerdo especial para compartir contenido a través del Servicio de noticias de traducción al español de NJ News Commons.

This translation was provided by Reporte Hispano, in association with the Montclair State University Center for Cooperative Media and is financially supported by the NJ Civic Information Consortium. The story was originally written in English for Chalkbeat Newark and is republished under a special content-sharing agreement through the NJ News Commons Spanish Translation News Service.

Newark pushes pre-K participation following enrollment increase last year

2023-08-10T10:00:00+00:00

The first day of school is four weeks away, but Newark’s youngest citizens were eager to get to a South Ward school Tuesday to jump in a bounce house and get free ice cream.

The carnival atmosphere at the second annual “Road Trip to Pre-K” at Belmont Runyon Elementary is part of Newark Public Schools’ ongoing effort to increase preschool enrollment and connect parents with city resources. Preschool is not mandatory in New Jersey, but Newark children are eligible to participate for free in the district’s program.

Early childhood education programs are important because “they create a foundation for children’s future success” and build skills in reading and math, said Yolonda Severe, executive director of the district’s office of early childhood education.

The district’s early childhood work begins with its “conception to cradle program,” known as the Conception to Grade 3 Consortium, to ensure Newark children are meeting development milestones and childhood needs, according to the district’s 10-year-strategic plan.

Newark Public Schools children and families attend the second annual “Road Trip to Pre-K” event.

In Newark schools, preschool programs are offered to three- and four-year-old children, known as pre-K3 and pre-K4, and include classrooms with no more than 15 students, a curriculum, and certified staff, Severe added. Families can choose among three free six-hour preschool options available through the district: Head Start, a federally-funded program for low-income families; other options within city schools, and programs run by community providers and privately managed at various locations throughout Newark.

The district also offers free after-school child care at its 14 elementary schools that offer the Head Start preschool program.

This school year, roughly 6,900 students are enrolled in preschool across 40 elementary schools within the district – an increase from last year’s 6,600 students, Severe said. She added that there are “enough places in the city for all of our students.” Severe credits the enrollment increase to her team’s efforts in sharing information about the program with parents in the community, recruiting families, and the district’s marketing strategies.

The district team’s work starts by contracting with hospitals, clinics, and social service agencies to calculate the number of babies born in a specific year, according to the district’s Conception to Grade 3 Consortium. The district uses that information to gauge how many students should be enrolled in pre-K3 or pre-K4 programs for any given school year and ensure parents are aware of their preschool programs, Severe said. But before a baby is enrolled in school, district social workers work with parents to connect them with city resources such as diapers, clothes, or other support they may need.

“You’ll be surprised at the amount of parents that don’t know what resources are here within the city,” Severe said.

The district’s program is being refined, Severe said, with the goal of “building capacity within our city.” Existing pre-K locations are being expanded to offer more seats for students and “keep families in Newark,” Severe added.

Additionally, social workers visit and vet different infant and toddler programs offered throughout the city that are then recommended to parents looking for different options. Parents also can choose to enroll their child in a school or program closest to their home or work, providing a flexible option for families tailored to their needs.

Leti Carbajal attended Tuesday’s event along with her three-year-old daughter, who’s currently enrolled at Luiz Muñoz Marín for the school year. Before Tuesday, Carbajal didn’t know about the different school locations available across the city but was happy to learn more about her options and community resources.

“I really enjoyed being able to talk to the teachers and staff representatives here,” said Carbajal in Spanish.

Preschool teachers prepare students for kindergarten; this year, the district is launching its literacy initiative as part of the city’s larger plan to get Newark students reading and writing. During Tuesday’s event, the district gave away free books in different languages.

“We’re working to ensure that those kids that are transitioning from pre-K4, actually understand the curriculum going into a full-day program,” Severe said.

New Jersey started offering free pre-K in 1998 under a Supreme Court ruling specific to the Schools Development Authority districts, formerly known as Abbott districts, considered the poorest in the state.

Expanding pre-K opportunities has been a priority for Gov. Phil Murphy since taking office in 2018. Since then, the program has expanded to over 160 school districts, opening seats for more than 12,000 additional children in the state, according to Murphy’s administration. Last year, the governor allocated $120 million in grants for preschool expansion at 16 school districts.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark’s state test scores dropped last spring. What’s helping students get back on track?

2023-08-03T11:30:08+00:00

In Newark’s North Ward, students in Ms. Murphy’s second grade class at Park Elementary School sat quietly on a colorful rug at the front of the classroom in mid-July, listening to their teacher read a book.

The summer school class was practicing reading comprehension skills by answering questions about the story and summarizing the main ideas.

“Look at the sun, the rain,” said Kathleen Murphy as she showed students the drawings in the book. “Where is our setting?”

Two students quickly raised their hands.

“Outside by a tree!” one student.

“What kind of tree?” Murphy asked the class.

“Oak!” several students shout out, eager to answer.

Murphy’s class is part of Newark Public Schools’ five-week summer school program, one of many efforts across city schools to help students get back on grade level after spring 2022 state test scores showed dismal drops in English language arts and math.

As Newark students get ready to return to class in five weeks, officials are hoping that such initiatives aimed at helping those who have fallen behind will pay off.

Some of those interventions began last spring with high-dosage tutoring during the day at KIPP New Jersey schools. Others – such as Murphy’s class – took place during summer school programs.

About 10,000 public school students were required to attend summer school this year – double the number from last year – with more scattered throughout city charter schools.

In Newark Public Schools, students are required to attend summer school based on attendance, grades, and state test scores. Those who did not attend within the first three days were at risk of losing their seats and high schoolers enrolled in the summer accelerated program needed to attend every day to keep their spots, according to the district.

“The effort to close the achievement gap and accelerate learning is a collective effort,” said Newark Public Schools Assistant Superintendent José Fuentes. “And hopefully we’ll see robust gains from this summer.”

New Jersey students took the state’s standardized test last spring – the first time since 2019 – providing a glimpse into students’ slow recovery after COVID-19 disruptions. The scores pointed to the severity of the pandemic’s toll on student learning and the efforts Newark leaders must take to recover from it.

In spring 2022, only 49% of New Jersey students passed the state’s English language arts test, 27% of Newark public school students, and 47% of the city’s charter school students reached proficiency levels in the same subject.

Newark’s younger students suffered the biggest declines from pre-pandemic levels, with only 19% of Newark Public School third graders and 40% of the city’s charter school third graders reaching proficiency levels on the state’s English language arts test. Third grade is widely viewed as a critical age for reading and a measure of a student’s future academic success. The scores also showed that Newark’s struggles with achieving math proficiency have only grown since the pandemic.

In July, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka declared an “urgent” literacy crisis throughout the city and launched a 10-point Youth Literacy Action plan that calls on local schools, parents, community partners, and programs to get young children reading and writing.

Rising second grade students work on math problems in Kelly Stern’s class on Thursday, July 20, 2023, at Achieve Community Charter School in Newark, New Jersey.

The sobering test scores are part of the crisis that led city educators to develop strategies to refine students’ skills in reading, writing, and math this summer. In the classroom, teachers are working with students who need help practicing handwriting and strengthening reading comprehension skills, while others implement group work that challenges students to discuss different ways to solve math problems.

For public school leaders, home to roughly 38,000 students, federal COVID relief dollars have been the district’s “saving grace” in expanding summer programs to 14 schools this year, said Superintendent Roger León during a press conference in June.

Part of the district’s strategy is ensuring those dollars “last a long time” so they continue to offer tutoring and other recovery support during the school year, León added.

‘Learning happens when students are having fun’

Park Elementary’s summer school principal, Ladylaura Bueno, is responsible for making sure her 127 students required to attend summer classes are there.

The program “moves very quickly,” Bueno said, and missing one week of summer school “is like missing one marking period.”

The goal is for the summer school experience to mirror that of the academic year, Fuentes added. On day one, students are tested in either reading or math and then tested again at the end “to see the efficacy of the program,” Bueno said. Instruction is tailored to each student’s need, making participation a key component of the program.

School leaders like Bueno, normally a vice principal at Salomé Ureña Elementary school, say summer school planning takes months, and ensuring that parents understand the importance of it is part of the work to help students succeed.

“We’re working to engage parents and make sure they understand that their kids aren’t done just because it’s summer,” Fuentes said. “If you miss school, we make calls.”

Developed by Newark Board of Education curriculum experts, the district’s Summer Plus program combines academic and enrichment activities into a full-day summer program for students who will be entering grades one through eight. In the morning, students work on improving math and literacy skills, and in the afternoon, students are free to join extracurricular activities led by partnering organizations in Newark.

“The teacher is the facilitator here and that places the onus on students to solve the problem and find different ways to reach a solution,” Fuentes said.

In one fifth grade class at Park, for example, 12 students who need extra support in math focus on collaborative work and finding ways to solve problems on their own. Then they discuss different solutions with their peers. Students are also pulled from class at different times of the day and placed in smaller groups with teachers who provide more targeted support in reading and math.

During the regular academic year, León said they plan to implement a similar structure and provide tutoring for students throughout the school day – a requirement under Baraka’s 10-Point Action Plan.

Ultimately, “learning happens when students are having fun and are engaging in hands-on activity,” Fuentes said.

Newark charter looks for ways to refine student learning

Overall, Newark’s trends showed that students performed lower in math state tests than in English language arts. That’s one reason Achieve Community Charter School is focusing on improving student performance in math as part of its summer program.

Achieve students entering grades one through seven are tested during the first week of school to assess their needs, said Tina Leake, Achieve’s summer school site director. Based on that data, students are placed in tutoring groups that target specific skills in math and literacy.

Rising fifth grade students work in small groups with an “All Star” tutor in Vanessa Simon’s class on Thursday, July 20, 2023, at Achieve Community Charter School in Newark, New Jersey.

Summer tutoring can include group instruction or one-on-one learning during the school day, in addition to instruction in the classroom in the morning, said summer school principal Patrice Norwood. School leaders and teachers then evaluate their tutoring strategy on a daily basis as students move through the program.

“They’re not going to stay in the same group for the whole program, or the whole week or even daily,” Norwood added. “It might change based on what we’re seeing.”

Keeping Achieve’s 184 summer school students engaged is also part of the work to support student learning, Norwood said.

Through a partnership with After School All Stars, a nonprofit organization working with low-income youth, students are spread throughout 10 classrooms with one instructor and an “All Star” tutor who helps out during the small group hour built into the day. In their classrooms, students rotate among three different groups: instruction with a teacher, iReady lessons in math or reading on their Chromebooks, and group work specific to students’ needs.

Students may also need extra support in skills not usually worked on during the school day such as handwriting or adding and subtracting. Small groups and tutoring are a way to build those skills, Norwood said.

School leaders also keep a close eye on students’ emotional and mental health and work with community partners to support children and their families. Recently, for example, one of Achieve’s students was dealing with the loss of a family member and school leaders offered to provide therapy and support services for the family.

“We’re here to help both students and their families,” Norwood said.

Their approach to supporting students and evaluating and reassessing their program is part of “the love students get,” she added.

KIPP schools maximize impact of tutoring

For KIPP New Jersey Schools, which serves students in Newark and Camden, the work to boost student performance began this spring with two new partnerships that helped provide high-dosage tutoring in math and reading. That goes along with recent research that shows intensive tutoring can be effective in helping students improve in problem areas.

Two of the charter school network’s elementary schools partnered with the New Jersey Tutoring Corps, a statewide nonprofit created to address academic recovery needs post pandemic, to provide in-person tutoring to 100 students. The preliminary data for elementary student outcomes is “promising” and reflects on the efforts of the corps to provide targeted tutoring, said Joe Hejlek, director of wraparound services at KIPP New Jersey.

Overall, the state’s Tutoring Corps served 500 students across New Jersey schools during the 2022-23 pilot. The percentage performing at grade level in math improved from 16% to 40%, and from 23% to 40% in literacy across all grade levels, the Tutoring Corps reported.

But Hejlek says the program’s success in KIPP New Jersey schools is in part linked to student attendance.

“There’s a very direct correlation between the number of sessions students participate in and the amount of growth that they make,” he said.

At the middle school level, three KIPP New Jersey schools partnered with Tutored by Teachers, an organization that provides personalized virtual tutoring for students. Nikeya Stuart is a school leader at TEAM Academy working with students from fifth through eighth grade. At TEAM, 20 students worked with Tutored by Teachers instructors this spring and received virtual tutoring in math twice a week during the school day.

Achieve Community Charter School student’s work on adding and subtracting during the school’s 2023 summer program.

Students were chosen to participate in the program if they were within 10 points of passing the state’s math test and had 95% daily attendance or higher during the academic year, Stuart said. The goal was to choose students who would commit to tutoring “so the program could really yield the results that we were hoping that it would,” Stuart added.

She found sixth and seventh graders were more engaged than students in fifth and eighth grade but noted the importance of finding “a program that works for each student.”

Not all students will benefit from online learning after the pandemic and “if a student did not like learning behind the computer, they may not be the ideal student” for virtual tutoring, Stuart said.

By learning about the impact the tutoring efforts had on students, the charter network is looking to scale up its tutoring program by expanding it to five more schools this year. But it remains unclear whether there will be funding to continue such high-dosage tutoring and other avenues for student academic recovery.

”It’s just a question of making sure we have enough tutors to meet demand,” Hejlek said, “and then making sure we’re being thoughtful about how we select the students and how we set our schools up to maximize the impact of the tutoring.”

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark’s teaching force doesn’t always match its diverse student body — especially among Latinos

2023-07-27T20:15:00+00:00

Read in Spanish.

When Melissa De Almeida’s parents immigrated to Newark in the 1990s from Brazil, navigating the public school system for their two daughters was among their steepest battles.

De Almeida’s older sister struggled to learn English in a system where few teachers spoke her native Portuguese. By the time Melissa enrolled a few years later, she encountered teachers who were able to communicate with her family, but it was uneven.

There was, though, one shining light: De Almeida’s second grade teacher at Oliver Street School. De Almeida fondly remembers her teacher making s’mores and fresh lemonade for her class, but the big difference was that she could speak with De Almeida’s parents in Portuguese.

Now, the 19-year-old sophomore at Montclair State University wants to be a bilingual teacher and help families like hers in Newark, her hometown, where roughly 9% of students speak her native language.

“I need to be the change that my sister needed,” said De Almeida, who graduated from East Side High School last year.

In Newark and other cities in New Jersey, teaching staff and school leadership do not always reflect diverse student bodies. Demographic data shows Black and Latino students make up about 90% of Newark’s total student population, while teachers from those backgrounds make up just over half of the teaching staff.

Roughly 20% of Newark schools have a majority of white teachers. Other cities in New Jersey have even lower proportions of teachers from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds.

A close look reveals that Latino students, who are increasing in number annually in the district, are starkly underrepresented in the district’s teaching staff, a Chalkbeat analysis of 2021-22 state-provided school demographic data found.

White teachers make up a majority of the teaching staff at one in five district schools, and Black teachers are the majority teaching staff at a little more than one in four schools. But no school in the district has a majority Hispanic or Latino teaching staff — even though roughly half of all the district schools have a majority Latino student body.

One of the district’s high schools has a Latino student population of more than 61%, but no Hispanic or Latino teachers. Three other schools also don’t have any teachers who identify as Hispanic or Latino.

Similarly, the state’s population of Latino children has expanded — by roughly 25% — since 2010, but an analysis from NJ Advance Media found that roughly 30% of all schools don’t have any Hispanic teachers at all. In addition, districts have seen a growing student population identified as English language learners while also facing a shortage of bilingual teachers.

Many experts say that desegregation court rulings, which have failed time and again to wholly integrate student bodies and personnel, have contributed to the disproportionate numbers of white teachers.

Yet, numerous studies show that a diverse teaching staff, especially one representative of a school community, can foster stronger teacher-student bonds, stronger relationships between teachers and families, and lessons that are more culturally responsive — the benefits De Almeida experienced first-hand with her second grade teacher.

Newark Public Schools’ demographic data also displays a glimmer of hope when it comes to moving closer to a teaching workforce that reflects its student body: A handful of elementary schools with majority Latino students have a notable number of Latino teachers, ranging between 33% and 44%. And Black students are more likely to have proportionate representation in administration and teaching staff, data show.

Having teachers who students from underrepresented backgrounds can identify with racially and culturally is just one component of teacher and school quality, but it can help lead to improved attendance, test scores, and the likelihood of taking an advanced course, research has found.

“If we don’t more aggressively address the demonstrated mismatch between students and the school personnel who serve them, we may not see an acceleration of academic achievement by all of our students,” said Leslie Fenwick, dean emerita at Howard University whose expertise is on teacher diversity and education equity. “We must do a better job of recruiting, retaining, and promoting teachers and principals of color.”

‘We are living with the fallout of the history’

As De Almeida’s story with her sister illustrates, many students don’t have teachers who share their background – and the gap between Hispanic or Latino students and teachers is only expected to widen, statewide and nationally, studies suggest.

Nationally, white teachers make up 80% of the teaching force, and in New Jersey, it’s 83%. Meanwhile, the state’s teaching force — also mirroring national trends — is 8% Hispanic and 6.5% Black, while those student populations are 32% and 15%, respectively.

A lawsuit before New Jersey’s Superior Court in Trenton is arguing that the state — one of the most diverse yet segregated public school systems in the country — is responsible for addressing the fact that more than half of Black and Hispanic or Latino students attend schools that are predominantly non-white. The lawsuit, led by The Latino Action Network and NAACP-NJ, argues that the state is violating its own constitution and the Supreme Court decision of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka from nearly 70 years ago.

That historic Supreme Court ruling — and several desegregation rulings that followed — declared segregated schooling to be a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. But it also led to an uneven proportion of white teachers to teachers of color as people, including those in power who upheld segregationist beliefs, resisted desegregation efforts, analyses of historic documents show.

“We are living with the fallout of the history that occurred — not as a result of the Brown [v. Board of Education] decision, but of the massive white resistance to it,” said Fenwick, who authored the book “Jim Crow’s Pink Slip: The Untold Story of Black Principal and Teacher Leadership.”

Racism and segregationist beliefs led to widespread illegal firings, dismissals, and demotions of Black teachers — upwards of 100,000 — between the 1950s and 70s, Fenwick said in a recent phone interview with Chalkbeat and described in her book.

Desegregation efforts must also invest in teacher diversity, Fenwick says. Without that, students of color will continue to lose out on the massive opportunities a teaching staff that reflects them can offer, including on a social emotional level, as well as academically and behaviorally, which decades worth of research has documented.

“Unless we address this diversity issue in the school leadership and teaching forces, I fear we won’t make the kind of progress that we need to make in the country,” Fenwick said.

Newark works to create diverse teacher pipeline

Though Black teachers make up a majority of the teaching staff in some Newark district schools, the proportion of Black teachers has dropped about 10 percentage points since the late 1990s, when the district was under state control, a 2021 analysis from New Jersey Policy Perspective found.

The district has recruitment efforts in place to attract teachers from diverse backgrounds, including one that creates a pipeline of “home grown teachers” by incentivizing current students to major in education and get a guaranteed teaching position in the district after they graduate college.

During a June press conference, Superintendent Roger León agreed that diversifying his staff “is good in that it brings about different viewpoints” and noted the district’s recruitment strategies, which include a teacher-to-principal pipeline initiative that targets Black and Latino male teachers.

The district partnered with Montclair State University’s College for Education and Engaged Learning to create the Red Hawks Rising Teacher Academy, a dual enrollment program at East Side and University high schools where students earn college credits at no cost as they prepare for a career in teaching. The program recruits students into the profession at an early age, provides mentorship, and guarantees an offer of admission to the university’s teacher education program after high school graduation.

An essential part of the program is that it encourages students to return to teach in their hometown district after college graduation.

León has promised participants that a teacher contract with the district will be waiting for them after they complete the university’s program.

Melissa De Almeida, a sophomore at Montclair State University and East Side High School graduate, says the “home grown” teacher program in Newark helped her pursue her dream of becoming a bilingual teacher.

De Almeida, a graduate of the program at East Side, says being part of it helped her envision a future helping students who speak different home languages. But what helped her see that she could be successful, she said, was the example set from program co-directors Mayida Zaal and Danielle Epps, women of color who are graduates of urban school districts.

“I think it’s kind of refreshing to have someone talk to you that understands and kind of has been through what you’ve been through and kind of walked that path with you,” De Almeida said.

‘Retaining teachers is the problem’

In a recent phone interview, Newark Teachers Union President John Abeigon said he supports the district’s recruiting efforts, but “retaining teachers is the problem” that León needs to address, particularly when it comes to teachers of color.

“We have white, Black, Hispanic, brown, the rainbow,” Abeigon said about the diversity of teachers in his union. “Everybody that comes to this district, a majority of them leave within a couple of weeks or months of working in this district. That’s endemic to the district and the way it treats its staff.”

Research has found that teachers of color are more likely to teach in “high needs, hard-to-staff schools with challenging work environments and higher attrition rates for all teachers,” a FutureEd report on teacher diversity stated.

As teachers from diverse backgrounds navigate districts with low resources and unfavorable working conditions, though, they often feel undervalued and overlooked, according to feedback from focus groups in a 2019 report that examined retention of teachers of color.

Nubia Lumumba, a Black and Muslim educator and former English teacher at a Newark high school, resigned from her position after just six months of working in the district. Lumumba said she experienced and witnessed racial harassment while teaching, but lack of sensitivity from school administrators in handling concerns of racial harassment led to tensions that ultimately led to her resignation.

There was a lack of “genuine empathy for what I had gone through,” Lumumba said, adding that students were witnesses to what she experienced. “If, as a mature adult, it cut me deeply to have experienced racial and religious harassment and not get any meaningful support from district and school leaders, then, I imagine, it must be even more damaging to the Black students.”

Lumumba, who taught for eight years prior to her last role, said schools need to have strategies and programs in place that will bring “a true understanding and celebration of diversity” and support students of different racial and ethnic backgrounds. This could lead to improved retention, she said.

The teachers of color in the 2019 case study would agree. Among solutions outlined in the report: District leaders need to ensure that “schools are places that culturally affirm teachers of color,” empower teachers with pathways to leadership, and offer compensation for extra work.

A New Jersey task force on school staff shortages, put together by executive order from Gov. Phil Murphy last year, released a report earlier this year that shows signs the state is paying some attention to the retention of teachers.

Providing support to schools in “implementing policies and practices that create a work environment that is free of bias, including microaggressions,” as well as increasing teacher pay and expanding “mentorship and professional development for early career educators” were among the recommendations listed in the report.

Students need support through higher education

For Red Hawks Rising co-directors Zaal and Epps, their efforts with the district to diversify the teaching force start by supporting Newark students and becoming their “community of commitment” as they navigate high school, college, and long-term careers, Epps said.

Red Hawks Rising Teacher Academy co-directors Mayida Zaal and Danielle Epps say the dual enrollment program aims to support Newark students from high school to their career in teaching.

“We can’t just focus on the recruitment of young people who represent Black and brown communities, and then not be intentional about how we’re going to support them to get to the finish line,” Zaal said. “There has to be support along the way so that we don’t have a sort of leaky pipeline into schools.”

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the overall college enrollment rate among 18- to 24-year-olds decreased from 41% in 2010 to 38% in 2021. The overall college enrollment rate that year was even lower among Black students at 37% and Hispanic students at 33%.

While in the dual enrollment program, students confront different misconceptions about higher education, such as the idea that to pursue a career they have to leave their hometown or that college is financially out of reach, or the belief that “college is not something that’s for me,” Epps said.

Many students in the program are bilingual or bicultural and have experience dealing with educational challenges that, in turn, could help their future students.

“They’ve been raised in resilient families where they have been able to figure out their way into college as first-generation students,” Zaal said. “So, they have a significant amount of social capital to offer.”

De Almeida, who’s set to graduate in 2026, gives back to her community by working with parents at her local church and helping them understand their children’s homework or providing translation support for them. She relates to those families, she says, and talks to them about helping her own family financially while juggling school work and pursuing her dream of teaching.

The aspiring bilingual teacher is eager to get into the classroom and hopes to leave a lasting mark on students with similar backgrounds as her.

“I’m usually the one that everybody runs to with this kind of stuff. I love being able to be that help,” said De Almeida about working with parents of different backgrounds. “And I think that once I’m a teacher and come back to work in Newark, doing this work officially, I’ll be 10 times better.”

Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark, covering the city’s K-12 schools with a focus on English language learners. Contact Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark announces new principals for elementary, high schools. Is your school’s leader changing?

2023-07-25T18:06:28+00:00

More than half of the 10 new principals for the upcoming school year in Newark Public Schools are women of color, and most of them have worked their way up through the ranks in the district’s schools.

Eight of the new principals are at elementary schools and two will work at high schools. Combined, the new principals bring decades of experience. Some are first-time principals, and others are veteran educators and administrators in the district.

Other leadership changes include four new vice principals at four elementary schools and three teacher coaches at three elementary schools.

Candidates for principal roles “undergo a lengthy process and are recommended by the Superintendent to the Newark Board of Education,” according to Nancy Deering, the district’s acting communications director.

They must complete an application for the position, and interview with multiple departments and staff members before a final interview with Superintendent Roger León, Deering added.

This year’s reorganization of leaders follows previous efforts to create teacher-to-leader pipelines and elevate people of color into principal and vice principal positions. Eight of the 10 principal promotions are for women of color, while two are for men, including a Black man.

After last school year’s ousting of two first-year principals and this year’s demotion of Avon Avenue Elementary School’s first-year principal to a teacher, Newark Public Schools’ ability to support new school leaders is under scrutiny.

The new leaders must also work to create inclusive spaces, as they work in a district where Latino and Black students make up more than 90% of the student body.

Last fall, parents at the Newark School of Global Studies called for the removal of principal Nelson Ruiz after students, staff, and parents grew frustrated with the way Ruiz responded to complaints of racial harassment from Black students and staff at the school. Ruiz remains in his role this year.

The district will continue to make appointments and announcements about new hires as needed, Deering added.

Here’s a list of leadership changes taking effect for the 2023-24 school year:

New teacher coaches at three elementary schools

Aleiyah Richardson, a former academic interventionist, was promoted to a teacher coach at Speedway Elementary School with a salary of $66,000 as of July 1.

Gina Lee, a former academic interventionist, was promoted to a teacher coach at Elliot Street Elementary School with a salary of $107,050 as of July 1.

Michelle Lambeth, a former math teacher, was promoted to a teacher coach at McKinley Elementary School with a salary of $64,000 as of July 1.

Four new vice principals take over

Camille Reid, a former teacher coach, was promoted to vice principal of Thirteenth Avenue School with a salary of $103,700 as of July 1.

Germaine Jenkins, a former teacher coach, was promoted to vice principal of McKinley Elementary School with a salary of $103,700 as of July 1.

Jessica Columbo Pereria, a former academic interventionist, was promoted to vice principal of Ironbound Academy Elementary School with a salary of $103,700 as of July 1.

Terrence Daniel, a former elementary school teacher, was promoted to vice principal of Mount Vernon Elementary School with a salary of $103,700 as of July 1.

10 new principals lead Newark schools

At the high school level, Dr. David Cutts, a former English teacher at Bard High School, will replace the school’s former principal, Carla Stephens, who led the school since 2017. An English native from South Yorkshire, Cutts joined the district in 2012 after working as a professor at Southampton College on Long Island, which has since closed, and Princeton University’s English Department.

Natasha Pared, formerly a principal at Rafael Hernandez Elementary School, will replace Jose Aviles, who led Barringer High School since 2019.

At the elementary school level, Ryan Silver will be the first principal for the new Nelson Mandela Elementary School opening in the fall. The school, located at the former University Heights Charter School, will be led by Silver, a district alum and Newark native. The new school is enrolling students in pre-K-4, and is part of the district’s broader plan to open more schools and expand others.

Isabel Marques is the new principal at Ann Street Elementary School. Marques was previously a vice principal at the pre-K-8 school, where she focused on math, science, and middle schoolers. She is an educator with 22 years of experience, 20 of which have been in the district. She was promoted with a salary of $134,100 starting July 1.

Kinyetta Bird was promoted to principal of Avon Avenue with a salary of $134,100 starting July 1. She is a former vice principal in the district and has eight years of experience working in Newark Public Schools, according to her LinkedIn profile. She will replace former first-year principal Krishna Dalal Barroso, who was promoted as Avon’s principal last year and will be a teacher at Belmont Runyon Elementary School starting this fall.

Marvelis Perreira is the new principal at Dr. William H. Horton Elementary School, one of the most densely populated schools in the city’s North Ward. She replaces former principal, Hamlet Marte, who led the school since 2019. She brings over 20 years of expertise in instructional leadership and experience as a Newark principal and vice principal. She was promoted to principal of the school with a salary of $141,700 starting July 1.

Newark native Diane Pereira was promoted to principal of Lafayette Street Elementary School with a salary of $134,100 starting July 1. She is the former vice principal at the school and brings 25 years of experience as a bilingual teacher, a math teacher, and an administrator. She began her career at Lafayette Street as a student teacher in 1998.

Jessica Rios is the new principal at Rafael Hernández Elementary School and former vice principal at Early Childhood School North for four years where she mentored teachers and led professional development, according to her bio on the district’s website. Previously, she won Newark Public Schools Superintendent’s Educator Excellence Award.

Raised in the Ironbound neighborhood of Newark, Daniella Alvarez is the new principal at Salomé Ureña Elementary School and the former vice principal at Wilson Avenue School. Alvarez is also a graduate of Wilson Avenue and Science High School. Previously, she worked as a summer school lead principal overseeing 15 summer school sites.

A West Ward native, Thalia Brownridge-Smith is the new principal of Thirteenth Avenue School and former vice principal at Louise A. Spencer Elementary School. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology, with a double minor in African-American Studies and anthropology. She received her master’s degree in education from the University of Pennsylvania.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark’s 2023 Teacher of the Year aims to prepare her students for life after high school

2023-07-17T11:00:00+00:00

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Looking through an old scrapbook, Juanita Greene recently learned something new about herself.

The Newark Vocational High School math teacher rediscovered in those worn pages of a scrapbook she titled “School Days” that she wanted to become a teacher in first grade.

Greene, honored last month as the district’s 2023 Teacher of the Year, had forgotten all about her early career ambitions. But she does remember the moment in college when she made the life-altering decision to become a teacher.

“It wasn’t until I taught math during a summer program between my second and third years in college that I decided to change my major to mathematics and become a teacher,” Greene told Chalkbeat.

She would go on to dedicate 26 years (and counting) to teaching math.

Last month, Superintendent Roger León and other district officials showed up to her geometry class to surprise her with the announcement that she had been named Teacher of the Year.

Greene taught geometry to 10th graders and a probability and statistics class to seniors this past school year at Newark Vocational, where she just completed her fourth year.

Outside of teaching high schoolers, she’s also mentored teachers and taught graduate-level courses for students earning their master’s degrees.

As someone who felt ill-prepared for college, Greene aims to help her students feel secure and ready for their post-high school reality.

“I teach now so that I can better prepare students for life after high school,” she said. “I don’t want anyone to feel the way I did when I went to college.”

Greene spoke recently with Chalkbeat.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

What’s your favorite lesson to teach and why?

There’s a lesson I do in geometry when I introduce two-column proofs that involves the card game UNO. That is a lot of fun. Proofs tend to be something new in geometry that students have never done before. By introducing proofs with something students know and enjoy, like UNO, they are more open to learning them.

How do you feel about being named Teacher of the Year?

It makes me so proud. It’s such an honor. I have dedicated so much of my life to teaching mathematics, and I work so hard. It’s great to be recognized after all these years for all the work that I do.

What’s something happening in the community that affects what goes on inside your classroom (or your school)?

I hate to be so general, but everything that happens in the community affects what goes on inside my classroom. We all bring our history, what we believe, what has happened to us or our loved ones with us to school every day. I try to be open and honest with my students, and I think they appreciate that I share so much of myself with them. As Rita Pierson said, “Kids can’t learn from teachers they don’t like.” I hope my openness allows students to like me and want to learn from me.

How do you approach news events in your classroom?

I like to check in with my students every day, especially after a challenging or interesting news event happens. It allows me to make sure they are feeling OK and learn a little about them as people. My check-ins have daily themes: Monday Motivation, Talk About It Tuesday, Would You Rather Wednesday, Think About It Thursday or Thoughtful Thursday.

Tell us about your own experience with school and how it affects your work today.

I enjoyed my high school experience, but I was very unprepared for college. I didn’t know how to study or advocate for myself. I didn’t have knowledge of books that most other students read, and I felt inadequate. I teach now so that I can better prepare students for life after high school. I don’t want anyone to feel the way I did when I went to college.

Tell us about the times when you shifted away from classroom teaching.

Throughout my years in education, I left teaching in my own class a few times. From 2006 through 2010, I worked as an educational consultant, where I led professional development workshops for teachers and worked with teachers in their own classrooms. From 2017 through 2019, I was an assistant professor of practice for Relay Graduate School of Education, where I taught pedagogy to teachers earning their master’s degrees. Both of these positions allowed me to work in schools and with teachers, but I missed working directly with students and being part of a school community. Also, I was teaching and learning new techniques and realized that I wanted to try them in my own classroom.

What are your summer plans? And what are you looking forward to in the 2023-24 school year?

This summer, I am enjoying time with my family and friends. I have a lot of fun concerts lined up that I’m excited to attend. I will also attend a couple of professional development workshops. For 2023-24, I am looking forward to our new geometry textbook and using more technology throughout the school year.

Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark, covering the city’s K-12 schools with a focus on English language learners. Contact Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.

Report on racial, cultural dynamics at Newark’s Global Studies to remain internal, Superintendent Roger León says

2023-06-30T10:00:00+00:00

A review of the racial, cultural, and religious dynamics at Newark’s School of Global Studies is meant to help the district design a strategy to tackle racial issues in city schools, said Superintendent Roger León.

The review, conducted by consulting firm CREED Strategies, began in January and is the first mention of the district’s long-awaited plan to mend problems at the high school after incidents of racial harassment surfaced last fall. CREED Strategies is led by Dr. Lauren Wells, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka’s former chief education officer whose firm also helped create NPS Clarity 2020, the district’s one-year plan laying the foundation for change in schools after returning to local control.

But details about the firm’s analysis of Global Studies and its recommendations will not be made public, said León, speaking at a press conference on Thursday.

León offered few details about the report, which he said remains under review and is meant to serve as “an internal document for us to consider.”

Global Studies, which first opened its doors in 2020 welcoming ninth graders, has been promoted as a high school offering a global perspective where students could study different cultures and prepare to study abroad.

“We found it to be quite a problem that the school that we had created to show everyone the way was actually mirroring the problems that are in the way,” León said.

Last November, students at the Newark School of Global Studies spoke publicly about their experiences of racial harassment and abuse during their time there. The tensions led several students to transfer and some teachers to resign.

In response, the district said it was working on taking “corrective action” at the school but has not shared specific details about its plan.

Thursday’s update was the first glimpse into the district’s efforts to fix long-standing racial issues that drew heavy criticism from parents, students, and advocates about the way the school and district leaders handled the situation. The incidents also garnered attention from Baraka, who met with students in December and hosted a town hall in March to discuss unity among Black and brown communities.

The district’s partnership with CREED Strategies includes a research and data-sharing agreement that launched a study of the events at the high school last fall as well as interviews with students, parents, and teachers “who have been victims of racial, cultural, and/or religious incidents,” according to the agreement approved in January by the board.

León did not disclose details of the group’s review or findings on Thursday but said “three recommendations that were shared” are on par with what the district is doing to fix the problems. He also said the district would need to “procure other experts to really help us understand how to address particular issues.”

District leaders are currently reviewing the report and will meet with Wells and her team following revisions to the document, León said.

As the district works on developing strategies to address the racial issues, León wants to “tap the students at Global Students” to work with him and help inform the district’s strategy. The district is listening to students about these and other issues, León added, and is working to promote trust and honesty among them.

“If there are issues occurring in other schools, how do students activate that voice? What is the adult response that we need to have?” León added.

Students, staff, and parents at the center of the incidents grew increasingly frustrated at what they say was an initial lack of response from the high school’s administration, including principal Nelson Ruiz. At least one parent called for the removal of Ruiz but he has remained in his role since.

During Thursday’s press conference, León said he would also call on Ruiz to help other principals deal with similar issues at their schools and provide guidance as needed.

“So, his role will not only be to be the principal of a school, but also to help his colleagues in discussing these types of conversations, which must be addressed at all times,” León added.

Board members also said they have not reviewed the draft report from CREED Strategies. During June’s regular school board meeting, board vice president Dawn Haynes said she was expecting to hear an update on the report, which was brought up during June’s legal and governance committees that are closed to the public.

“It is a hot topic item that pretty much everybody on this dais is expecting to see some results from,” Haynes said. “To know that we put that in place as the board and we’re expecting some information based on it, a synopsis, the actual report, what are the beginning findings? It is imperative that that information gets to the board.”

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark school-based health center opens at Speedway Avenue Elementary School

2023-06-26T20:15:57+00:00

Hundreds of Newark children and their families now have access to a new health center located in a public elementary school in the city’s West Ward.

City and Newark Public Schools leaders on Monday unveiled the new Mary Eliza Mahoney Health Center at Speedway Avenue Elementary School. The opening of the new health center, which is available to all Newark residents regardless of health insurance status and ability to pay, comes at a time when a number of city families experience limited access to medical services and barriers to health care.

“We are excited about establishing a footprint here in the West Ward and engaging with residents here in our community,” said Ketlen Baptiste-Alsbrook, director of the Newark Department of Health and the new health center, during Monday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony at the clinic.

Newark residents can make an appointment at the new health center located in a public elementary school in the city’s West Ward.

In Newark, nearly 20% of residents under 65 do not have health insurance, according to U.S. Census data. The new health center is “the first step along the path” to tackle the problem among the city’s most vulnerable residents, Baptiste-Alsbrook added.

This is the first time the city has opened a health clinic in a Newark public school, according to City of Newark press secretary Susan Garofalo.

Black and Hispanic residents in New Jersey face barriers to health care and affordable medical coverage due to limited access to health care plans through their jobs, cost-related challenges, and transportation issues among other inequities.

Across the state, Black New Jersey residents are twice as likely to be uninsured and are more likely to seek coverage through public programs, according to research from the New Jersey Policy Perspective. The state’s immigrant communities are also the least likely to be insured and roughly 17% of Hispanic residents remain uninsured in the state, according to the New Jersey Policy Perspective.

Studies show that school-based health clinics can help improve student grades and attendance and reduce disparities by making health care more accessible to students from low-income backgrounds. The new Newark school-based health center is a partnership between the city and Newark Public Schools and is funded through American Rescue Plan dollars. It includes a small waiting area and four exam rooms equipped with medical devices and other equipment.

The clinic is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. to residents in need of adult, pediatric, and behavioral health care. Residents will be seen by one of two physicians — Dr. Rachel Tikum for family medicine and Dr. Ijeoma Onyeagoch for behavioral health care services.

“We’re trying to do more outreach in the community since [this clinic] is right here in the school and is more accessible. The fact that we take insured and uninsured residents and walk-ins is very promising,” Tikum said during Monday’s grand opening.

The new Mary Eliza Mahoney Health Center at Speedway Avenue Elementary School is available to all Newark residents.

The center has a separate entrance and exit from the elementary school that leads out into the parking lot on South Orange Avenue and “should not interfere with school activities,” city officials said.

City officials also said the school-based health center will support students’ mental health at a time where Black and Latino students have less access to mental health support than they did a decade ago.

Newark Public Schools teachers and staff can refer students to any of the clinic’s services. The clinic staff will also work with school nurses to identify potential needs, Baptiste-Alsbrook added.

Additionally, the district’s 2022-23 budget included increased staffing of social workers and counselors for any of its 38,000 students who may need behavioral support.

Residents interested in visiting the new clinic can make an appointment by calling 1-800- 734-7083.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark mothers of students with disabilities push through school year challenges

2023-06-26T10:00:00+00:00

At the beginning of this school year, Lisa Flores worried that her 7-year-old son would not get the support he needed at Newark’s Dr. William H. Horton Elementary School.

Eli, who has a speech delay, was just going into second grade and needed services that seemed slow to come.

Veronica Searles was concerned for her son, too. Deion Searles has ADHD and anxiety and receives special education services — but as classes began in Newark Public Schools last September, transportation issues threatened to keep him from even getting to school.

The two mothers and the barriers their children have to overcome show some of the challenges faced by the roughly 6,400 students with disabilities who attend Newark Public Schools. They are among the district’s most vulnerable — and have been some of the students hardest hit by the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Newark expects the number of students with disabilities to grow next year as the students in need of special education services are rising year over year across the country.

In the fall, as classes kicked off, Newark parents of students with disabilities said their children needed more support after some missed out on specialized instruction or therapy sessions that were difficult to provide during remote learning. Others were continuing to push for compensatory services, a legal right students in New Jersey and across the country have for making up instruction or services they might have missed during the pandemic.

Nine months later, parents like Flores and Searles say they are looking forward to next year, despite looming concerns about their child’s physical and educational progress and available resources.

Parents push for more educational support post-pandemic

Eli, who has been at Horton Elementary since kindergarten, will start third grade in the fall. He still struggles with speaking and is below grade level, his progress derailed after the district switched to remote learning in the spring of 2020.

That prompted Lisa Flores, a mother of two, to become a full-time advocate for her child by pressing the district for compensatory education. In January, Eli began receiving additional one-hour speech sessions four times a week before school, which Flores said she is thankful for but has not yet yielded improvements in her son’s speech.

Eli is a rising third grader at Horton Elementary with a speech delay. He enjoys playing baseball on his time off.

“I don’t think it was good enough to catch him up to where he needed to be,” Flores said. “But it was good for him.”

This year, the district hired at least six speech-language specialists and contracted with outside service providers to bring additional support in occupational, physical, and speech therapy for its students. But as the district works to help students catch up, parents like Flores continue to push for more.

Flores has an ongoing compensatory education case after filing a complaint with the state’s office of special education in October. She hopes Eli can receive more make-up services to improve his regression in speech, an effect of remote learning during the pandemic, Flores said.

In the meantime, she is happy to see her son become more involved in other activities like baseball where he is learning to be “a big kid” and relate with other children.

“I see him speaking up more for himself and I’m just really proud of him,” Flores added. “That’s what I’m looking forward to [next year]. Just watching him mature more and be able to advocate for himself.”

Newark mothers push for more support for their children

Newark Public Schools has a long history of struggling to implement programs and support for its students with disabilities. In 2012, the state began monitoring the district following the settlement of a class action lawsuit that accused the district and state special education department of not evaluating students for special education services or providing resources in a timely manner.

Last summer, district officials were ordered to take corrective action by Nov. 1, 2022 after the New Jersey Department of Education found that the district failed to meet six federal responsibilities for students with disabilities.

The state also found problems with reporting in education plans, notifying parents of meetings, and missing meetings with parents and students with disabilities as part of responsibilities mandated under the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA).

The district’s office of special education said in November 2022 that it corrected its problems by providing additional training to its child study team members on the missed areas.

But throughout the school year, many parents like Searles have had to turn for help to outside organizations, such as Nassan’s Place, a Newark community group providing support and activities for autistic children and their families.

The founder, Nadine Wright-Arbubakrr, is also the parent of 18-year-old Nassan, a Newark Public Schools student who has autism and is nonverbal, and is the inspiration behind Nassan’s Place.

Like Searles, Wright-Arbubakrr has worked to get her son the services he needs at his school, New Jersey Regional Day.

She is happy with the staff and teachers at the school but found it alarming that her son could not attend the after-school program because there wasn’t a nurse on-site during that time.

“Now going into the 2023-2024 school year,” Wright-Arbubakrr asked, “ will my son be denied an after-school program because he has a seizure disorder?”

Other mothers, like Rashae Phillips, have had a hard time getting services for their kids in charter schools.

Phillips is the mother of a rising seventh grader at KIPP BOLD Academy. Under her son’s IEP, he must receive occupational therapy due to ADHD and ADD. But Philips has struggled this year in finding additional support at her child’s school and isn’t sure if he’ll continue his education there next year.

She does not want him to attend the city’s public school system and is prepared to travel outside of the district to get him the support he needs.

“It’s just frustrating to me because of these things that I’ve been fighting to get for years,” Phillips said.

High school students with disabilities rely on district support

For Veronica Searles, the start of this school year was expensive, as she had to spend $80 on Lyfts to get her son, Deion, to and from school during the first two days of classes after the bus never picked him up.

Deion, now a rising freshman at the Newark School of Data Science & Information Technology, refuses to travel in the district’s yellow buses due to an incident in fifth grade where the bus didn’t bring him home until 8:30 p.m., his mother said.

The South Ward family is on a tight income and as Deion enters his first year of high school this fall, Searles hopes she can rely on the district’s transportation services to get him to campus.

The district contracts with busing companies that provide transportation in minivans or smaller buses, which Deion prefers to ride in. Under federal law, students with disabilities must be provided with transportation under their Individualized Education Programs.

Deion is a rising freshman at the Newark School of Data Science & Information Technology.

“My only concern is that he’s getting older and the only thing he wants to do is what the other kids do and I’m not confident enough that he can travel by himself,” Searles said.

Despite some of the challenges their children have faced this year, Flores and Searles say they are proud of the struggles their sons have overcome and celebrate the small victories in their lives.

In April, Deion asked the principal at his former school, Camden Street School, if he could organize an autism awareness event. He is also involved in helping other students in Nassan’s Place and participates in activities year-round.

Deion completed his last year of middle school with good grades, his mother said, and worked hard to be accepted into the high school he wanted to attend.

She offered this wish for next year: “I just pray that he’d meet wonderful kids and have a good experience, learn a lot, and find out more about himself and be more independent.”

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark board members ramp up attorney search before next school year

2023-06-21T14:42:00+00:00

The Newark Board of Education plans to speed up its search for an attorney after some members raised concerns over a “drawn-out” process during Tuesday’s school board meeting.

The search for an attorney first began six months ago when the board approved a resolution to acquire its own legal representation. Currently, the board shares an attorney with the district.

At Tuesday’s meeting, board members discussed potential next steps in their attorney search and evaluated the district’s recommendations, which include creating a committee to oversee the process.

But board member Crystal Williams emphasized the urgency of having an attorney in place before the start of the next school year while President Asia Norton cautioned the other members about following district protocols.

“When you’re hiring someone we have to follow things. We have to make sure that we are in compliance legally,” said Norton during Tuesday’s discussion. “If we have a misstep it won’t be viewed as an accident, it would be viewed as a legal matter.”

Most school boards in New Jersey have their own counsel so they can act independently when board opinions differ from that of the superintendent, whom they are required to hold accountable.

The Newark board approved a resolution to secure a separate attorney for its nine-member board in January after news of Superintendent Roger León’s contract renewal sparked criticism from community members and raised questions about the board’s legal authority.

The board solicited proposals from interested law firms in May and received 12 bids at the beginning of June. Board members had not received a list of those firms prior to Tuesday’s discussion.

Among the firms that submitted proposals is the Souder, Shabazz & Woolridge law group, which is representing two of four board members facing ethics complaints currently before the New Jersey School Ethics Commission.

The attorney would be in addition to Brenda Liss, general counsel for Newark Public Schools, whose duties are much broader and include representing the superintendent and other members of the administration.

Norton said the district recommended that the board create a committee to review the submitted proposals and spearhead the process.

“It was not supposed to be this long, drawn-out process. This is dragging on way too long,” said Williams during Tuesday’s meeting.

Norton also said the board needs to review proposals and conduct interviews, a process “that will take time” and needs to be taken into consideration before a decision is made in August. Vice President Dawn Haynes said those “interviews are an option and should not stagnate the progress.”

Board member Josephine Garcia, who was elected in 2017, said the last time the current board hired someone was in 2018 when the school system returned to local control and hired León. She said the process consisted of special meetings and discussions among board members to evaluate applicants and come to a consensus.

Garcia agreed that there was a need for a process but said a discussion among colleagues prior to Tuesday’s meeting would have “made this conversation flow easier.”

Board member A’Dorian Murray Thomas recommended the board create an ad-hoc committee to evaluate candidates but asked that submitted proposals be shared with the entire board.

“We should have board action on this by August so come September we come in with our attorney,” Murray-Thomas said.

The board must evaluate each law firm’s ability to handle legal matters in education and the cost of its representation. Board members did not decide whether to create a committee to oversee the process or select members from the board to form part of the committee. Tuesday’s board meeting ended in an executive session, which was not open to the public.

The board also voted to approve one-year term contracts for legal services for the district to six law firms for the 2023-24 fiscal year at the rate of $200 per hour for attorneys and $90 per hour for paralegals. The firms will handle legal matters on behalf of the board as needed.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark classes resume after closures due to unhealthy air quality alerts

2023-06-09T15:16:27+00:00

Update 06/09/2023: Newark Public Schools resumed classes on Friday, June 9 and central office employees returned to work. Recess and other outdoor activities will be held indoors as a precautionary measure, the district said.

Newark Public Schools and central office will be closed on Thursday as the smoke from Canadian wildfires continues to impact New Jersey and the surrounding areas.

The district made the announcement on its Facebook page just after midnight on Thursday. Unhealthy air quality conditions are expected to continue Thursday, and as of 7 a.m., Newark and nearly the rest of the state were under a purple alert, marking very unhealthy air quality conditions for residents.

In the surrounding area, KIPP Newark schools, North Star Academy schools, Irvington and Elizabeth school districts also announced they canceled classes on Thursday. Districts like Jersey City and Bloomfield decided to remain open and canceled recess along with outdoor activities during and after the school day on Thursday.

On Wednesday, New Jersey experienced the worst air quality in decades. Smoke from the millions of acres burning in Canada began to enter Newark and the vicinity on Tuesday evening. Red alerts were issued for Essex and the surrounding counties for unhealthy air conditions that day. On Wednesday, some areas of New Jersey experienced low visibility due to the smoke and saw an orange haze as air quality levels worsened in the afternoon.

Experts said inhaling smoke and ash from wildfires could cause damage and irritation to the body, lungs, and heart. The city of Newark urged residents to stay indoors when possible and advised sensitive groups such as young children, elderly residents, and people with asthma to stay indoors. The risk is higher for communities such as Newark, where people are exposed to higher levels of pollution and are twice as likely to develop asthma, according to the Environmental Defense Fund.

Northern New Jersey reached very unhealthy air quality levels at 1 p.m,. with an air quality index reading of 205 in Newark as heavy smoke enveloped the region. The air quality index continued to rise as Newark and the tri-state area saw hazardous conditions reaching air quality index levels of more than 301 on Wednesday afternoon.

New Jersey state offices closed at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday due to worsening air quality conditions and will have a delayed 10 a.m. opening on Thursday.

Residents can check their local air quality at the AirNow website, which provides state, local and regional updates.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark schools cancel outdoor activities due to smoke from Canadian wildfires

2023-06-07T17:13:39+00:00

Newark Public Schools canceled outdoor recess and activities on Wednesday as smoke from Canadian wildfires enveloped the area.

School business administrator Valerie Wilson emailed school principals late Tuesday night about precautionary measures they should take in light of the unhealthy air quality in Newark. The city of Newark is also urging residents to take precautions during this time.

“We are monitoring this matter very carefully and with the guidance of health officials will make notifications of any changes,” said Nancy Deering, the district’s acting communications director, “Also, as a precautionary measure, all recess activities are being held inside.”

On Tuesday evening, red alerts were issued for Essex and surrounding counties for unhealthy air conditions as smoke began to enter the area from the hundreds of wildfires burning in Canada. On Wednesday morning, New Jersey residents woke up to smoke still clouding the area and state officials are expecting worsening conditions this afternoon.

Inhaling smoke and ash from wildfires could cause damage to the body, lungs, and heart, experts say. That could pose a special risk for communities such as Newark, where people are exposed to higher levels of pollution and are twice as likely to develop asthma, according to the Environmental Defense Fund.

The city of Newark is urging residents to take precautions as unhealthy air quality levels affect the area.

The district is using air filters in school areas due to the smoke and asked principals to ensure all windows remain closed on Wednesday. The city is also advising residents to stay indoors as much as possible and use an air purifier if one is available.

Due to unhealthy air conditions, sensitive groups such as young children, elderly residents, and people with asthma are advised to stay indoors.

Wilson’s email to principals did not mention safety precautions for students with asthma but nearly 600 employees districtwide are trained to support these students. While 1 in 10 kids across Essex County have asthma, in Newark, the rate is 1 in 4, according to the Environmental Defense Fund. In 2016 and 2019, two Newark children from the same school died of asthma attacks.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Newark Teachers Union posted a message on its Facebook page advising against outdoor recess today and recommending that asthmatic children and adults wear a mask outside.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the Newark Department of Health and Community Wellness continue to monitor the air quality and will issue updates as needed throughout the day.

Residents can check their local air quality at the AirNow website, which provides state, local and regional updates.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Roughly 10,000 Newark public school students need summer school this year, district says

2023-06-01T18:29:04+00:00

About 10,000 Newark Public Schools students — double the number from last year —are in need of mandatory summer school, a program that the district said will focus on filling academic gaps, reinforcing skills, and preparing students for the next school year.

In Newark, mandatory summer school is based on attendance, grades, and state test scores. Officials said the increase in students mandated to attend this year was due in part to the delayed release of last year’s state test scores, which were the first taken by students since 2019.

The scores, released in fall 2022, showed dismal results and highlighted the pandemic’s toll on student learning, prompting the district to identify “about 10,000 Newark students in need of summer school,” out of roughly 35,000 public school students, according to a district committee report.

Elementary students who do not attend within the first three days may lose their seats and high schoolers enrolled in the accelerated program must attend every day to keep their spots, according to the district website.

The number of students enrolled in summer school also doubled but the district did not provide exact numbers in its report. Last summer, more than 10,000 students between kindergarten and 12th grade attended the district’s summer programming, including mandatory summer school, according to a district press release.

“Tutoring and accelerated learning are two factors that are designed to assist us in addressing the impact of learning loss,” Nancy Deering, the district’s acting communications director, said in an email to Chalkbeat Newark. “The on-going support of parents and their families is extremely important and much appreciated.”

State tests known as the New Jersey Student Learning Assessment, or NJSLA, which Newark students took in spring 2022, showed 13% of students passed their math state tests while about 27% passed their English language arts exam. Learning loss, paired with the drop in math and language arts state test scores and concerns about student achievement, is leading Newark to double down on summer programs this year that target academic performance.

Summer school sites increased this year so students have “more opportunities,” said Superintendent Roger León during May’s school board meeting. He also said the city is “taking on seven sites to help us accelerate learning and mandatory summer school in the elementary schools.”

This year’s summer school program will “accelerate” learning and focus on student recovery from the learning loss experienced due to the pandemic, León added.

Newark will offer summer school at 14 sites for students entering kindergarten through eighth grade this fall. The district expanded its summer plus program, which combines academic and enrichment activities to improve math and reading skills and help students prepare for the next school year, according to the district’s summer programs brochure.

León also said this is the first time in decades that nearly all of the district’s high schools will be open during the summer. Dozens of academic and enrichment programs, including internships, will be offered for high schoolers this year.

Twelve schools will offer credit recovery for high schoolers to ensure students are on track to graduate and support those who have recently transferred into the district, the committee report noted. The report also said the district would offer students the opportunity to complete modules, but said it “is not an open option” for all.

High school students in the summer program will take non-core classes for learning acceleration to have “more opportunities during the school year for dual enrollment,” the district’s committee report said. The expectation is for over 2,800 high school students to participate in summer programs at the high school, according to the report.

Newark will also offer the “Future Leaders Program” to 50 students who will intern throughout district departments and get paid as part of the city’s summer youth and training program.

The Extended School Year program will also be available this year for students with disabilities. Students in this program require services beyond the traditional school year under their Individual Education Program and will receive academic and behavioral support in the morning.

The district will also offer the newcomers high school program designed to help English language learners who have recently arrived in the country. The program will be held at Barringer and East Side high schools and provides a learning environment to help students ease into a new high school, according to the district’s summer programs brochure.

During April’s school board meeting, León said the district will monitor the progress of students this summer and create an impact study during the summer or by the start of next school year. León also said students who attend charter, private, or parochial schools in Newark can also participate in the district’s summer enrichment programs.

Newark continues to accept staff applications for teachers interested in working during the summer. Currently, 23 instructional summer positions are open, according to the district’s job board page online.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark’s decision to appeal state-approved city charter school expansion sparks concern

2023-05-25T14:00:00+00:00

A Newark school board member raised questions about the district’s process for filing an appeal of a state-approved charter school expansion, saying the appeal had been filed without a board vote.

Crystal Williams, who was elected in 2022, then introduced a motion during Tuesday’s board meeting to withdraw the appeal. Her motion died for lack of a second by any of the other eight members on the board.

In February, the state approved North Star Academy’s charter school expansion of 492 additional seats, increasing enrollment from 7,300 to 7,792 by the 2025-26 school year, according to an approval letter obtained by Chalkbeat. North Star is one of the largest charter school networks in the city with six elementary, six middle, and two high schools.

But the district appealed the state’s decision in March, saying the charter school does not meet enrollment demands that warrant an expansion, places a financial burden on Newark Public Schools, and creates “a segregative effect” on the public school system, according to the appeal filed in the Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division. No court date has been set on the matter, according to the appellate court.

Newark Public Schools spokesperson Nancy Deering did not respond to comment on the discussion.

North Star’s expansion approval also comes after the state denied several requests for charter school expansions over the last few years.

“We believe that the appeal lacks merit for many reasons, including those in the Commissioner’s approval letter which cite the high achieving results of our students and North Star’s fiscal and organizational strength and stability,” said Barbara Martinez, a spokeswoman for North Star, in an email to Chalkbeat Newark on Wednesday.

During Tuesday’s board of education business meeting, Williams was the only board member to raise the concerns at the meeting and referenced New Jersey law, which states that “a district board of education or state district superintendent of the district of residence of a charter school may file an appeal.”

“We are under local control,” said Williams. “So this superintendent is not a state superintendent. It has to be voted on by the full board. When he or you decide to do court proceedings without our vote, you’re going around us.”

But Brenda Liss, the district’s general counsel, said “there is no rule that says that an appeal must be acted upon by the Board of Education” and that the law referenced by Williams is not “intended to delineate or address the relationship between the Superintendent and the Board of Education.”

North Star, which has been in Newark since 1997 and operates in the city’s south, central, and west wards, reported an enrollment waitlist of 633 Newark students and 133 non-resident students last year, according to the state’s approval letter. Although the school hasn’t met its maximum approved enrollment, North Star says all schools are at 90% capacity or more, according to the charter schools’ Jan. 2023 letter to the state justifying its need for an expansion.

“Though North Star is chartered for a higher number of seats in high school, the size of its current facilities makes it impossible to fill high school seats to capacity,” the letter read.

North Star’s letter also noted that “Newark is a growing city” and “should expect more students, more new schools, and with them more school funding.”

According to the Newark Public Schools budget approved in April, charter school payments make up the district’s second largest expenditure at $353.8 million, an $11.8 million increase from last year.

For the 2023-24 school year, Newark received an additional $114 million in state aid, or an increase of about 11% from last year.

Kyle Rosenkrans, executive director of the New Jersey Children’s Foundation, in an email to Chalkbeat on Wednesday said Liss’s statements about the district’s appeal process are contrary to state law and go back on the community strides to return Newark schools to local control.

“Newark was once a national model for charter-district collaboration, and no amount of Leon’s rhetorical gaslighting can hide the fact that he has single-handedly squandered the goodwill that many—including its elected school board—spent years to build,” Rosenkrans added.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Artificial intelligence could come to Newark public schools. What does that mean for student privacy and safety?

2023-05-23T10:00:00+00:00

The item tucked in a Newark Board of Education committee report was brief, just a few sentences that could have far-reaching implications for the district’s 35,000 students: Replace an outdated security camera system with a “next-generation surveillance platform.”

The new system would include more than 7,000 cameras districtwide — roughly one for every five students — equipped with artificial intelligence to recognize people and objects such as cars and guns, sensors to detect chemicals in vape pens, and remote access to live feeds for authorized staff.

The plan, to be funded in part by federal COVID relief dollars, drew little response at the school board’s monthly business meeting in March. The proposed system would vastly expand the district’s surveillance capabilities, going beyond traditional systems currently used in most districts.

Community advocates and security experts are raising alarms, saying such a system could violate student and staff privacy, lead to overpolicing of students, and not actually protect campuses.

Giovanna Castaneda, a youth organizer at Make The Road NJ, says keeping students safe means more than hiring security guards, installing metal detectors, or buying security cameras. She fears these tools could also be a way of “fueling the system of policing” in schools.

“Cameras can easily just be another way of watching students and punishing them,” Castaneda said.

The push to keep students safe has grown in the wake of a rise in school shootings year after year and high-profile tragedies, like those in Uvalde, Texas and Nashville, Tennessee. While many school districts across the country have ramped up security, new surveillance technologies that are far more complex than traditional cameras are emerging in districts like Newark, experts say.

Artificial intelligence cameras with facial recognition systems, cloud-based systems to manage and store information, and student social media monitoring software are among the tools that experts are seeing districts choose.

But some of these new technologies often come with little to no state or local oversight, critics warn. Without that scrutiny, they say, these tools could be misused, not as effective, or put student privacy at risk.

In Newark Public Schools, that committee summary report said the new camera system is needed because the district’s current security set-up is “outdated, inefficient,” pointing to no remote access, storage, and other limitations.

The report, written by the district’s office of information technology, spells out features officials are looking for: live feeds, higher-quality images, the ability to be programmed to record at certain times of the day, and the potential to track school buses.

Additionally, the system should work with security cameras and sensors to react to the sounds of a gun, glass breaking, and human screaming.

Although the district says it has not started its process to solicit a vendor for the new camera system, the goal is to “enhance security” and the plan is to receive bids before the start of next school year, according to acting communications director Nancy Deering. Officials plan to complete the installation by the end of 2023, Deering said.

In 2021, the district allocated $2.4 million in federal COVID money for security cameras, but Deering said it will not have a final budget for this security overhaul until it chooses a vendor. Officials plan to pick the “most suitable and most cost-effective solution,” Deering added.

But the lack of a firm plan and budget, experts warn, could leave the district vulnerable to aggressive marketing strategies that describe complex security tools and technology as an essential part of keeping students safe at a time when school shootings are a top concern for educators.

“I’ve done a lot of work on stories about school districts because they are one of the largest markets for security products in the United States,” said Conor Healy, director of government research at IPVM, a security and surveillance research group. “Schools tend to make very poor decisions when it comes to the security technology they buy.”

In 2020, the Baldwin County School District in Alabama spent $1 million on thermal cameras that the Food and Drug Administration later said were not authorized under the federal government, according to an IPVM and a CBS affiliate investigation. Similarly in 2022, the Daily Beast reported that more than 200 school districts nationwide purchased thermal scanners and cameras promoted as a way to detect fevers, but which would regularly fail.

Districts bolster security in the name of student safety

Newark is one of many districts nationwide seeking to boost security in the wake of mass shootings. New York City purchased door-locking systems to control who has access to school buildings. Districts like Chicago spent $73.3 million to add and upgrade security cameras and in Memphis, the district is slated to spend up to $6.3 million to bolster security.

And Newark Public Schools has already been increasing security for several years. The school district installed metal detectors to scan students for contraband and weapons and added six new patrol cars for school safety officers. It also provided its security guards with training including on bag scanners, active shooter response, and the drug and alcohol policy. Newark plans to hire more security guards and update its software to track school incidents.

At the state level, Gov. Phil Murphy approved multiple efforts to keep children in schools safe, including $6.5 million in federal COVID relief funds to have school districts digitize school building maps and make them available to first responders in emergency situations. The maps will include aerial views of school buildings, floor plans, and utility shut-offs among other information.

Murphy also approved legislation in August 2022 to require boards of education in each school district to develop and adopt a policy to establish a threat assessment team tasked with identifying students who might be a threat to school safety.

Newark’s plan to overhaul its camera system would be a more ambitious step to monitor students, staff, and those visiting schools.

John Abeigon, president of the Newark Teachers Union, says he is comfortable with adding thousands of cameras in district schools as long as they are kept out of classrooms and teacher’s lounges. In the past, he’s received complaints about cameras being inoperable at specific schools or during certain parts of the day, a problem when students or staff claim that they were injured in hallways or staircases.

“As long as they can maintain a service agreement and keep them operable, we have no issue with them,” Abeigon said.

Privacy and policing concerns grow as new technologies are implemented

While surveillance and security companies sell new tools by promising to promote safety and giving administrators a greater ability to monitor students, experts say officials should carefully weigh the sales pitch against student needs.

Companies such as Verkada and Rhombus market security tools that will “help manage school security” and “create safer schools.” These companies market artificial intelligence capabilities in their surveillance systems that can send real-time alerts to law enforcement agencies and track faces in school buildings.

Similar to facial recognition on phones, security cameras that use artificial intelligence can monitor and keep a log of faces. But these cameras could potentially misidentify items or students and monitor them in ways that could infringe on their privacy, said Dillon Riesman, a Skadden fellow at the ACLU-NJ who specializes in advocacy for civil rights and technology.

Security experts also warn that facial recognition features might not work as well on darker skin tones, posing an extra challenge for students of color who risk being misidentified. That could present a particular concern in a district such as Newark, where nearly 90% of students identify as Hispanic or Black, say policy experts at the American Civil Liberties Union New Jersey.

“These new technologies cost schools millions of dollars for systems and functionality and tools that the school might not need,” Riesman added, “or worse, might actively harm students.”

According to Deering, the Newark Public Schools spokesperson, artificial intelligence offers capabilities that the outdated camera system is not capable of, and says the district’s goal in acquiring these capabilities “is to enhance security, not penalize students.”

Experts also warn of privacy concerns due to hacking, since information is stored in cloud-like platforms. Verkada, for example, uses a cloud-based management system and has had its cameras hacked. Several workers were also accused of accessing the company’s facial recognition system to take and post photos of women at the company, according to CBS News and VICE. In response to the reporting, Verkada fired three employees who abused the company’s monitoring system and updated its systems following the hacking incident.

Verkada declined to comment on their previous hacking incident and employee misuse of facial recognition.

The company has also been accused of dubious marketing practices. It sold technology to public schools throughout North Jersey by recruiting a Bergen County superintendent to help connect the companies’ sales representatives to school employees, who would be offered incentives in exchange for sales meetings, according to VICE.

No legislative oversight over security cameras in schools

Under New Jersey law, school officials can install cameras to keep watch of areas “that could be monitored or patrolled by a person.” There are no strict rules on where they can be placed, but cameras are generally not allowed in bathrooms or locker rooms.

State law also says the best practice is for schools to provide notice of surveillance areas by placing signs near security cameras but it’s unclear if the practice is enforced.

In Newark, which has 3,000 classrooms across the district, Deering said officials cannot disclose where cameras will be placed for security purposes, but they are installed outside school buildings or near entrances.

The state provides districts with funding for school security projects and upgrades, but few guidelines on how to use the funds, according to ACLU-NJ.

During the 2020-2021 regular state legislative session, a bill to include security cameras in certain special education classrooms was introduced but ultimately died. During the 2022-2023 regular session, state Sen. Nia Gill introduced a bill to restrict the use of facial recognition technology and other “biometric recognition” by governmental entities but it failed to move forward.

Senate Majority Leader M. Teresa Ruiz and Senate education committee chair Vin Gopal did not comment on school surveillance technology regulations.

Joe Johnson, policy counsel at the ACLU-NJ, says the lack of state oversight over security and surveillance companies is a problem.

“It is left up to the school districts and sometimes that’s beneficial,” Johnson said. “But other times, students that live in one part of the state have a different experience, whether better or worse, than other students across the state.”

Advocates stress the importance of community engagement

As districts invest taxpayer dollars into these tools and systems, advocates say it’s important to include the community in discussions. In addition, bringing awareness about the implementation of new surveillance technologies could promote trust and better understanding for parents.

District spokesperson Deering said notice about Newark Public Schools’ plan to replace its outdated camera system would be provided to the community “at the appropriate time.”

Dave Maass, director of investigations at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said community oversight on how these technologies are implemented is important for school communities. Johnson, the policy counsel at ACLU-NJ, said school districts should work on getting “the information in front of parents and students” before new tools are implemented.

“Those conversations lead to a stronger school district because the local community can weigh in on what it is that the students need,” Johnson said.

Castaneda, the youth organizer, believes there needs to be a larger conversation on how funds are used to promote safe school environments. Those dollars could be better spent to tackle the causes that lead to students carrying guns, drugs, or engaging in violence, she said.

“It’s about getting to know the student and knowing where they come from, what they ate, what their family life is like, and getting at the root of the issue,” Castaneda added.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Low reading levels among New Jersey students spark new campaign aimed at improving literacy

2023-05-18T19:27:54+00:00

After an alarming drop in reading and language arts test scores among students in New Jersey, state and local advocates are urging education leaders to develop a plan to improve literacy in public schools.

The New Jersey Legacy of Literacy (NJLL) Coalition, a group launched by JerseyCAN, a statewide organization advocating for high quality education for public school students, is urging Gov. Phil Murphy, the state legislature, and the state’s department of education to adopt a statewide plan that addresses literacy in every public school.

Ensuring students can read is important for their long term success, said Paula White, executive director of JerseyCAN.

“You cannot access the curriculum if you cannot read well,” White added. “And by reading well, I don’t just mean calling out words and being able to decode, but also to have a level of comprehension.”

Historically, New Jersey fourth and eighth graders have fared better than the nation’s average in reading tests known as the “nation’s report card,” but saw dismal results in last year’s assessment.

Similarly, in the state’s English language arts test, only 49% of New Jersey students passed and only 27% of Newark public school students reached proficiency levels last spring, prompting advocates’ concern for student learning, especially among students of color.

Experts say reading is part of a developmental process that starts at a young age and impacts a child’s likelihood to graduate high school, pursue college, and ultimately a career.

It’s important to tackle the problem early on, White said, especially in third grade where reading levels “are a significant predictor” for reading levels in the eighth grade and beyond. Students of color in New Jersey are more at risk of falling behind as reading proficiency levels among Black third graders in public schools started to decline in 2019, before the pandemic, according to a report by The Racial Equity Initiative.

White calls the current reading crisis, an “achievement gulf,” alluding to the disparities in reading levels that began before the pandemic. That “gulf” can be a problem for Newark in the future if it fails to prepare its children for the workforce and potential jobs in the city, White added.

“If we don’t have a populace that is academically prepared to step into those roles then we run the danger of having some of those opportunities leave our state or folks coming into our state from elsewhere to take advantage of those opportunities,” White said.

In Newark, only 19% of third graders passed last year’s state reading assessment, the lowest of any grade in the city. More strikingly, 19% of third grade Hispanic students passed their English language arts test, and only 13% of third grade Black students met expectations.

Local groups like Project Ready, the Newark Trust for Education, and TFA New Jersey have already signed up to partner with JerseyCAN and participate in the coalition of groups from across the state to launch a layered plan that starts with a marketing campaign to bring awareness about the literacy gap in New Jersey public schools.

The work also focuses on a lobbying campaign to push the state legislature to define clear state directives and goals to address the reading gap, enable training for all public school teachers, mandate more significant notice to parents about their children’s reading levels, and instruct the state department of education to develop and implement a plan to address the gap. School districts should also be supported in choosing reading curricula as local districts in New Jersey make their own decisions on those items, White added.

Teachers are tasked with tackling the reading crisis but the goal, White said, is to ensure that “educators are trained in the science of reading” in order to prepare teachers to meet the demands of today.

It’s also important to ensure that young students are screened in early grades, so that if they show signs of reading challenges such as dyslexia, schools can provide early intervention and support, White added. Parents should also know whether or not their child is reading on grade level and easily find school level support if they’re not.

“There needs to be a really clear line in the sand that’s yes or no about where children stand,” White added.

Under the state’s 2024 budget, Murphy allocated $20 billion for pre-K-12 education, an increase of $1 billion over the current year. The additional funds are important but White says the state needs to focus on a clear vision to tackle the “achievement gulf” in reading.

“If we have the funds and we don’t have a clear vision and clear pathway, about how to get to our goals, it’s not going to amount to much,” White added.

The New Jersey Legacy of Literacy Coalition kicked off its “literacy tour” campaign on Wednesday in Newark with a screening of “The Right to Read,” a film that shines a light on the consequences of illiteracy, such as homelessness, unemployment, and incarceration. The group will also screen the film in Asbury Park on May 24 and in Camden on May 31.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark Public Schools renews consultancy contract with Malcolm X’s oldest daughter Attallah Shabazz

2023-05-11T17:35:27+00:00

The Newark Board of Education renewed a $200,000 contract with a consulting firm to work with two city high schools, including one named after the slain civil rights leader Malcolm X.

According to the renewal contract approved in March, the district rehired the firm Legacy Inc., “Everybody Has One,” founded and operated by Attallah Shabazz, the oldest daughter of Malcolm X, for a two-year period ending in August 2025. The initial contract, approved by board members in October 2021, also was for a two-year period and expires in October 2023.

The contract does not provide a detailed list of services offered by Shabazz and her company but says she will provide unspecified “global education enhancement consultancy.” The document points to the district’s need to hire a consultant with “an extensive global network” to provide services for the Newark School of Global Studies and Malcolm X Shabazz High Schools.

“The overall goal for the consultant is to assist principals and [the] district with developing strategic partnerships that will enhance the content major studies in Arabic language and International Relations, and Chinese language, STEAM fields and International Business,” the contract reads.

Both high schools have attracted media attention in recent years for tensions among students and staff. This school year, racial tensions at Global Studies prompted some students to transfer out of the high school and several teachers to resign. The district launched a corrective action plan at the school earlier this year, but details about the plan have not been shared with the public.

Last year, Shabazz High School grappled with violence, disorder, and low academic achievement. At that time, the district said reported incidents at Shabazz were investigated and addressed and steps to improve learning and safety at the school were taken.

Nancy Deering, acting communications director for Newark Public Schools, said Shabazz’s services are “extraordinary and unspecifiable” and allow the district to make use of her organization’s “personal and professional experiences without a specific limiting definition” in the contract. Shabazz also serves as a provost for the programs at the high schools, Deering added.

“Ambassador Shabazz supports our schools with establishing global programming,” Deering said. “She works with students and faculty to further establish relationships and exposure with international entities, and she brings individuals and opportunities that cannot be defined in a single consulting agreement.”

Shabazz did not respond to Chalkbeat Newark’s emailed questions about her work in the district.

In the renewal resolution, which was approved during the regular board meeting in March, the district said it did not solicit bids for the consultancy services due to “extraordinary unspecifiable services,” a practice allowed under New Jersey State law.

According to the contract posted online, the board “does not have the expertise or experience for the requested global education enhancement services”. The contract also says Shabazz’s firm will “serve as a strategist and technician” to assess and direct the Newark Board of Education Strategic Plan.

In February 2020, Superintendent Roger León and Shabazz met to “strategize major new initiatives at Malcolm X Shabazz High School and the Newark School of Global Studies,” prior to Global Studies’ opening in September of that year, according to a press release on the district’s website. It is unclear what initiatives Shabazz worked on at both high schools.

Shabazz’s company was established in the state on Sept. 8, 2020 and is based in Secaucus, according to a New Jersey Secretary of State business search.

Legacy Inc., “Everybody Has One,” was first founded in 1999 in Charlotte, North Carolina, before being dissolved and inoperable in 2009 for failing to provide annual reports, according to company filing history provided to that state.

The company was also registered in 2002 and 2009 in Nevada but its business license was permanently revoked after it failed to renew it causing the company to forfeit its right to do business there. According to the Nevada Secretary of State’s press office, a business enters a permanently revoked status if it fails to renew its business license after five years.

Shabazz’s company was also registered in 2003 in Los Angeles, California, but has been inactive since 2005, according to a California Secretary of State business search.

According to Shabazz’s biography and cover letter, the former Prime Minister of Belize recognized her as a “key advisor on International Cultural Affairs & Project Development.” In 2002, he appointed her as “the Ambassador-at-Large representing the country of Belize internationally and in perpetuity.”

Shabazz is a producer and writer with 38 years of providing keynote addresses while developing curriculums and programs for educational institutions, executive forums, diplomatic networks, penal systems, conferences, and human service organizations globally, according to her cover letter.

She is the oldest of six daughters born to Dr. Betty Shabazz and Malcolm X Shabazz.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark voters elect two incumbents and a newcomer to the school board

2023-04-27T10:30:00+00:00

Two incumbents on the Newark Board of Education won Tuesday’s election alongside their newcomer running mate as voters chose to keep the status quo among the board.

With roughly 94% of voting districts reported, 87% of voters also chose to pass Newark Public Schools’ $1.3 billion budget.

The “Moving Newark Schools Forward” slate, which was endorsed by Mayor Ras Baraka and other local and state leaders, secured three seats in a landslide win, according to preliminary results posted Tuesday night.

Their victory comes amid growing concern over the board’s transparency in decision-making, increasing rates of chronic absenteeism, and plans to support the district’s most vulnerable students. All eight candidates expressed disappointment in voter turnout and engagement as just over 3% of Newark voters participated in elections again.

Incumbents Josephine Garcia and Hasani Council received the bulk of the votes, each garnering roughly 23%. Their running mate Allison James-Frison, who had an unsuccessful run last year, received 22% as of Tuesday evening.

The latest numbers show sweeping victories over the three-member “Newark Kids Forward” slate, which combined, garnered less than a quarter of votes. Thomas Luna and James Wright Jr. each had roughly 8% of the votes, while Tawana Johnson-Emory had just under 7%, according to preliminary results.

Independent candidates Latoya Jackson, a hair salon owner, received less than 4% of votes and Ade’Kamil Kelly, a real estate agent and team leader at the Boys and Girls Club of Newark had just under 3%, according to the Tuesday night’s results.

Historically, voter turnout for the annual school board election has been low. Last year, roughly 3% of registered voters cast their vote. The county reported that just over 3%, or 4,963 Newark voters, participated in this year’s election. County data showed there were 9,578 in-person votes and 3,652 mail-in votes cast as of Tuesday evening.

Candidates discussed their efforts to engage voters in this year’s election and reverse Newark’s history of low voter participation. Garcia and her team visited churches, knocked on doors, handed out flyers, and recruited dozens of volunteers to help bring residents to the polls. With a third run for the board of education member, Garcia, who secured a third term on the board this year, said school board elections are “the hardest and most exhausting” of all races to get parents and the community to participate. She suggested moving the school board race to November.

In 2012, the state legislature passed a law allowing districts to switch their school board elections to the November general election. Until then, all school board elections were held in the spring and voters had a say on school budgets. Now only voters whose districts hold elections in April get to vote on school budget.

James-Frison also said she was shocked by the low turnout despite her slate’s efforts to get residents to vote. She hopes the community will engage in important school issues such as mental health, which she plans to tackle once she takes her seat on the board.

“I’d like to see more resources and services for not just students, but for the teachers and the parents because we all have to work together to make sure everybody’s mental stability is OK,” James-Frison said.

Like other candidates, Luna and his “Newark Kids Forward” slate knocked on doors and walked around neighborhoods to let people know about Tuesday’s election. Luna wasn’t surprised about the low voter turnout given his history of running in Newark’s school board elections but heard about issues with provisional ballots and people being directed to other voting locations the day of.

“Folks at Avon Avenue School, which is a typical voting location, were told it’s moved to Belmont Runyan. And that was like a very unpleasant surprise because nobody had known,” Luna said.

The Essex County election’s office did not respond to comments about Newark voting discrepancies at the time of publishing.

The issues Luna described could’ve helped increase voter turnout but as a two-time school board candidate, he feels there’s more to getting people engaged. He doesn’t think low voter turnout suggests residents don’t care.

“I think, for all of us involved with any of this work that is one of the underlying questions that we have to figure out because democracy does not survive when less than 10% of people are participating in it,” he said.

Those that ran independently also expressed concern over the community’s lack of engagement during the election. Jackson, who owns a hair salon in the West Ward, said it was hard to spread the word about her run for school board as a team of one. The lack of understanding and awareness about Newark’s school policies made it hard to get people in the neighborhood engaged in the election, Jackson said.

But what inspired her to run was her negative experience with her son’s discipline at Central High School and the need to feel heard as a parent and community member. This year’s election inspired her to go back to school and become more educated on civic matters.

“I don’t want to see our community separated. I don’t want to see us fighting each other,” Jackson added. “I want us to be educated and I feel like anything that makes you mad, should make you change something.”

The Newark Board of Education will meet on Thursday, May 11 for its annual reorganization board meeting.

Correction: April 28, 2023: About 3.1% of voters participated in this year’s school board election and roughly 3% of voters participated in the 2022 school board election. A previous version of this story said that just under 3% of Newark voters participated in this year’s election.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark Board of Education 2023 election: ‘Moving Newark Schools Forward’ slate leads in early results

2023-04-26T04:27:40+00:00

Newark school board incumbents Hasani Council and Josephine Garcia and their running mate Allison James-Frison appeared headed to victory in Tuesday’s board of education election, with 161 of 172 voting districts reporting.

The three are part of the heavily-backed “Moving Newark Schools Forward” slate, which has a track record of winning school board elections. Garcia and Council received the bulk of the votes with each garnering roughly 23% of votes. James-Frison, who had an unsuccessful run last year, received 22%, as of 9:49 p.m. on Tuesday.

Newark residents were also poised to approve next school year’s $1.3 billion budget, which includes an additional $114 million in state aid and is slated to help fund more teachers and provide more tutoring for students. Early results showed that nearly 87% of voters were in favor of the 2023-24 budget.

In the school board election, Thomas Luna and James Wright Jr. each had roughly 8% of the votes, as of 9:49 p.m., according to the county’s website, while Tawana Johnson-Emory had just under 7%, according to preliminary results. The three made up the “Newark Kids Forward” slate, which comes from charter school backgrounds. Luna is a science teacher at KIPP Rise Academy and Wright Jr. teaches at North Star Academy Washington Park High School.

Latoya Jackson, a hair salon owner, received less than 4% of votes and Ade’Kamil Kelly, a real estate agent and team leader at the Boys and Girls Club of Newark, had just under 3%, according to the preliminary results.

Historically, voter turnout for the annual school board election has been low. Last year, roughly 3% of registered voters cast their vote. The county reported that just over 3% of Newark voters participated in this year’s election.

As of Tuesday evening, 4,963 ballots were cast, according to Essex County data.

During the day on Tuesday, dozens of poll locations across the city were quiet as many sites saw a slow trickle of voters, according to voters and poll workers at various locations in Newark.

In the South Ward, a car with a sign supporting the “Moving Newark Schools Forward” slate drove down Clinton Avenue while playing the song “We Are Family” and encouraging residents to vote. Teenagers walked down residential streets in the city’s various wards, passing out flyers and showing passersby where they could vote.

At Blessed Sacrament Church in the South Ward, roughly 64 voters had cast ballots as of 4 p.m. Tuesday, according to numbers posted on the church’s basement wall.

“We think we can vote every four years for president, but people need to know there are other things we need to vote on too,” said Syervillia Sumler, a voter outside Blessed Sacrament Church on Tuesday. “Some don’t even know there’s an election today and then they start complaining about things later on.”

Newark school board members help create policies and make decisions for New Jersey’s largest school district. During this year’s budget presentation, superintendent Roger Leon said Newark Public Schools expects to receive more than 38,000 students next school year across its 62 schools with plans to open at least one new school in the fall in the city’s Central Ward.

Newark nonprofit groups have worked to increase voter turnout this year. Some purchased ad space to advertise the 2023 school board election.

Nonprofit groups such as Project Ready, the Newark Trust for Education, and the Newark branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People have worked to increase voter turnout this year. Each group has stressed the importance of participating in the school race by canvassing, hosting voter information events, and candidate debates. They’ve also placed multiple billboards and ads across various neighborhoods throughout the city.

The mayor’s field office on Clinton Avenue was also filled with volunteers helping pass out candidate flyers and election day information.

Ihsan Ali, the president of the Clinton Hill Block Club Coalition, said she was disappointed in Newark’s voter turnout history and believes something needs to be done to address the recurring pattern.

“This is for our babies. If we don’t make a change, no one else will,” Ali said. “We have to take the lead and be responsible for our children.”

Lyndon Brown, a 2022 Newark city council candidate and president of the city’s secondary parents council, said he expected another low-turnout election. He cast his vote at the firehouse in the West Ward and didn’t see many people.

“There have been a couple of debates with the candidates but some people just don’t know about the election or even know who’s running,” Brown said.

Melanie Amore was outside Malcolm X Shabazz High School on Tuesday passing out flyers for the mayor-backed slate of candidates. A lifelong Newark resident who attended the city’s public schools, Amore said she volunteered to post outside the high school starting at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday because she loves her community.

Melanie Amore was outside Malcolm X Shabazz High School on Tuesday passing out flyers to encourage Newark residents to vote in the 2023 school board election.

“It’s been a little slow since this morning and it’s kind of picking up but we’re pushing and making sure we all come in one accord to clean up our community,” Amore said.

Newark joins Cliffside Park, Fairview, Passaic, Totowa, Fredon, Montague, Irvington, North Bergen, Weehawken, West New York, and New Brunswick in holding April school board elections.

“People want the politicians to stick to what they’re saying,” Amore added. “They want better communication and more community outreach.”

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark Public Schools plans to install over 7,000 new security cameras districtwide

2023-04-12T10:30:00+00:00

Newark Public Schools plans to install more than 7,000 new security cameras and replace outdated ones as part of an initiative to ensure the continued safety of students and staff, the district said.

The plan was announced during last month’s board of education business meeting, where board members also raised questions about protecting student privacy. District leaders did not provide an estimated cost but said the initiative would be funded through federal COVID relief money after finalizing costs and a vendor to complete the project.

The push to upgrade security cameras in Newark schools dates back to 2021, when the district’s spending plan included $2.4 million to install or upgrade roughly 5,000 security cameras. Districts nationwide have also invested significant portions of their budgets and federal relief funds to upgrade security measures as worries over student safety grow following school shootings in Tennessee and Colorado.

The new camera system will replace the district’s current one and provide more coverage of the city’s public schools. During last month’s meeting, school board administrator Valerie Wilson said the district currently has blind spots in camera coverage. In some cases, she said, cameras can only be accessed by school staff and not by district officials and have limited recording storage.

The district plans to have a new camera system that can record at certain times of the day such as when students or staff are in range or when a car appears in view. Additionally, the system will be set up to work with sensors that can detect the presence of guns, chemicals in vape pens, and the sounds of a gun, glass breaking, or human screams, according to a board operations committee report.

During the business meeting, board Vice President Asia Norton raised concerns over student privacy, specifically the potential risks of system hacks and ensuring restricted access to specific staff.

Wilson said the new system will provide remote access to authorized district and school staff and also have the ability to track and monitor school buses. The security system should also provide higher quality images, a live feed, and artificial intelligence cameras that can be programmed to provide alerts and notifications. They will also help assist law enforcement with investigations as well as prevent any school incidents or intervene in student altercations, according to the operations report.

Details about the project’s estimated cost, systems under consideration, and installation timeline were not provided during the meeting. Nancy Deering, the district’s acting communications director, did not respond to questions about the project.

Newark, New Jersey’s largest school district, received roughly $287 million through three federal aid packages meant to help schools respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The district received approximately $84 million dollars of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, or ESSER II, and $182 million dollars in American Rescue Plan, or ARP, dollars. As of February, the district had spent roughly 74% of its ESSER II funds and 14% of its ARP funds. The majority of district departments are currently using ESSER II funds and have until September 2023 to use those dollars and until September 2024 to use ARP funds.

The district also provided its security guards with training in bag scanners, active shooter response, customer service, uniform inspection, the drug and alcohol policy, and student attendance. Newark also plans to hire more security guards and updated its software to track school incidents.

Last year, Gov. Phil Murphy approved multiple efforts to keep children in schools safe across the state.

In August 2022, New Jersey allocated $6.5 million in ARP funds to have school districts digitize school building maps and make them available to first responders in emergency situations. The maps will include aerial views of school buildings, floor plans, building access points, and utility shut-offs among other information.

About half of all 3,000 public and private schools throughout the state have already created the digital school building blueprints, known as “Collaborative Response Graphics” and created by Hamilton company Critical Response Group. The plan will apply to the 2023-24 school year.

The New Jersey School Board Association’s school security committee also recommends that school districts “periodically review” security plans, bolster security technology, and ensure “unobstructed” communication between school security personnel and emergency responders.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark’s summer school program to focus on learning loss, enrichment

2023-04-28T20:08:34+00:00

With the warmer months fast approaching, Newark is gearing up for summer school and parents can anticipate programs to help students recover academically and prepare for the next school year.

Registration for Newark Public Schools summer school began April 27, and summer school will run from July 5 to Aug. 4. The district released a complete list of programs in its online brochure.

As in past years, the district will hold mandatory summer classes for struggling students, programming for students with disabilities, and optional programs for all students led by community partners at various Newark schools.

This year, Superintendent Roger León said the summer school program will “accelerate” learning and help students recover from the learning loss experienced due to the pandemic.

León also stressed the importance of attending mandatory summer school for those students who may be at risk of falling behind. The extra instruction is intended to help to fill academic gaps, reinforce skills, and better prepare students for the next school year, the district said.

Mandatory summer school is usually based on attendance, grades, and student achievement on assessments, as well as recommendations of staff and parents, according to Nancy Deering, the district’s acting communications director.

The district will monitor the progress of students this summer and create an impact study during the summer or by the start of next school year.

Last year, over 10,000 students attended the district’s summer school; there are roughly 38,000 students enrolled this year. Newark held programs at 15 elementary school sites where students received academic instruction from the morning until noon and activities until 3 p.m. such as dance and swimming, with several community based partners.

The district also offered a STEM Academy and a Summer Visual and Performing Arts Academy. And some students participated in field trips to Turtle Back Zoo, the Liberty Science Center, and the Newark Museum.

What families can expect this summer

Not all school sites will be open for summer school, but the district plans on opening more sites than last year throughout the city so parents can limit the amount of travel for their children. Students can report to the school closest to their home this summer, León said.

During the day, students will receive breakfast at 8:30 a.m. and lunch at noon. Academic instruction will take place between 9 a.m. to noon. Students interested in participating in extra activities will be able to do so between 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. with an option for an extended day from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The Extended School Year program will also be available this year for students with disabilities. Students in this program require services beyond the traditional school year — as per their Individual Education Plan — and will receive academic and behavioral support in the morning.

High school students interested in participating in the summer credit recovery program will be provided with more information at their school.

This year, incoming ninth grade students can participate in the summer bridge program to help middle school students transition into high school.

Students interested in participating in summer programs must register before May 15.

León says teachers are critical to summer success

Newark is currently accepting staff applications for teachers interested in working summer school and soliciting applications for community organizations looking to host afternoon activities for students.

The “attendance of teachers is critical” to student participation in summer programs, León said.

Teachers will work between 8:30 a.m and 12:30 p.m. and community partners between noon and 6 p.m.

“We are creating all the programs and we need as many people who feel they can help to join us,” León added.

Transportation options are available to students

Some students may be eligible for transportation based on the distance between their home and summer school site.

Students eligible for transportation will receive confirmation of the shuttle pick up and drop off locations with their “Enrollment Confirmation Letter,” according to the district.

Extended School Year students will receive transportation as outlined in their Individual Education Plans. The Office of Special Education will work with families to set up specific transportation arrangements.

Last year, transportation was not provided for the Extended Day Program that runs until 6 p.m. Families were responsible for arranging student pick-up from this program.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark school board approves $1.3 billion budget with increases for teaching positions, ed-tech

2023-03-31T10:30:00+00:00

The Newark Board of Education approved a $1.3 billion 2023-24 budget on Wednesday that includes an increase in funding to expand teaching positions, as well as an increase in payments to charter schools.

The spending plan for Newark Public Schools also includes increased transportation spending, adding an additional grade level to schools, a prekindergarten expansion in several schools, and more funding for students with disabilities and English language learners.

Residents will be able to vote on the budget in approximately four weeks during this year’s school board election on April 25.

The budget is designed to support Superintendent Roger León’s 10-year plan, which is known as “The Next Decade” and is in its third year. The district said it expects to receive more than 38,000 students next school year across its 62 schools. León said they plan to use funds to “aggressively” tackle learning loss driven by the pandemic by continuing to support programs such as tutoring.

The budget also includes funding for the district to provide new Chromebooks for certain grades and renovations to classrooms and other parts of school facilities.

In the budget, roughly 86% of the district’s funding next year would come from a projected $1.2 billion in state aid included in Gov. Phil Murphy’s budget proposal released earlier this month. That represents an additional $114 million in state aid, or an increase of about 11%, from last year. State lawmakers have until June 30 to approve the governor’s budget.

The district’s budget is supplemented by $138.3 million from local property taxes, which remains the same for the third year in a row. It also includes an extra $44 million in combined revenue from the district’s excess fund balance of $33.9 million, as well as separate federal and local revenue of $10.1 million anticipated for the upcoming school year.

Despite the increase in state aid, Newark remains $27.7 million short of the budget recommended by the formula in New Jersey’s School Funding Reform Act, said Valerie Wilson, the district’s school business administrator. Regardless, Newark taxpayers will see no increase on their property taxes for the third year in a row under the 2023-24 budget, but Wilson warned that will be an exception rather than the norm moving forward.

The district has until October 2024 to use up its remaining federal COVID relief, which the district has used on technology, teaching and learning, security, and to improve aging facilities. Board member Vereliz Santana called the federal funding a “once in a generation” opportunity that has helped Newark schools improve and recover from funding deficiencies experienced when the district was under state control.

Budget prioritizes tutoring and technology

District leaders said they will continue working on bringing students up to speed following the pandemic and are placing extra emphasis on high-dosage tutoring — or one-to-one tutoring at least three times a week — next school year.

León said he expects to see more students attending tutoring (after and before school) in the next school year.

“High dosage tutoring is extremely important towards accomplishing the goals of all of the deficiencies that students may have because of the learning that they have lost,” León said.

The budget includes León’s plans to spend an extra $1 million to expand pre-K at 11 elementary schools, and another $3.2 million to increase the number of grade levels in eight schools.

León also said his team plans to allocate funds for wraparound services for students in pre-K to grade 3 and provide more summer school programming for middle school students and eighth graders transitioning into high school.

Students in kindergarten, fifth, and ninth grade will be issued new Chromebooks next school year as part of the district’s continuation of a one-to-one Chromebook initiative for all students.

Newark hiring more aides for students with autism

The budget’s largest spending category is $470.8 million set aside for salaries, including the hiring of new teachers, aides, and support staff.

Newark expects to open 220 additional instructional positions next school year consisting of 141 new teachers over last year’s plan. The positions include the addition of 46 aides to help with its autistic students (as Newark experiences a spike in autism cases), an extra five positions for administrative positions, and another 28 for school support.

In total, the district is budgeting for 3,084 teacher positions, 315 positions for aides, 377 administrative positions, and 782 positions for school support.

At the start of this school year, the district welcomed 600 new teachers, but from May to October of last year, 325 employees resigned, according to data from the Newark Teachers Union.

The budget includes $154.2 million to cover increased health benefits. It also includes $870,000 for travel expenses and $17.4 million for professional development, the maximum allowed expenditures for these categories.

Charter payments to rise by over $11 million

Charter school payments make up the district’s second largest expenditure at $353.8 million, an $11.8 million increase from last year.

The state approved the expansion of two Newark charter schools this year allowing the schools to increase enrollment at their campuses by a combined 532 seats.

According to state estimates, the district should budget for $384 million in charter aid. But Newark schools “feels confident” the budgeted amount will cover charter expenses, Wilson said. If costs rise, the district could face an additional $30 million in cuts to the budget, Wilson added.

In August, the board of education spent just over $7 million on a contract with 20 transportation companies to service 126 routes to schools. In January, the district launched a monthly bus pass for its high school students.

Newark focusing on renovations, English learners

Newark will open the Nelson Mandela Elementary School this fall, which will be located at the former University Heights charter school location, and will enroll students in pre-K-4 grade in its first year. The new school is part of the district’s broader plan to open more schools and expand others.

In addition to that new school, the district plans to upgrade its schools, purchase new classroom furniture, and begin renovations in buildings, cafeterias and other school areas by committing an extra $26 million this year for the work.

Another $9 million this year is set aside for facilities initiatives such as renovations for the pool at the Chancellor Avenue annex, across the street from Weequahic High School and the West Side High School Greenhouse.

Additionally, the district continues to work on installing contactless water fountains across all its schools. Last October, the district approved a $5 million contract to install them district-wide.

Roughly 20% of Newark students have disabilities and require additional support such as in-classroom aides and speech therapy services.

The district projects students with disabilities will continue to grow in the district, and are allocating an extra $1.9 million to hire 30 special education teachers. An additional $1.5 is set aside to hire 46 full time employees to support these students.

English language learners make up 25% of the district’s total population and are expected to grow as the city’s demographics change over time. The district is committing an extra $2.2 million to hire 36 bilingual teachers, and an additional $1.6 million to hire 26 ESL teachers.

Additionally, León is launching a newcomers next school year to provide students personalized support to learn and grow within the district and community.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Have a question for the Newark school board candidates? Help us develop Chalkbeat’s voter guide.

2023-03-22T18:55:50+00:00

As eight candidates get their campaigns underway for the Newark school board election in April, Chalkbeat Newark wants to know what questions residents and school stakeholders have for the contenders.

The questions will be key in creating our annual voter guide, a user-friendly interactive feature with essential information about candidates’ positions to help voters make informed decisions at the polls on April 25.

Send us your questions by Thursday, March 30.

The eight candidates, including incumbents Hasani Council and Josephine Garcia, are running to fill three three-year seats on the nine-member board. Flohisha Johnson, a board member since 2017, is not running for a third term.

Council and Garcia, along with returning candidate Allison James-Frison, are running jointly on the “Moving Newark Schools Forward” slate. Historically, this slate has strong endorsement from a coalition that includes Mayor Ras Baraka, charter-sector leaders, and other powerful politicians — not to mention a substantial cushion of cash.

Returning candidate Thomas Luna, a charter school science teacher, along with newcomers Tawana Johnson-Emory and James Wright Jr., comprise another slate on the ballot, “Newark Kids Forward.”

Newcomers Latoya Jackson and Ade’Kamil Kelly round out the remaining two candidates on the ballot.

Among the Newark Board of Education’s responsibilities are approving spending; hiring, evaluating, and firing the superintendent; and setting policies and goals for the district — big picture tasks. The school board also must hold the superintendent responsible for implementing policies and meeting established goals.

Chalkbeat Newark wants to know what questions you have for the candidates and what you think they should prioritize if they win on April 25. Let us know by filling out the form below by Thursday, March 30.

If you are having trouble viewing this form, go here.

Newark candidates seek three school board seats in New Jersey’s largest school system

2023-03-17T10:30:00+00:00

Newark voters will choose from a list of new and returning candidates when they cast their ballots April 25 in this year’s school board election.

Eight candidates are vying for three seats on the nine-member Newark Board of Education. Two board members are running for reelection along with two returning candidates and four newcomers. Newark residents will also vote on next school year’s budget, which is set for a public hearing at the end of the month.

Incumbents Josephine Garcia and Hasani Council are running for reelection with last year’s candidate, Allison James-Frison, on the “Moving Newark Schools Forward” slate. Historically, the slate has garnered support from state and local politicians, including Mayor Ras Baraka and state Senate Majority Leader M. Teresa Ruiz.

Thomas Luna is also running again and is joined by newcomers Tawana Johnson-Emory and James Wright Jr. on the “Newark Kids Forward” slate, a team of local parents and teachers. First-time candidates Latoya Jackson and Ade’Kamil Kelly are also running.

The three winning candidates will serve three-year terms.

Annual school board election voter turnout has been low for years, hovering around 3%-4% of registered voters. Nonprofit groups like Project Ready have started work to increase Newark voter turnout and stressed the importance of participating in the school race, three years after the board voted to regain local control of its school system.

Board members will make important decisions about policies to address learning loss in the district as well as mental health challenges among young people. They also will have to address the needs of students with disabilities as autism cases spike in the city and the growing number of English language learners in New Jersey’s largest school district. School board members also meet with district officials in monthly committee discussions on programs and instruction, personnel, policy, and finance, among other topics. The board also picks and holds the superintendent accountable.

Garcia was elected in 2017 and is one of the longest-serving board members. Council joined the board in 2020. James-Frison ran last year and is the founder of the Girls; Live, Love, Laugh organization that provides educational opportunities for Newark’s girls.

Garcia, Council, James-Frison, and Jackson did not respond to questions on their candidacies.

Luna also ran in last year’s school race and is a science teacher, and community organizer. His slate consists of newcomers Wright, a Newark teacher, and Johnson-Emory, a parent. In an email, the slate candidates called themselves “the only grass-roots team” and “the only team funded by people.”

“The Newark Kids Forward team is running because now, more than ever, kids and families deserve independent champions, not political loyalists, who will fight for them daily,” wrote Luna in an email on behalf of his slate. “We bring a community-built vision of what education can and should be for everyone.”

Kelly, a real estate agent and team leader at the Boys and Girls Club of Newark, is running for a seat on the board for the first time. He said he is tired of the lack of accountability in the district and has spoken at multiple board meetings about issues such as speeding near schools and problems with the Newark School for Architecture and Interior Design.

“We have a $1.2 billion budget. You can’t play with that,” Kelly said. “When I look at the services and what our students are getting and what our schools are like, it doesn’t reflect that. We deserve better, we deserve accountability, we deserve leadership.”

Newark residents will also vote on the district’s 2023-24 school year budget set for a public hearing on March 29. The budget was $1.2 billion for the 2022-23 school year and included $138.3 million from the local tax levy. The district received roughly $1 billion in state aid. Last month, the district said the tax levy would remain the same this year.

Newark residents can vote in person April 25 at their designated polling location or by mail.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark charter shut down by the state to reopen as an elementary school

2023-03-09T20:51:55+00:00

Newark Public Schools is seeking to reopen a building that used to house a charter school that was shut down by the state nearly nine months ago.

University Heights Charter School, a network of three charter schools, closed last June after struggling to improve student test scores, increase enrollment, and retain its leadership team across its schools, according to a letter from the state’s department of education. The district now plans to use the facility for an elementary school.

In February, the Newark Board of Education approved a resolution to acquire the four-story property at 66-78 Morris Avenue in the city’s Central Ward. The building is the location of the former charter network’s elementary school, which had a troubled history before the state revoked its charter, a move that created disruptions for its students and families.

Newark schools proposes to use the .73-acre property as a pre-K-8 school and a maximum enrollment of 275 students, according to the board’s resolution. The building and land are valued at roughly $6.6 million, according to property records. The new property is part of the school district’s five-year capital plan.

The district’s acting communications director, Nancy Deering, did not respond to questions about the district’s plan for the new school.

University Heights opened in 2006 with just over 900 students through the support of Newark’s Bethany Baptist Church. A pre-K-8 school located between Hartford and New Streets, the 34,000 square foot property was home to roughly 600 Newark students before shutting down last year.

The state department of education officially revoked University Heights’ charter on June 30, 2022. It sent the charter network its decision in a letter dated June 1, citing low academic performance and leadership changes from previous years.

Before the school’s closure in June, teachers and students protested the closure by walking through the neighborhoods of their Newark school. The New Jersey Public Charter Schools Association also argued the closure, saying the state’s “late notification” of its decision left families scrambling to find a new school for their children last summer and worrying about additional expenses like summer school and new uniforms.

Newark Public Schools reopened the enrollment window for families of University Heights students, but many said their preferred choices were already full. The charter network was set to start summer school on July 6. Roughly 400 families had already signed up for the free program.

University Heights administrators blamed previous school leaders for the pre-pandemic low test scores that factored into the state’s decision to shut down the charter network. During the 2018-2019 school year, the charter school’s test scores ranked among the bottom 5% of high-poverty schools in the state, leading the state to designate it as a low-performing school.

In 2019, the school was put on probation after the state found issues with improving its student academic performance, declining enrollment, and frequent leadership changes.

The charter network included its elementary school, located on 74 Hartford Street, its lower school, also on Hartford Street, and Junior High School, on Fulton and Broad Streets.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

New Jersey designates 25 Newark schools needing comprehensive or targeted support

2023-03-01T00:49:03+00:00

New Jersey has identified 25 underperforming schools in Newark, according to guidelines under federal law.

Those schools have been identified as needing comprehensive or targeted support and improvements to raise student achievement.

Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, known by its acronym ESSA, New Jersey must ensure that all students have access to a high quality and equitable education. The act also sets minimum requirements around measuring and reporting school performance and providing support to schools that need the most help.

All Newark schools are identified as Title I schools, in which at least 40% of children enrolled come from low-income families. Under ESSA, Title I schools can be identified as needing comprehensive, targeted, or additional targeted support and improvement depending on a school performance score.

The state uses a formula to determine a performance score and identify which schools need support. Using the New Jersey ESSA accountability system, the state looks at a school’s academic achievement, academic growth for elementary and middle schools, graduation rates for high schools, English language proficiency, and chronic absenteeism and designates a score.

Comprehensive schools perform at or below the bottom 5% of Title I schools or have a graduation rate of 67% or lower. No high school in Newark has a graduation rate of 67% percent or lower, said Superintendent Roger León during February’s school board business meeting.

Targeted schools are those that have one or more underperforming student groups, such as a specific student demographic, students with disabilities, and English learners. Schools that have a student group that is “consistently underperforming” are identified as needing additional targeted support. No school in Newark was identified as in need of this, León said.

25 Newark schools need comprehensive or targeted support

Eight schools entered Comprehensive Status:

Abington Avenue Elementary
Avon Avenue Elementary
Roberto Clemente Elementary
Michelle Obama Elementary
Sir Isaac Newton Elementary
Speedway Elementary
Harriet Tubman Elementary
West Side High School

Five schools entered Targeted Status:

Camden Street Elementary
Hawkins Street Elementary
Mount Vernon Elementary
Park Elementary
Sussex Avenue Elementary

Two schools moved from Comprehensive to Targeted Status:

George Washington Carver Elementary
Chancellor Avenue Elementary

Two schools continue Comprehensive Status:

Eagle Academy
Newark Vocational High School

Three schools continue Targeted Status:

Hawthorne Avenue Elementary
Luis Muñoz Marin Elementary
Peshine Avenue School

Five schools enter Comprehensive II Status:

Barringer High School
Rafael Hernandez Elementary
Quitman Street School
Malcolm X Shabazz High School
Weequahic High School

The state’s education department found eight Newark schools needing comprehensive support and five schools needing targeted support.

Additionally, two schools previously identified as needing comprehensive support moved to targeted status, two schools continue needing comprehensive support, and three schools continue needing targeted improvement.

The state also moved five schools to comprehensive II status, a designation for schools that need comprehensive support again but didn’t meet the state’s criteria to exit the category this year.

Under ESSA, these schools are provided with Title I funds meant to help schools raise the performance of the lowest-achieving students. Schools needing comprehensive or targeted support must write an action plan and receive additional funding to support student intervention strategies. Leòn did not say when schools must submit an action plan.

“The first strategy is making sure that people are aware,” said León during the meeting. “Making sure that [schools] engage stakeholders is a critical component in creating this plan moving forward.”

Of the remaining schools, 28 were not identified for any designation, six exited comprehensive status, and three schools exited targeted status this year. The schools that exited a state designation this year must write a sustainability plan.

New Jersey usually makes its school identifications using two consecutive years of data, but under the COVID-19 State Plan Addendum, the state used data from the 2018-19 and 2021-22 school years this year due to pandemic learning disruptions.

New Jersey has its own ESSA plan and requires district and school leaders to engage families and community members to help identify the challenges a school needing comprehensive or targeted support faces and create a plan to address those.

León said Newark will remind parents of their school’s status at back-to-school nights, grade-level meetings, community meetings, and at the annual Title I parent conference, usually held in the fall.

“Making sure that we’re sharing this information becomes extremely important,” León added during the February business meeting.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

NJ Gov. Phil Murphy announces statewide expansion of AP African American course

2023-02-14T23:32:26+00:00

New Jersey will expand Advanced Placement African American Studies courses to 26 schools statewide, including six in Newark, starting next school year.

Gov. Phil Murphy made the announcement at Science Park High School on Tuesday while discussing the history of slavery with students in the school’s African American History class. Currently, Union County Vocational Technical High School is the only New Jersey school that offers the AP course.

“We want to expand the story and tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, even when it hurts,” said Murphy, a Democrat. “Our people of all races and ethnicities will be stronger for it, our society will be stronger, our country will be stronger and better for it.”

Currently, Newark offers an African American History curriculum that includes lessons on the contributions and struggles of Black people in the United States. Students learn about ancient Africa, the enslavement of African people in the U.S., and the struggle for civil rights, among other topics. The curriculum was created in 2020 thanks to a push from advocates who demanded Newark schools devote more time to African American history.

Much like Newark’s curriculum, the recently released College Board framework for the course will explore the “Origins of the African Diaspora” as well as “Movements and Debates.” In August, College Board rolled out the AP course across 60 schools nationwide as part of the first stage of its two-year pilot program with an initial draft framework. Next school year, the pilot expands to hundreds of high schools nationwide, including New Jersey. Pilot students take the first AP African American Studies exam in the spring of 2024 and all schools can begin offering the course during the 2024-25 school year.

But after disapproval from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Republican leaders, College Board released its official course framework earlier this month and removed much of the criticized content from the initial draft, including Black queer studies, reparations, and an example of the writings of poet and activist Amiri Baraka, father of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, among other notable activists.

“This begins with Gov. Ron DeSantis in Florida. And it’s unacceptable and frankly shameful,” Murphy said.

Murphy’s news comes nearly a month after DeSantis blocked the new course from being taught in Florida public schools, alleging it violated a state law that restricts how race and racism are taught.

“There are people who have fought, even lost their lives to make sure that there were not just African American studies but women’s studies, Chicano studies, Asian studies,” Baraka said. “And it just doesn’t make sense that the College Board would limit the universal ideas that are available in this country.”

Now, Newark and other districts in New Jersey that include the new course will have to decide if they will incorporate much of what the College Board removed.

Murphy said it’s up to districts “to build back into the curriculum, as they see fit.”

Additionally, New Jersey leaders will have to address inequities among students of color who take AP courses in the state. During the 2020-21 school year, less than half of Black and Hispanic juniors and seniors across the state took at least one AP or IB class, compared to 41% of white students and 68% of Asian students.

Acting Commissioner of Education Dr. Angelica Allen-McMillan and Superintendent Roger León were also in attendance Tuesday as they heard from Alnazir Blackman, who teaches the African African American History class at Science Park and will teach the AP course at the school next year.

“As painful as this might be, including for nonblacks in this country, we have to face this history straight up,” Murphy said.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark nonprofit celebrates “votingtine’s week” to raise voter turnout in this year’s school board election

2023-02-14T21:45:37+00:00

A local nonprofit is rebranding Valentine’s Day to get residents to “fall in love with voting” ahead of the Newark school board race in April.

This week, Project Ready, a Newark-based nonprofit organization, is celebrating “votingtine’s week” by visiting schools, registering parents to vote, and encouraging participation in the upcoming Newark Board of Education election on April 25. With only 3% of voters participating in last year’s school board race, Project Ready hopes to increase this year’s turnout.

“One of the things we think that could be missing is that people have fallen out of love with democracy,” said Shennell McCloud, Project Ready’s chief executive officer. “Perhaps they’re a bit untrusting of democracy, untrusting of the process or perhaps they don’t know about the process.”

Voter turnout at the annual school board election has been low for years, hovering around 3%-4% of registered voters. But organizations like Project Ready are educating residents about the significant impacts school board elections can have on children. This year, three seats on the school board are up for election and Newark voters decide who fills them.

“All politics are local and what’s unfortunate is that what we’ve seen, over the course of the years, a complete decline in voting in local elections,” McCloud said. “So we’re taking this week where it’s originally a week of love and trying to spread the love of voting.”

On Monday, McCloud and her team were at the Great Oaks Legacy Middle School motivating West Ward residents to vote this spring and encouraging students to tell their parents about the election. With the help of a Ben and Jerry’s truck, dozens of students and community members received free hot chocolate, cookies, flowers, and information about the upcoming election.

“I didn’t even know there were school board elections happening,” said one parent as McCloud handed them a voter registration form.

This year, school board incumbents Josephine Garcia, Flohisha Johnson, and Hasani Council must decide if they will seek reelection or vacate their seats when their terms expire at the end of the year. Both Garcia and Johnson were elected in 2017 and are the longest standing board members. Council joined the board in 2020. In April, Newark voters will decide who gets a three-year term on the board.

McCloud hopes to reach roughly 1,000 Newark residents through their weeklong event. She says her group has been “intentional” about getting out the vote especially after controversy over Superintendent Roger León’s contract renewal.

“I want to makes sure people don’t miss any more moments like that. Community voice is the most important voice,” McCloud.

In addition to school board elections, Newark residents will also vote on the district’s 2023-24 school year budget. Preliminary budget reviews and meetings are currently being held ahead of the March 29 public budget hearing. Last year’s budget landed at $1.2 billion for the 2022-23 school year and included $138.3 million from the local tax levy. The district received roughly $1 billion in state aid.

Project Ready and the Ben and Jerry’s truck will visit KIPP BOLD and THRIVE Academy and Central High School on Valentine’s Day and Achieve Community Charter School and Avon Avenue School on Thursday.

The last day for candidates to file is on March 6 and ballot drawings will be held on March 15, board president Dawn Haynes said at the Jan. 24 business meeting. Residents must send in their vote-by-mail ballots by April 18 or vote in person on April 25.

For more information on how to register to vote visit Project Ready.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org .

Is your student facing barriers in getting to school every day? Tell us why.

2023-02-08T21:53:57+00:00

Newark Public Schools has a history of poor attendance rates and chronic absenteeism among its students. The pandemic disrupted student learning and in-person interactions, further eroding school attendance.

To better understand the barriers to attendance, Chalkbeat Newark is looking to speak with students, parents, guardians, educators, and family members who know or have a student who’s missed school in a Newark public school and the challenges they face in getting there.

Regularly missing school can be disastrous for students and may lead to lower test scores and a higher risk of dropping out. The district continues to average a 91% daily attendance rate but schools with high average daily attendance may still have a core group of chronically absent students.

Students are considered severely chronic if they miss ten school days or more a year and chronically absent if they miss less than nine and a half during that same time frame. In a month, a student is chronically absent if they miss more than two days and severely chronically absent if they miss more than three and a half school days.

According to experts, students who miss that much school tend to have a greater risk of getting in trouble with the law, among other negative impacts.

Newark absenteeism is on the rise this year and exceeds fall 2019 rates, when 17% of students were chronically absent, but remains behind fall 2020 rates when 32% of students were chronically absent during remote learning.

Chronic absences sometimes vary from year to year for different reasons that can be tough to pinpoint. This year, Newark school leaders are grappling with pandemic-era challenges and barriers to getting to school such as transportation issues, housing instability, student illness, and school learning environments as they work to get students in classrooms.

A look at the district’s fall data shows that roughly 21% of students were chronically absent from September to December 2022, with 8% of those students considered severely chronic, according to Newark Public Schools in January.

In November, just over 35% of the district’s students were reported as chronically absent, with roughly 12% of students categorized as severely chronically absent that month, according to data presented by the Newark Board of Education. The numbers reflect a roughly 4% increase from the previous month when 31% of students were reported as having a chronic absence.

The district has used attendance campaigns to motivate students to get to school every day in the past. This year, it launched an incentive program offering gift cards and tickets to New Jersey Devils home games to students at four high schools to help reduce chronic absenteeism among high school students.

Some students can find motivation in rewards programs that incentivize students to be in school, but those who are chronically or severely chronically absent may need more intensive support to address their attendance issues, according to Hedy Chang, the executive director for the national nonprofit Attendance Works.

Does your student face barriers in getting to school? Has the pandemic made it harder for your student to attend classes regularly? Please fill out the survey below to help us understand what’s causing chronic absenteeism in Newark and why students are struggling to get to school.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

National nonprofit, Newark synagogue to build new playground at Lincoln Elementary

2023-01-31T21:15:36+00:00

Students at Lincoln Elementary School will have a new place to run and play by the end of the year thanks to a new initiative to expand access to green spaces and recreational areas in Newark.

Most of the city’s public schoolyards are covered in asphalt and organizations such as the national nonprofit Trust for Public Land and Newark’s Congregation Ahavas Sholom are partnering with Newark Public Schools to redesign outdoor playgrounds.

Last week, the Newark Board of Education approved a partnership with Trust for Public Land and Ahavas Sholom to design and build a new playground at Lincoln School at no cost to the district.

The roughly $2 million project is funded through the Green Acres Grant Program and the Local Recreation Improvement Grant.

“A park at Lincoln Elementary provides an opportunity for the school and community to benefit from outdoor learning and living spaces,” said Nancy Deering, acting communications director for Newark Public Schools.

Of the 90,000 public schoolyards across the country, less than 1% are green and open to the public after school and on weekends according to data from Trust for Public Land. Concrete and asphalt yards contribute to urban heat islands with their effects most prominent during the warmer months. Newark is one of the nation’s worst heat islands.

Lincoln School, located in the city’s Vailsburg neighborhood in the West Ward, was built in 1916 and expanded during the 1930s as part of the Works Progress Administration projects instituted by President Franklin Roosevelt. Currently, the schoolyard is covered in asphalt with little play equipment.

In Newark, 94% of the population lives within a 10-minute walk of a park, according to Trust for Public Land’s 2022 ParkScore Index, but for the remaining 17,321 people without access to a nearby park, Trust for Public Land is prioritizing the redevelopment of playgrounds in schools such as Lincoln and other outdoor spaces to reduce the gap.

“We believe every student, faculty member, and resident of Newark should have a community schoolyard that supports the social, emotional, and academic development of Newark’s children,” said Scott Dvorak, Trust for Public Land’s New Jersey state director. “We intend to continue our work until we have achieved that goal.”

Construction is set to begin over the summer and fall of this year pending permit approvals and the construction bidding process, according to Dvorak. Once completed, nearly 500 students and school staff, as well as the area’s more than 8,000 residents, will have access to the schoolyard by the end of this year.

According to the agreement between Trust for Public Land and Newark Public Schools, the nonprofit will work with school administrators, teachers, students, the local community, and other stakeholders to design the playground.

In 2015, Trust for Public Land and Ahavas Sholom, helped renovate the Sussex Avenue School schoolyard, which was also covered in asphalt and had one basketball hoop. Students at the school helped design the new space and all grades voted on what they wanted. The new half-acre schoolyard was designed to include a turf field, running track, and a drinking fountain on the playground for the first time. The yard also includes a seating area, fashioned from large granite blocks, that functions as an outdoor classroom.

Historically, communities of color and low-income neighborhoods have less access to green spaces. Previously, Trust for Public Land has helped transform 13 parks and schoolyards in Newark’s highest-need neighborhoods including Newark Riverfront Park, Jesse Allen Park, and Lafayette Street School as well as 200 schoolyards nationwide.

They receive financial support from national and state agencies and other nonprofits.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org

Newark school board blocks attempt to stop superintendent’s contract renewal

2023-01-27T04:23:05+00:00

A Newark school board member’s attempt to stop Superintendent Roger León’s contract renewal and to allow public input went nowhere Thursday, following continued questions about transparency of the process.

Board member Crystal Williams, who was elected last year, introduced a motion to issue a letter of nonrenewal to León before Jan. 31 “in order to reassess his contract” and “give the public the opportunity to voice their concerns.” But the motion died for lack of a second by any of the other eight members of the Newark Board of Education.

Williams’ motion was the first challenge by a board member since last week’s revelation that León’s contract was quietly renewed in May 2022. Once that renewal takes effect on July 1, 2023, León’s term will extend to June 30, 2028, according to his contract.

“The voice of the community is paramount,” said Williams as she introduced the motion. “Let’s take their concerns seriously and do this the right way; there’s no reason to go around it.”

Dozens of Newark parents, teachers, students, and advocates filled the room during Thursday’s board of education meeting and raised a range of issues affecting public school students. Current and former students at Newark’s School of Global Studies brought up concerns over patterns of racist harassment at the school, high school teachers shared their worries over the lack of bilingual teachers supporting English language learners, and advocates criticized the board’s handling of the superintendent’s contract renewal.

Newark school leaders have been under fire after reports that León’s contract was automatically renewed due to a clause in his previous contract that said board members needed to alert him by May 15, 2022, if his term wasn’t going to be extended the next year.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, Deborah Gregory Smith, president of the Newark chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, pointed to the community interest in holding the board accountable after it regained full control of the district from the state.

“Since the return to local control, those of us who fought to have it reinstated have not dropped the ball or stopped being involved,” Smith said. “You have not been listening to the community and as a result have not been transparent or accountable for your decision.”

Others like Newark resident Deanna Harrell said they felt compelled to attend Thursday’s meeting because of the concerns over León’s contract renewal.

“I’m not normally here at these meetings, but hearing about things like that made me want to be here at these meetings and I will be here going forward,” Harrell said.

Following Williams’ motion, board member Flohisha Johnson, who was part of the board that approved León’s initial contract in 2018, defended the contract renewal and process.

“I stand behind my superintendent because you know why? I elected him into this office and we appointed him as a board, as a whole, and we don’t have a problem with him,” said Johnson, who was first elected to the board in 2017.

She also read a state law that does not require boards of education to provide public notice or hearings for new contracts, including contracts that replace expired contracts for tenured and non-tenured employees. According to the law, a public notice and public hearing are required only for renegotiations, extensions, amendments, or other alterations to the terms of existing contracts.

John Paff, a longtime advocate for government transparency and a member of the New Jersey Foundation for Open Government, said the state law surrounding superintendent contracts should be amended to ensure the public is aware of contract renewals and decisions.

“This whole problem is nothing but lousy public policy. Nothing like this should be automatically renewed,” Paff said. “The average member of the public is not informed enough and shouldn’t be responsible to be involved enough to pay attention to statutes like this.”

New Jersey state leaders should review the mandates set by law to ensure the public’s protection, he said.

“The Legislature should repeal the statute and change it so that a public hearing provision is included prior to the end of a contract. That’s the only way the public could be protected,” Paff said.

The groundwork for the terms of the automatic renewal was set during a “sparsely attended” public hearing held before a regular school board meeting in 2019, as Chalkbeat Newark reported at the time. After the hearing — which was not advertised online ahead of time —the board extended León’s contract by two extra years and added the renewal clause.

León, a former principal and lifelong Newark resident, did not address the controversy at the meeting or at Saturday’s board retreat. Instead, he addressed questions about his contract during an interview on “Chat Box” that aired on YouTube and NJ PBS on Thursday.

“The fact that people didn’t know is really an important factor and just educating the community and having conversations with them is something that we obviously think is important … and will be doing as we get through the end of the term of this contract and as we begin the next one,” León said when asked about the public scrutiny the district is getting in light of the quiet renewal.

He was hired in 2018 for a three-year contract that extended to June 30, 2021, according to board documents.

“I was part of this board when we gained back local control,” Johnson said during Thursday’s meeting. “I was part of this board when we voted the superintendent in, who I think is doing an awesome job.”

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark school board president defends Superintendent Roger León’s contract renewal

2023-01-21T20:48:45+00:00

School board members for New Jersey’s largest school district defended the renewal of Superintendent Roger León’s contract, saying it was not hidden from the public.

During Saturday’s Newark Board of Education retreat meeting, Board President Dawn Haynes suggested that reports that León’s contract was automatically renewed in May and community questions about the process were a misunderstanding of actions taken at a public meeting in 2019.

“I just want to make it extremely clear that whatever miscommunication or talk that’s happening in the media, that is what was stated,” said Haynes about the contract approval process during the meeting. “That is what happened according to our timeline and what we know to be true.”

León, a former principal and lifelong Newark resident, did not address the controversy at the meeting. He was hired in 2018 under a three-year contract that originally ended on June 30, 2021, according to board documents. In 2019, Chalkbeat Newark reported that a “sparsely attended” public hearing – which was not advertised online ahead of time – was held before the regularly scheduled August school board business meeting to discuss León’s contract renewal.

During that meeting, board members unanimously approved an amendment that added two more years to León’s original five-year contract in order to “accomplish the goals” in Newark’s 2020-30 strategic plan. This action extended his contract through 2023.

Both the original contract and the extensions had renewal clauses for the superintendent’s employment, Haynes said. District spokeswoman Nancy Deering was quoted in the Star-Ledger saying that “the contract automatically renewed in May.” It remained unclear Saturday why the contract would have been renewed before the 2023 expiration.

León’s 2018 and 2019 employment contracts have not been made publicly available. Deering has not replied to multiple requests for comment and to see the contracts from Chalkbeat.

Haynes also addressed Leon’s salary increase, which was a result of cost of living adjustments, she said.

In 2019-20 and 2020-21, he was paid $260,000, according to state school salary data. After a cap on superintendent salaries was lifted in 2019, León’s salary went up as superintendents’ salaries did in most districts throughout the state. In 2021-22, León’s salary was $282,425 and in 2022-23, that went up to $290,050.

Meanwhile, board member A’Dorian Murray-Thomas introduced a resolution to secure a separate counsel for board members, which passed with four yes votes and five abstentions. Currently, the board shares counsel with the district.

More than a dozen community members showed up to Saturday’s board meeting, but after the meeting stretched for several hours plus a lengthy recess, some residents opted to leave before the public comment portion. Several stayed to question León’s contract renewal process and pressed board members about the district’s transparency.

“What it looks like is our community is being kept in the dark. What it feels like is that I am not being trusted as a community member in doing my part in supporting you. And what it sounds like is unethical practices,” said Shennell McCloud, chief executive officer of Project Ready.

Some members of the community were upset that they didn’t know about the public hearing on León’s contract in 2019.

“I do not recall any public participation about your contract. But we need to know how it was an automatic renewal. I don’t know how that happened,” said Dr. Viva White, a Newark parent.

Others wondered why the superintendent’s May renewal wasn’t presented to the public.

“The superintendent’s contract may have automatically renewed but you all still have to write a contract. You still have to present that contract before us to comment. I comment now,” said Denise Cole, a longtime education advocate.

While León did not address his contract renewal, he gave an hour-long presentation on the district’s accomplishments, projects and department reinstatements since he took the job in 2018.

The Newark Board of Education will meet on Jan. 26 at 6 p.m. for its regularly scheduled school board meeting.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org

Newark high school students can earn hockey tickets, gift cards in campaign to fight chronic absenteeism

2023-01-20T15:00:28+00:00

Newark school leaders are offering gift cards and tickets to New Jersey Devils home games to students at four high schools as part of a new initiative to raise attendance and reduce chronic absenteeism.

Among the high schools, Newark Vocational, Barringer, and West Side saw the highest levels of students who are chronically absent in October and November, according to data presented last month by the Newark Board of Education. But in a new partnership with the Devils Youth Foundation, the district launched an incentive program this month to raise attendance at Barringer, Central, Malcolm X Shabazz, and Weequahic High Schools, which are home to roughly 3,400 students combined.

A student is considered chronically absent if they miss between two and three days of school in a month, and severely chronically absent if they miss more than three and a half school days in that period. Chronically absent students are those who miss 10% or more of school days — or at least 18 days — during a school year for any reason.

Newark has long struggled with poor attendance and previously used attendance campaigns to motivate students to get to school every day. This year, Newark school leaders are grappling with post-pandemic challenges and barriers such as transportation problems, housing instability, student illness, and school learning environments as they work to keep attendance rates up.

The state uses chronic absenteeism as a measure of school quality and success for accountability under the Every Student Succeeds Act, according to the New Jersey department of education.

Just over 35% of Newark Public School students were reported as being chronically absent in November, according to data presented by the Newark Board of Education last month. The numbers reflect a roughly 4% increase from the previous month, when 31% of students were chronically or severely chronically absent. At the beginning of this school year, the district reported 27% of all Newark students were chronically absent in September.

Among the high schools, 30% of students at West Side had severe chronic absences by missing three and a half days of school or more in November. Newark Vocational reported 29% of its students had chronic absences because they missed two or three days of school that same month.

In October, 35% of students at Barringer had severe chronic absences while Newark Vocational reported 28% of students had chronic absences because they missed two or three days that same month. Both Shabazz and Central reported 18% of students had severe chronic absences in November while Weequahic reported 13% that same month.

Under the new initiative with the Devils Youth Foundation, the district aims to raise attendance by 2 percentage points in the high schools and reward students for achieving attendance goals. Students can earn Amazon gift cards and tickets to select New Jersey Devils home games as part of the program, which runs until June.

“Absenteeism among students, especially since COVID, has been on the rise,” said Kate Whitman Annis, the executive director of the Devils Youth Foundation, in an email to Chalkbeat Newark. She said they are trying to address “the core issues students are facing that contribute to students missing school.”

During the 2018-19 school year, the district had a 26.8% chronic absenteeism rate – a roughly 6% improvement from the previous school year when 32% of students were chronically absent, according to New Jersey School Performance data.

According to experts, students who miss that much school tend to have lower test scores, higher dropout rates, and a greater risk of getting in trouble with the law. Experts cautioned that chronic absences sometimes vary from year to year for different reasons that could be tough to pinpoint. Hedy Cheng, the executive director for Attendance Works, a nonprofit focused on improving school attendance rates, said some challenges include school practices that can affect attendance, transportation issues, housing instability, and academic engagement.

“Kids who aren’t so challenged are generally having better attendance,” Cheng said. “But there’s a group of kids who are still experiencing challenges and their attendance might be even more challenged.”

High school students might face additional barriers to getting to school such as work, taking care of an older sibling, or an unsafe passage to campus due to community violence. Some find motivation in rewards programs that incentivize students to be in school, but those who are chronically or severely chronically absent may need more intensive support to address their attendance issues, Cheng added.

As of Nov. 30, the district reported a 91.7% average daily attendance rate, similar to the 2019 rate when the district averaged 91%. But schools with high average daily attendance rates may still have a core group of chronically absent students.

“Those kids also need [rewards] but it just won’t be sufficient,” said Cheng who also noted that severe chronic absences could still be high even in schools with strong daily attendance rates.

In 2018, Superintendent Roger León launched a back-to-school campaign called “Give Me Five.” It required each district employee, from custodians to assistant superintendents, to call the families of five students to urge them to show up to school on the first day of classes. He noted the success of the program while the chronic absenteeism rate grew to 26% that school year.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark parents, advocates demand answers on superintendent’s contract renewal

2023-01-20T01:31:18+00:00

Newark education advocates plan on showing up to Saturday’s school board retreat to question why Superintendent Roger León’s contract was reportedly renewed in secret last May.

The Newark school board renewed León’s contract for five years at an annual salary of about $290,000, according to The Star-Ledger Editorial Board, which first reported the news in an opinion piece published Thursday on NJ.com.

District spokeswoman Nancy Deering was quoted in the article saying that “the contract automatically renewed in May.” She also added that the district doesn’t normally comment on staff performance but that Leon received “a positive evaluation of his performance.”

An email, phone call, and text to Deering inquiring about contract details were not immediately returned.

A Chalkbeat review of school board documents from four meetings that took place in May did not find any approvals by the board that reflected the superintendent’s contract renewal, which signals that the contract was renewed without any public notification or hearing.

Whether public notice or a hearing was required remains a question. But extending León’s contract for five years without any discussion with the school community has raised questions about the Newark Board of Education’s promise to be transparent.

Residents, education advocates, union members, and parents were upset when reached Thursday to hear they weren’t informed by the nine-member elected school board about the quiet contract extension.

“I am upset at what took place,” said Denise Cole, a longtime education advocate. “I don’t like when my rights are violated.”

Even if state law and contract stipulations permitted the school board to renew León’s contract without any public announcement, the board still should have informed the community, Cole said. Not doing so, she added, took away her right to voice her concerns prior to the renewal.

“You’re not paying attention. You’re not listening. You’re not doing the job that you were elected to do for the community,” Cole said in a phone interview Thursday, directing her message to board members.

State code stipulates that when an initial contract term ends, “the superintendent shall be deemed reappointed for another contracted term” of the same length, unless the board reappoints a superintendent for a different term length or not at all.

While León initially had a three-year term, the board extended it for two more years in 2019. The renewed contract is for a five-year term.

Janet Bamford, the chief public affairs officer for the New Jersey School Boards Association, noted in an email that the state code does not mention a board vote or discussion on a contract renewal for superintendents.

“It is our understanding that the public notice and public hearing requirements … would be triggered when the board discusses and votes on changes/updates to the superintendent’s contract,” Bamford wrote.

Leon was hired in 2018 by the board when the district regained local control after 22 years under state control. As a former principal and lifelong resident of Newark, he had supporters throughout the city, including politically powerful elected officials such as Mayor Ras Baraka and Sen. M. Teresa Ruiz, the state Senate majority leader.

Calls and emails to the offices of Baraka and Ruiz were not returned.

Leon’s salary has gone up by about $30,000 over the last four years. In 2019-20 and 2020-21, he was paid $260,000, according to state school salary data. After a cap on superintendent salaries was lifted in 2019, the salary for the district leader shot up, as it did in most districts throughout the state. In 2021-22, León’s salary was $282,425, and in 2022-23, that went up to $290,050.

Parents and others in education said the renewed contract for the superintendent is consequential and worthy of public notice.

“It is their duty to preserve and protect the interests of the constituents who put them in office,” said Jasmine Morrison, a lifelong Newark resident and parent advocate. “Maybe you didn’t legally have to inform the families, but understanding where we have come from and just getting back local control, it would have been the right thing to do.”

Morrison said she plans on attending the school board retreat meeting, which is open to the public, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday on the sixth floor of the district’s central office at 765 Broad St. in Newark.

“I think it just shows a lack of respect for the residents in the city to renew a contract that is so significant and will have a lasting impact on the future of our city,” Morrison said.

Maggie Freeman, another parent and longtime resident of Newark who previously ran for school board, said she thinks it’s time for families to demand more transparency from the board.

“We may have to come together as far as advocates in the community and figure out the best way to approach this because it’s not right,” Freeman said.

“It’s despicable,” said John Abeigon, president of the Newark Teachers Union.

“They came in promising transparency and that it would no longer be business as usual. They made that commitment to taxpayers and stakeholders,” Abeigon said of the school board. “This is insulting.”

Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark, covering the city’s K-12 schools with a focus on English language learners. Contact Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.

Learning loss, mental health needs, staff shortages: Most read Newark education stories of 2022

2022-12-22T17:54:48+00:00

Newark students and educators called for an improvement to their school environments.

Standardized test scores gave educators a glimpse of the COVID-19 pandemic’s toll on learning — and led the teachers union to declare a “war on learning loss.”

And mental health needs reached unprecedented levels, prompting students to protest for more counselors in schools.

Chalkbeat Newark covered all of this and so much more in 2022. Below is a list of our most-read stories this year.

Communities across the city called for improved conditions in schools, including Malcolm X Shabazz High School, pictured here.

Demands escalate for safer, fairer school environments

Students and educators throughout the city’s charter and traditional public schools raised their voices — either in public protests or through the legal system — for better learning and working conditions.

Educators across the country were reporting a rise in behavioral issues as students returned to full-time in-person learning for the first time since remote or hybrid instruction began amid the COVID-19 pandemic. But while those behavioral issues might have intensified after the pandemic, students and teachers also said that in many schools, such as Malcolm X Shabazz High School, they weren’t new.

In the years before the pandemic, the school community at Shabazz pleaded with school officials to improve the school environment in terms of safety, academic achievement, and stability with enrollment and leadership.

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All student groups in New Jersey saw a drop in proficiency rates in math and literacy in this year’s state standardized test, results showed.

Test scores show pandemic’s impact on student learning

The switch to remote instruction for 18 months caused a disruption to learning, especially for many Newark students who struggled to keep up with virtual lessons due to a language barrier, lack of laptop or mobile device, or no internet access. Standardized test scores released over the last year show just how much the pandemic had an effect on students’ education, especially in math and reading.

The first snapshot of a significant drop in grade-level proficiency sparked the Newark Teachers Union to call for a “war on learning loss” and urge city leaders, educators, parents, and residents to unify in an effort to help catch students up academically.

Results from the New Jersey Standard Learning Assessments, which were administered for the first time this spring since the pandemic, showed that 13% of Newark students are proficient in grade-level math compared to 27% in 2019.

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Student need for mental health resources in schools rose in 2022.

Children’s mental health needs reach unprecedented levels

The pandemic also took a toll on the mental health of students, teachers, and the entire school community. Newark ramped up mental health services for students by partnering with third-party providers, including universities, nonprofits, and private companies.

As the need for mental health services reached unprecedented levels, access to those resources became top of mind. A study released over the summer found that Black and Latinx students in New Jersey have less access to school mental health staff than they did a decade ago.

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Nassan’s Place, a nonprofit helping children with autism and their families, provided affordable summer programming for students in 2022.

Students with disabilities need more support, parents say

As the 2022-23 school year started, a familiar issue came to light: school bus assignments were delayed or missing. For students with disabilities, a lack of district-provided safe transportation to school can completely derail their routine and impede access to crucial services they can only obtain in school.

Parents this fall began to raise concerns about the months of missed in-person services, including speech, occupational, and physical therapies, during the pandemic for their students with disabilities. Under a law passed earlier this year, school districts have until Dec. 31 to determine if compensatory education must be provided to students with disabilities as a result of disruptions to consistent services during remote instruction.

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Newark schools are spending millions in COVID aid on tutoring, buildings, and more.

BONUS: COVID spending, staff shortages, and more

How are schools spending the millions of dollars pouring in from federal COVID aid? From tutoring to infrastructure, readers can see how Newark charter schools and the traditional public school district is spending this money using data look-up tools provided in these stories:

Newark raised salaries for veteran and rookie teachers, and even brought back retired teachers to fill in gaps left by staffing shortages. Read more about those recruitment strategies here:

New Jersey stopped charter schools in Newark from expanding this year, slowing a rapid growth the schools had under the previous administration in 2016. The largest Newark charter school networks made a major decision to shift from the nearly decade-old public and charter school agreement to collaborate under one universal enrollment system, and created their own. Catch up on these stories here:

Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark, covering the city’s K-12 schools with a focus on English language learners. Contact Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.

New Jersey’s test scores for 2022: See the math and literacy results for your district

2022-12-21T17:01:21+00:00

Significant disparities between New Jersey’s white and Asian American students and their Black and Hispanic peers grew bigger on last spring’s state standardized tests, while proficiency rates among Newark’s relatively young students suffered the biggest declines from pre-pandemic levels, according to a Chalkbeat analysis of the scores.

There were drops in proficiency rates in math and English language arts on the spring tests for all student groups in the state. And Newark’s struggles with achieving math proficiency have only grown more pronounced.

The scores on the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments, known as the NJSLA, were released by the New Jersey Department of Education last week. The tests were taken by students in grades 3-8 in math, English language arts, and science.

Students took the tests, which were created by Pearson Assessments, between April and June of last school year. It was the first time they took the test since 2019, due to disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic. (In 2021, Newark students took a different exam that also indicated significant learning loss.)

Comparing this year’s test scores to results from pre-pandemic years can give educators and families a clearer look at how the pandemic stalled progress in student learning.

New Jersey also saw a glimpse of this earlier this year on “the nation’s report card,” which showed significant dips in math and reading scores among fourth and eighth graders on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

On average, the state test results show that students are performing at the same levels of students in the same grades in 2015, undoing years of steady progress before the pandemic.

“The issues we’re seeing — the achievement gap, the lower percentage of students in Newark meeting or exceeding state learning standards — pre-date the pandemic, but have certainly been exacerbated by it,” said Ronald Chaluisán, executive director of the Newark Trust for Education, in a phone interview on Tuesday.

Statewide proficiency rates showed a growing gulf between the highest and lowest performing student demographic groups.

For example, 83.3% of all Asian American students were proficient in English language arts in 2019, compared to 37.9% of all Black students. This year, that gap grew by nearly 3 percentage points. About 78.8% of all Asian American students were proficient on the English language arts exams, while 30.5% of Black students achieved proficiency, according to an analysis by the state education department that was presented earlier this month at a state Board of Education meeting.

Meanwhile, in Newark public schools, proficiency rates in math for third and fourth graders — many of whom were already falling short of achieving proficiency on the test before COVID — fell significantly from their peers’ scores three years ago.

During a school board meeting in September, district leaders shared a first look at these results, which Superintendent Roger León called “horrible” before promising a focus on tutoring this school year.

The share of third graders in the district who met proficiency standards in math decreased from 35.4% in 2019 to 15.1% in 2022. Similarly, fourth graders meeting proficiency standards in math decreased from 32% in 2019 to 12.2% in 2022.

“Pretty consistently across the board a huge percentage of our students have not done well on those exams over many years,” Chaluisán said.

Data from the spring exams should be used to inform district leaders on how to proceed next with students who need the most support, said Steven LoCascio, director of Kean University’s educational leadership program.

“We have to be very careful not to go on business as usual with our students, especially those who aren’t meeting expectations,” LoCascio said. “In math, for example, the concepts build on one another, and if we’re seeing that basic skills aren’t there, then your students will stay at an ongoing deficit, making it more and more difficult for them to succeed in the future.”

Newark’s largest charter school networks were not immune from proficiency declines.

Fifth graders at KIPP schools in Newark went from a 48.2% proficiency rate in English language arts in 2019 to 31% this year. And fifth graders at North Star Academy schools also saw a steep drop in proficiency, going from a 73.8% proficiency rate in 2019 in English language arts to 51.5%.

“Our charter leaders and teachers remain committed to meeting the immense challenges of this moment so that more students can recover socially, emotionally and academically,” said Harry Lee, president of the New Jersey Public Charter Schools Association, in a statement about the test scores.

The Newark Trust for Education has a five-point response to the test scores across the city’s schools, Chaluisán said.

Among the issues the nonprofit education group will focus on in the new year is pushing for an “aggressive timeline” to help students recover lost ground in math and reading, as well as urging a citywide effort to help students through a collaboration between community organizations, families, and schools.

“If we’re not dramatically changing the day-to-day in this collective work of helping our young people, then we are creating barriers for our kids,” he said. “We are really committed to bringing the community together around the urgency to this issue and around the solution to this issue.”

Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark, covering the city’s K-12 schools with a focus on English language learners. Contact Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.

‘I want Black students to feel valued’: Newark Global Studies students describe pattern of racism

2022-12-15T11:00:00+00:00

When Brenda Brown read what the Newark School of Global Studies had to offer, she knew her son had to go.

Brown’s son, Terril Coley, was excited about being immersed in a high school that offered a global perspective, where he could study different cultures and prepare to study abroad in Taiwan or the Middle East. It seemed like a good deal for a young Black man from Newark, but three years after starting at Global Studies, Coley is about to transfer out after enduring racism and harassment from his peers.

During last month’s board of education meeting, Coley spoke out about the ongoing harassment and described being bullied in front of his teacher and classmates because of the color of his skin.

“I was called a ‘smart chimpanzee’ in my English class,” said Coley to district leaders during the board meeting.

Interviews with students, parents, and teachers reveal a pattern of racist harassment at Global Studies against Black students, who are the minority at the school where Hispanic students make up 70% of the student body, according to state enrollment data from last fall.

Black students and parents at the school have complained to school and district leaders but describe an administration that isn’t taking the situation seriously enough. They have also said there are delays in reporting incidents to parents and lax enforcement of disciplinary action against offending students, forcing some parents such as Brown to transfer their children out of the school. Community leaders say leaving these issues unattended could lead to further strife between the groups of students.

The ongoing harassment prompted one student to start the Black Student Union and rally his peers to speak out at the November school board meeting.

Black Student Union members and their parents are calling for a leadership change at the school, specifically a replacement for principal Nelson Ruiz, and stronger policies to prevent and discipline students who engage in racism.

The district’s student discipline policy, which was revised in July 2022, notes that “the school district will not tolerate acts of harassment, intimidation or bullying.”

District spokesperson Nancy Deering, Global Studies Principal Nelson Ruiz, and Vice Principal Hoda Abdelwahab did not respond to requests for comment.

Global Studies first opened its doors in 2020 welcoming 114 ninth graders to the high school where they study diplomacy, learn Arabic, or take courses in economics while gaining fluency in Chinese culture and language. Of those students, more than half identified as Hispanic, while 31% identified as Black at the time. Last school year, the number of Black students dropped to 26% while Hispanic students rose to 70%, according to state enrollment data from last fall.

Enrollment data for this school year is not available, but Black students say representation on campus has declined due to “consistent instances” of racism against them, according to David Allen, a junior at the high school who founded the school’s Black Student Union at the end of last year.

Allen, who is also student body president, said he started the club to give Black students a safe space on campus. The fact that the club wasn’t created when the school opened is “telling of the culture” within the school, he said.

“The issues that happened last year were a lot more verbally violent,” Allen told Chalkbeat Newark while describing the threats and racial slurs he’s heard from his peers over the years. “But it’s also been a little ostracizing because, obviously, people know that the few Black students are the ones that are reporting the racism.”

The incident targeting Coley this October sparked outrage with his peers and mother, who said it took days until the school told her what had happened even after the teacher who witnessed the incident filed a report with administrators. It took nearly three weeks until administrators met with Brown on Nov. 3 and took action, which ultimately resulted in the suspension of one student, Brown said.

The frustration felt by Black students reached a tipping point at the end of last school year when Allen’s best friend, a Black and Muslim student, was called a racial slur used against Black people and a terrorist as they were walking down the hallway. The student who insulted Allen’s best friend was previously suspended for two days for using similar language against another student, Allen said.

“He still says the same things, so obviously, the disciplinary action wasn’t severe enough,” Allen said of the student who said the slurs. “People need to be disciplined for these things. Like, it’s not just words, these kinds of things can lead to violence on both parts.”

D’Renna Johnson is the director of the Newark Community Street Team’s Safe Passage program, which helps students get to and from school safely. Johnson said it’s important for schools to cultivate a space of trust so students feel comfortable reporting instances of bullying or harassment.

The Street Team, a community-based organization that works on violence reduction strategies, also monitors conflicts between students and works to intervene in instances of harassment, intimidation, and bullying before they lead to violence.

“As an adult, our responsibility is to try to get in front of that situation,” Johnson said.

In the past, the Street Team has dealt with racial conflicts among high schoolers and has heard of students calling on “older brothers and sisters to handle things in a dangerous way” or other adults who may resort to violence to settle issues, Johnson said. The Street Team resolves issues by bringing students together to talk about their differences before conflict can turn into physical confrontation, Johnson said.

“Let’s come to a medium where we could coexist together in this city and know that we’re not going to cause each other any harm,” Johnson added.

Allen’s best friend is the daughter of Newark’s board of education president Dawn Haynes and no longer attends the high school due to the ongoing racism she experienced at the school, Haynes said. Her daughter, a “super honor roll” student and the former student body secretary, did not feel comfortable continuing her education at the school, Haynes said.

“If a child’s school is not welcoming, how are they going to learn?” said Haynes to Chalkbeat Newark.

Administrators slow to address complaints about racism

Before the incident with his best friend, Allen recalled, a group of students made racist jokes about blackface and Black stereotypes in his history class last year.

The district’s Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying policy require the high school’s two anti-bullying specialists to investigate “any gesture, written, verbal or physical act, or any electronic communication, whether it is single incident or series of incidents,” reported to administrators, especially if the incident “is perceived as being motivated by race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation,” among other characteristics.

Prior to the incident with his best friend in June, Allen and four of his friends compiled audio recordings of students using racial slurs during class and made a list of instances when Black students faced harassment and reported it to the school’s vice principal, Hoda Abdelwahab, last November. She promised she would investigate the situation, Allen said.

After turning in their compilations to administration last fall, Allen said the harassment continued from the same group of students. According to Allen, he and his best friend met with administration in June to report the racial slurs said in the hallway. That’s when they found out it was the first time administrators were hearing about the racism they were experiencing, Allen added.

“We found out that she never shared any of what we shared with her with the rest of the administration,” Allen said. “So, this is kind of a pattern with them. They’ll pretend they’re going to do something, and then kind of just sweep it under the rug and pray for the best and hope it just goes away.”

Allen was part of the group that attended the November board of education meeting and, like Coley, he told board members how he and his friends have been called “the n-word, a monkey, a slave, a caricature.”

At the November board meeting, Superintendent Roger León made a promise to fix the problems at Global Studies and visited the high school the following day to chat with Allen and other students, Allen said. But three weeks since students presented their concerns to the district, there has been no change, Allen added.

“It’s unacceptable today, in the past, and tomorrow for you to be raising an issue that adults are supposed to fix. You will help us fix it, but I promise you, it will be fixed,” said León to Allen during the November board meeting.

A teacher at Global Studies who asked to remain anonymous due to fear of retaliation said they see how the situation is “psychologically damaging” to Black students. During lunchtime, the teacher said they have seen Black students sitting alone. When asked why they seem sad, students say they feel uncomfortable at school. The teacher said parents, educators, and students have tried to handle these issues internally, but nothing has changed.

“The kids tried, they’ve been trying for years while they were there and the adults who were put there in charge to take care of them and make sure they’re treated fairly turned a blind eye to stuff,” the teacher said.

Johnson, a Newark native, said she hopes administrators can find solutions to the racist harassment Black students are describing because “she loves her community” and the people that make up her city.

“Keeping our kids safe is our priority because there’s so much stuff going on in this world, so much stuff going on in the city,” Johnson said.

In the meantime, Allen, the Global Studies junior, says he is juggling roles as student body president and founder of the Black Student Union, as well as a busy schedule and heavy class load, so he can only do so much to help. He hopes the district and leaders at his school find a way to make the experience of Black students better at the high school.

“They handle these matters the way a lot of non-Black people do. It’s very uncomfortable to talk about race, very uncomfortable. I understand that,” Allen said. “But the conversations are important, especially when they’re not being had.”

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

In COVID grievance case, Newark teachers win $1 million in back pay, sick days, union leaders say

2022-12-01T00:01:30+00:00

A Newark Public Schools directive that required teachers union members, including teachers, aides, and other school staff, to use sick or personal days for COVID-related absences violated a collective bargaining agreement, an arbitrator ruled last week.

Now, more than a year after a grievance was filed by the union, the American Federation of Teachers Local 481, the district will have to pay roughly $1 million in back pay and sick or personal time, said Michael Maillaro, the union’s director of research and communication, in a phone call with Chalkbeat on Tuesday.

Union leaders estimate around 800 of their 4,000 members used sick or personal time when they had to stay home due to COVID exposure or contracting the virus, and those who ran out of days were docked pay for the days they stayed home due to mandated quarantine.

A stipulation in the union’s contract that union leaders say has been in place since the 1970s lists “quarantine as defined by Newark Board of Education’s health services office and the employee’s physician” as a case where “no deduction of salary of a regular employee shall be made for absence.”

The union argued in its grievance filed on Oct. 13, 2021, that the Newark Board of Education violated its collective bargaining agreement by charging union members with sick or personal days while they were in quarantine for COVID-19, according to a copy of the grievance.

The school district countered that teachers and school staff had to stay home due to COVID to “isolate,” not “quarantine,” and, therefore, had to use sick days, according to a copy of the grievance decision.

After the grievance was filed and no resolution could be reached between union representatives and the Newark Board of Education, it was submitted to binding arbitration, Maillaro said. The union and district mutually picked a qualified arbitrator, Robert C. Gifford, who’s been an arbitrator since 2001.

“I conclude that the broader, more commonly accepted meaning of the term ‘quarantine’ must be applied in this instance,” Gifford said in his ruling. He added that the contract’s stipulation on paid leave for quarantines applied to COVID-related absences.

An arbitrator’s decision in these cases is final and binding, and a failure to comply could be seen as an unfair labor practice, according to the U.S. Federal Labor Relations Authority.

The Newark Public Schools spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment.

School staff and teachers were constantly at risk of being exposed to the virus, especially when schools first returned to fully in-person learning last fall, Maillaro said.

At times, he added, members who ran out of their allotted paid time off would feel stuck choosing between being honest about their COVID exposure and missing out on pay, or not being honest in order to get a full paycheck.

“If you’re telling them they’re going to be docked pay or lose their days, then should I be honest about having COVID?” Maillaro said. “It’s a scary situation when we’re dealing with a pandemic and you don’t want people to feel afraid to be honest about their situation.”

One union member, who asked to be kept anonymous for fear of retaliation, said that losing sick and personal time due to being in quarantine felt like a shot to morale among teachers.

“It just showed us how much value we have in their eyes,” the teacher said in a phone call on Tuesday. “How much of a concern do our higher-ups have for us? We’re still pumping out work, even while we’re sick and you’re saying well you’ve got to use your personal time?”

Newark educators were hoping to return to “normal” last year, not to have to file complaints due to a contract violation, said Donna M. Chiera, president of the American Federation of Teachers New Jersey chapter.

“This decision forcing the administration to honor the written contract is not only a victory for the Newark Teachers Union and their members, it also sends a message throughout New Jersey,” Chiera said in an emailed statement. “That message is collective bargaining contracts are not guidelines school districts can arbitrarily implement when they work to their advantage; they are legal documents that must be followed.”

Union president John Abeigon said the arbitrator’s ruling is a “huge victory” for union members and for the protection of school staff and students’ health and safety.

“Even if staff were exposed to COVID in schools, they were forced to use their sick time, and in many cases, they were threatened with additional negative consequences,” Abeigon said in an emailed statement.

Maillaro said that it could take weeks or months before the district fulfills the arbitrator’s ruling in back pay and sick days. As of Wednesday, the union had not gotten a response at all from the district since the final decision came last week, he added.

Still, there’s a lot to celebrate for teachers who will ultimately get sick and personal time reinstated, said the teacher who asked to be kept anonymous.

“People are feeling excited to have those days back because they did not think it was fair from the beginning,” the teacher said. “When you know the rainbow is coming, you just try to enjoy.”

Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark, covering the city’s K-12 schools with a focus on English language learners. Contact Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.

Newark will launch monthly bus pass program for high school students in 2023

2022-11-29T22:16:51+00:00

Newark high school students will receive a monthly bus pass instead of a daily bus ticket starting in January 2023 as part of a trial run program with NJ Transit, district officials said during November’s board of education meeting.

The new pilot program, running from January until the end of June, will provide all high school students with a monthly bus pass to use outside of school, as well as for transportation to and from school. Currently, the district provides single-use bus tickets to cover trips to and from school for students who live a certain distance from campus.

“I’m pretty excited about that bus pass,” said board president Dawn Hayes during last week’s board meeting. “I know as a mom of two high school students, that’s going to come in handy.”

Under New Jersey law, the district is required to provide transportation to and from school for elementary school students who live more than 2 miles from their public school and for high school students who live more than 2.5 miles from their school. Like other cities, Newark relies on public transportation systems such as NJ Transit to take students to school.

The new initiative will launch on Jan. 3, 2023 for eligible high school students. They will receive a physical or electronic monthly bus card consistent with the zone in which they currently travel to and from school, board members said. District officials will monitor the trial run and assess the program at the end of June. The exact cost of the new program, and any savings to the district, are unclear.

During their meeting last Tuesday, school board members celebrated the upcoming launch of the program, which is the result of years of negotiations between Newark Public Schools and NJ Transit to find an alternative to the current system of single-use tickets. Details about the program were first announced in February 2020 when district officials said they would roll out the monthly bus pass initiative for students at six schools. At that time, the bus passes would not have covered evening or weekend trips but the program was put on pause due to the pandemic.

“I don’t know if people know the magnitude of the bus passes,” said board member Flohisha Johnson-Hill during the meeting last week. “It’s really awesome that kids are going to be able to use it on the weekend for travel, to go to work, or different activities after school.”

District spokesperson Nancy Deering did not respond to a request for comment about the program.

More than 14,000 Newark students were eligible for bus tickets in October and another 4,700 students were transported via a school vehicle, according to committee reports. Before the new program, eligible students received single-use bus tickets on a monthly basis from their school but that caused a strain on students, who are responsible for keeping track of their tickets. Students with disabilities are provided transportation through school buses regardless of their home address, according to the office of special education.

“I’m really excited for this,” board member A’dorian Murray-Thomas said at the meeting.

In August, Newark Superintendent Roger León and the board of education spent just over $7 million on a contract with 20 transportation companies to service 126 routes to schools. During the November board meeting, the board approved a more than $6 million contract with 22 transportation companies to service 101 routes, with a 10% route modification allowance, for the 2023-24 school year.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark launches aviation program for Shabazz High School seniors

2022-11-23T21:35:38+00:00

Malcolm X Shabazz High School students will have the chance to enroll in a new aviation program launching as a trial run this spring.

Newark Public Schools has partnered with the Aviation Institute of Maintenance at Teterboro Airport to give current Shabazz seniors the opportunity to enroll in aviation courses designed to fulfill prerequisites for well-paying jobs as aircraft mechanics and technicians. During Tuesday’s board of education meeting, Superintendent Roger León said the program will launch as a trial run this spring before becoming a full-year program in September.

The new program is part of León’s goal to revamp traditional high schools and better prepare students for college and careers. In 2019, the district launched an engineering career academy at Shabazz where students earn college credit from the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

León said the idea is to find “the needs of the world” and “begin to change the academic program to meet those needs.”

The new program comes as the Shabazz school community works on maintaining a peaceful and safe learning environment, improving academic achievement, and addressing years of declining enrollment under multiple district leaders.

Current seniors who have met their graduation requirements by the second semester this school year can enroll in the aviation program this spring to take four introductory courses. Students who decide to participate will be bussed to and from Teterboro, where the classes will take place.

They’ll take four general science courses in math and physics; tools, surfaces and corrosion control; maintenance operations and records; and basic electricity. The completed courses fulfill the prerequisites for the airframe and powerplant program, a certification all aircraft mechanics or technicians are required by the Federal Aviation Administration to complete in order to work at a U.S. airport.

During this week’s board of education meeting, members unanimously voted to award a $560,000 contract to the institute for the aviation courses during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years with the option to renew for an additional two years.

When the program launches as a full-year term in September for seniors, students will take the four general courses along with four courses that lead to certification, according to Havier Nazario, chief of staff for the superintendent. Those students might fulfill all their requirements for their high school degree before completing the aviation program, León said.

Incoming freshmen can plan their high school schedule in preparation to take the aviation courses their senior year. Nazario said students might be able to take additional high school classes during the year or in the summer to clear their senior schedules. District leaders did not mention if seniors in the spring trial run could take an additional semester of courses.

During the board meeting, León said he would need to revise schedules next year so incoming freshman students could earn their diplomas in three years and spend their fourth year learning at the airport. That would allow students to take the introductory prerequisite courses and the four courses that lead to certification, Nazario said, in four years. Students who graduate in 2027 will have completed a high school diploma and one full year of coursework from the Aviation Institute.

The district will monitor the program this spring and make modifications as needed, León added.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark school district gives itself high grades on state-required self-evaluation

2022-11-16T16:28:20+00:00

Newark Public Schools gave itself high marks in this year’s self-evaluation required by the New Jersey Department of Education to measure performance, state support, and oversight, if any, over local districts.

The district submitted its performance review on Nov. 15 as part of the New Jersey Quality Single Accountability Continuum, or NJQSAC, the monitoring and district self-evaluation system used to assess school districts in five areas: instruction and program, fiscal, governance, operations, and personnel. In 2017, Newark’s evaluation was vital in the state’s decision to initiate local control to the district after it made “significant progress” and satisfied regulatory requirements of the monitoring system, according to the district’s 2017 transition plan for local control.

During the October board of education meeting, board members said they ranked themselves high in each area of the self-evaluation. Superintendent Roger León added that the board’s responsibility is to say “we’ve met 100 points,” meaning the highest level of performance the district can reach based on all five components of the monitoring system.

If the state finds that a school district scores lower than 80 points on its overall performance, it may require the district to create an improvement plan, undergo an in-depth evaluation, or in extreme cases, the department of education may intervene.

“Our job is not to say, oh, it shouldn’t really be less than 100 points,” said León during the Oct. 27 board meeting. “That’s the state’s job. That’s the job of people who don’t want the district to demonstrate greatness.”

This year, NPS is tasked with proving student achievement to the state despite the effects of the pandemic and learning loss suffered during remote learning. Preliminary state test scores show Newark students scored low in math, reading, and science, a national trend among students. The district must also prove its curriculums are in compliance with state standards, taxpayer dollars are being used appropriately, and school policies and procedures are in place, among other things.

NPS was under state control from 1995 to 2017 after a state judge decried “failure on a very large scale” within its schools and “nepotism, cronyism, and the like” among its school board. During that time, the school board operated in an advisory capacity while the state appointed a superintendent for the district.

New Jersey restored the board’s authority in February 2018, but kept it under state monitoring until July 2020 following a two-year transition period. The changes were made under former Gov. Chris Christie’s administration and following a 2007 law that calls for state-operated districts to regain control of areas they “consistently received strong scores on the NJQSAC” accountability scale.

School districts must undergo the state’s performance review at least every three years. Each of the five areas used to evaluate districts are weighted and used to determine if a district is providing a “thorough and efficient education,” according to the NJQSAC user manual. As part of the evaluation process, district’s must submit their own performance review, which is evaluated in three phases, according to the manual.

During last month’s Newark board of education meeting, interim board president Asia Norton and other board members stressed the importance of the evaluation in order to keep Newark Public Schools under local control. Each committee leader on the board also reported the documents submitted to supplement their review in each of the five areas being assessed.

Once the district’s self-evaluation is submitted, the Essex County executive superintendent will verify the information and documentation submitted for Newark’s performance review before it goes to the state commissioner of education for final review and a state performance score.

If the county finds that Newark satisfies 80 to 100% of the “weighted” performance scores in each of the five areas reviewed, it will recommend the district for a “high-performing” designation to the state. If not, the county will detail areas of improvement for the district.

“This work is important as we wish to continue to remain under local control,” Norton said. “Thus for the last several months, committee and district staff have been working diligently so all necessary materials are compiled and provided to NJDOE so the district is able to receive the highest possible points.”

León said the self-evaluation process started in August, when the district assembled a committee to begin gathering information for submission. A draft of Newark’s performance review was completed on Oct. 7 and posted online for the public to review and submit questions.

The state self-evaluation system was established in 2005 to ensure accountability in school districts requiring state intervention.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark’s largest charter schools break ties with universal enrollment system ahead of new cycle

2022-11-03T20:40:46+00:00

Seven Newark charter school networks will not be participating in the Newark Enrolls process this school year, a major shift from a near-decade public and charter school agreement to collaborate on one universal enrollment system for the city’s 60,000 students.

The seven charter networks that will break away from the longstanding pact are Newark’s largest ones, such as North Star Academy, KIPP, Great Oaks Legacy, and Marion P. Thomas, and smaller-scale ones including Achieve Community, People’s Preparatory, and Philip’s Academy.

The networks not only ended ties with the district-controlled system, which could have lasting effects, they’ve also signed on to a new third-party platform, the Newark Common App — altering plans for thousands of families accustomed to one application process for traditional public and charter schools.

A history of issues with the Newark Enrolls platform, including the tightening of rules to apply to a charter school, led to the decision, charter school officials said. Charter schools may be met with some backlash from community members who believe that Newark Enrolls, while flawed, could be improved.

The new platform, spearheaded by the New Jersey Children’s Foundation, a nonprofit charter-aligned organization in Newark with deep-pocketed donors, will open its enrollment window Dec. 1.

Families will need to use that platform to enroll in any of 42 schools that fall under the umbrella of the seven charter networks, which, combined, currently enroll about a third of all Newark pre-K-12 students, or 80% of the city’s charter sector. Other schools, including district public schools, were invited to join the new platform, the website states.

Meanwhile, Newark Enrolls, the system controlled by the Newark Board of Education, will open its window Saturday afternoon, after a school fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m at Newark Vocational High School. Families who want to enroll in any of the district’s 60-plus public traditional and magnet schools, or other charter schools that are still with Newark Enrolls, will need to continue using that system.

How a new enrollment platform came to be

Most of the Newark Enrolls features will be available on the Newark Common App, such as mobile functionality, one application for multiple schools, a lottery, and waitlist, according to a press release and interviews with the team behind the new tool. The new platform will also provide a quicker application process with the ability to modify a student’s top choices during the open enrollment window, and more transparency, the team said.

Last school year, the charter-aligned nonprofit initiated a new school look-up tool, My Schools Newark, which let families search any school in the city, regardless of whether its application process was under the Newark Enrolls platform or independently run. The Newark Enrolls search feature only has information on schools that take part in the platform.

At that time, Kyle Rosenkrans, the nonprofit’s executive director who’s also behind the new platform, said his group was not interested in creating a new enrollment system. As Chalkbeat Newark previously reported, he said the group saw a need for a third-party school search tool, nothing more than that.

Over the summer, however, priorities for the group changed when issues surfaced with charter schools not being able to move students from waitlists to available seats in their schools, he said.

Those were just the latest hangups in a series of clashes between the charter schools and district on Newark Enrolls. The universal enrollment system has been a point of contention between the two camps since its origins in 2013. By 2018, charter advocates were preparing to possibly leave the system and start one of their own.

But a year later, Rosenkrans started his nonprofit group with the main goal of serving as a peacemaker and liaison between the charter schools and the public school system, keeping them under one enrollment system.

In recent interviews, Rosenkrans recognized the likelihood that the new enrollment platform may cause some tension between charter schools and the district, and, therefore, neglect a key part of the nonprofit’s mission.

“The interests of families to have a better enrollment experience outweigh some of the risks and the relational strain that may result from this move,” Rosenkrans said in a phone interview with Chalkbeat last month. “That collaboration component was a deep mission component for us, but at the end of the day, we think about what matters most and it’s the interest of educators and children.”

Rosenkrans notified Superintendent Roger León on Tuesday about the new platform with an emailed invitation to join, according to a forwarded copy of the email sent to Chalkbeat.

Prior to issues from this past summer with the waitlist holdups, questionable policy changes created hurdles for families to apply to schools. In the 2019-20 school year, the board removed the option to easily switch schools and added restrictions. Families who ended up enrolled at a school that wasn’t one of their top choices would have to request a transfer for the following school year but those would only be granted under limited circumstances.

Last school year, about 4,000 fewer students applied through the Newark Enrolls system, which some charter and education advocates attributed to the district’s added requirement to show proof of residency during the application process instead of at registration.

“As a school system, our priority is families first so that was the most important thing when making this big decision,” said Stephen Demers, the director of enrollment at KIPP Newark schools, which will join the new platform. “There’s been a lot of enrollment shifts everywhere, but those application numbers certainly went down.”

What is Newark Common App?

Though the nonprofit “fundamentally believed in preserving the collaboration, we wanted to be there as a safety net” by creating a contingency plan for an alternative platform, Rosenkrans said in an interview. As it turned out, the new platform had been in the works for 18 months, he said, so when issues sprang up again over the summer, the foundation was ready to move forward with it.

“It was a very delicate operation for us,” he added.

The new tool has the same developer as the My Schools Newark search tool. Avela, the company behind both platforms, has also designed enrollment tools for Philadelphia’s early childhood centers, Seattle Public Schools, and New Orleans Public Schools. The developers say the algorithm for its enrollment platforms is designed to promote equity.

A screenshot of the Newark Common App website, a new enrollment platform launching Dec. 1.

“The most important thing for families to understand is that there’s no reason to overthink the system and there’s no gaming or strategy to it,” said Greg Bybee, the cofounder and chief executive officer of Avela Education and part of the team behind the Newark Common App. “It’s designed to be easier for parents and guardians to enroll in programs for their kids and certainly meant to be more equitable and give everyone an equal chance.”

Sonali Murarka Soi, Avela’s enrollment specialist and client development lead, said the tool will prioritize students with disabilities, individualized education plans, students who are English language learners, low-income, and families who are in transitional housing or who are homeless.

“The goal overall is to have every school for each of those populations come as close to the kind of community level percentage as possible,” she said. In other words, she said, “the algorithm” will work to have each school representative of the community.

“So a school that was, let’s say, over-represented, compared to the general population, in one subcategory, such as English language learners, wouldn’t necessarily be prioritizing more English language learners,” Murarka Soi said. “But another school that is far below the representative percentage for the category would prioritize that group of students.”

As the new enrollment cycle kicks off this fall and early winter, charter schools under the new platform will plan in-person enrollment events to help answer families’ questions and guide them through the process, said Sarah Yan, New Jersey Children’s Foundation executive director-in-residence. She added that the total time for the new application process will be about 10 minutes.

“You don’t need anything really. You can sit down at a computer or use your mobile device and complete the application in one sitting,” Yan said, adding that it will be available in the top 20 languages spoken in Newark, including Portuguese and Spanish.

“The user experience is what tilted the scale toward joining the Newark Common App,” Demers said. “If we’re doing this change, we want to make sure this process goes smoothly for prospective families.”

The foundation also promises to publicly issue reports with analytics about outcomes from the platform and to have ongoing feedback sessions with families to improve it, according to a press release.

The cost for the new system was not disclosed, only that the marketing campaign for its launch was in the “low six-figure” range. But long term, schools that are part of the new platform will need to pay $8 to $10 per student in order to keep it sustainable, and in addition to philanthropic donations through the foundation, Rosenkrans said. If the district and other schools join the platform, that cost per student would drop, he said.

Last year, under Newark Enrolls, 82% of kindergarten families were matched with their first choice schools, the website states. In 2018-2019, a parent survey published by the district showed that most parents found the system easy to navigate. But more recent parent feedback, which would reflect changes since that survey was taken, either has not been collected or made publicly available.

Questions to the district’s spokeswoman were not immediately answered.

At a school board meeting last month, León listed the deadlines coming up for Newark Enrolls, which uses SchoolMint to run the application process.

“This is the fairest way to determine where children get their choices of instructional program in this city,” León said at the Oct. 27 meeting.

Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark, covering the city’s K-12 schools with a focus on English language learners. Contact Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.

Newark students score low on state science tests

2022-11-01T22:44:56+00:00

Less than 7% of Newark students who took state science assessments in the spring passed the test — the first since the pandemic started, according to data presented by the Newark Board of Education during October’s board of education meeting.

The 2022 New Jersey Learning Assessment, or NJSLA, in science results come a month after Newark school officials gave a first look into low scores on state math and reading scores on the spring exam.

Newark also gave a glimpse into statewide scores that show only 16% of students passed the test statewide. The state’s Department of Education has not released the scores to the public although state officials said scores would be released in early fall.

Rochanda Jackson, executive director of the district’s Office of Policy, Planning, Evaluation, and Testing, presented the scores last Thursday and said that “on average across the state, for every 25 students that participated in science only four of them passed.”

As state test results are slowly released this year, scores are dropping across the nation in math and reading assessments. Last month’s release of the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, showed the largest dips in math scores since 1990, when the exams were first given. In New Jersey, the NAEP drops were significant but students continued to score higher than the nation’s average.

On NJSLA reading and math scores, 13% of Newark students passed their math state assessments while about 27% passed their English language arts test, according to the district.

Newark Public Schools has not made its data available online.

“We know that the pandemic is what negatively impacted the trends that we were seeing,” said Superintendent Roger León about the science test results during last week’s meeting.

New Jersey students in grades five, eight, and 11 are required to take the NJSLA science assessment, which has four proficiency levels, unlike reading and math scores where there are five levels. If a student earns a level three or level four on the science test, it means they passed or are proficient or advanced proficient, respectively, according to the 2019 score interpretation guide. Overall scale scores in science range from 100 to 300, while NJSLA reading and math range from 650 to 850, the guide read.

Districtwide, 6.8% of students passed the spring 2022 science assessment, Jackson said. The difference between the state and district passing rate ranged between 13 and 18 percentage points depending on grade level, she added. According to the data presented, 11.1% of 11th graders passed the test, a slight improvement from the last time they took the assessments in spring 2019 when they scored 10.7%.

“We have certain grade levels that have continued to make gains from one administration cycle to the other,” Jackson added. “We saw that with our 11th grade students, despite COVID, they did make some progress.”

In spring 2019, fifth grade students had a 10.3% passing rate, but that dropped this year to 7.2%, Jackson said. Among eighth graders, the proficiency rate also dropped to 3.1% in comparison to the 4.4% rate in 2019.

“There hasn’t been a whole lot of movement among the eighth graders and you did see that across the state eighth graders struggled with the items that were on their assessment,” Jackson added.

Students did better in earth science-related topics and critiquing practices, Jackson added at the end of the presentation. Across district schools, Science Park gained more than 20 percentage points this year since the last time students took the test in spring 2019, Jackson said. At the elementary school level, Ann Street made the biggest progress, gaining more than 11.5 percentage points, Jackson added.

“We saw the same kind of performance in terms of change from one cycle to another among First Avenue students, Mount Vernon, Lafayette, Oliver, Avon, Avenue School, McKinley, Sussex as well,” Jackson noted. “They all outperformed the district’s average on the science assessment.”

Newark board officials did not provide a school breakdown of the results during their presentation.

Among student groups, Black students scored less in science than their Asian American, white, and Hispanic counterparts across all grade levels, according to the data provided by the district during the meeting.

Former English language learners also outperformed English language learners, and non-English language learners. Students with disabilities across all grade levels had the lowest passing rates; overall, less than 1% of those who took the test passed. They were followed by English language learners who had a passing rate of 1.7% across grade levels.

During the October board meeting, León attributed the dismal state results to the pandemic, mental health issues, and the length of time in which students were out of school. Even when Newark partially reopened classrooms in the spring of 2021, only about 40% of students showed up. And just 5,500 students, or about 15% of the total, participated in summer programs that year. León also said that despite some gains in scores this year, the results are part of a “greater problem of over 25 years of state operation.”

In 2020, New Jersey returned Newark schools to local control following a two-year transition period.

“When I started as the superintendent, we had schools that didn’t even have science labs,” León said. “And so how are you going to pass a science test? If you’ve never had a test tube in your hand? So it’s, one would argue equity, I would argue negligence.”

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark board approves $5 million contract to purchase, install touchless water fountains

2022-10-28T20:49:10+00:00

Newark school board members have approved a nearly $5 million contract to purchase and install touchless water fountains across all district schools. At least half of water fountains have been inoperable in some buildings since the start of the school year, prompting students to carry jugs from home or go to teachers lounges in search of water.

The two-year contract was approved by district leaders during last night’s board of education meeting and comes after district plumbers tested water fountains across Newark schools and found some inoperable due to leaks from old ring filters and dry rotting, said board member Flohisha Johnson during the meeting.

“Water dispensers, coolers, and cups have been placed at locations where fountains require extensive repairs,” Johnson said, while giving an operations committee report during Thursday’s meeting. “Contactless water fountains continue to be installed districtwide.”

Last school year, Newark Public Schools said it kept all water fountains shut off as a way to curb the spread of the coronavirus when students returned to in-person learning. But Chalkbeat Newark found that the district shut off water fountains in the 2021-2022 academic year due to a delay in testing water sources for lead and getting water filters replaced. In March, Superintendent Roger León promised touchless water fountains would be installed by the time school started this fall but district officials on Thursday said the installations are ongoing.

The district’s school business administrator Valerie Wilson and district spokesperson Nancy Deering did not respond to questions about the number of touchless water fountains purchased and installed so far this year.

The contract approved by board members allows Ringwood-based company, Peter Hywel Plumbing & Heating, to supply and install touchless water fountains across the district. The $4,497,000 contract begins on Oct. 27 and ends on Oct. 26, 2024.

As of mid-August, the district had completed testing for lead at 57 schools, and planned to test 12 remaining schools before the start of the school year, meeting minutes show.

In September, Wilson said that more than 3,000 drinking water fountains had been tested for lead and back in use in September. But during the first month of school, some students said they still didn’t have access to functioning water fountains. Parents say they send their children to school with bottles of water for the day.

“I send my child with a big gallon to lug around with her so she can have water,” said Nadirah Brown, mom of a student at Harriet Tubman Elementary School. “There’s no bottled water provided nor water fountains for our children to drink from.”

At Newark Vocational, water fountains on the upper floors of the building were still turned off with missing filters as of Thursday, while fountains on the main level of the building were functioning properly, said an employee at the school who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution.

The school keeps water bottles in administrative offices for students, they said, but it causes disruptions during class time when a student needs to go in search of a water bottle.

“The school has been good about providing water bottles this school year, but having a water fountain in the hallway is very different than having to go wait on somebody or interrupt someone’s meeting so they can hand you a couple of bottles of water,” the source said.

But the lack of functioning water fountains isn’t an issue across the district.

Water fountains were turned back on in the spring at New Jersey Regional Day, a district school for students with severe disabilities, and new contactless fountains can be seen throughout the building, said a staff member at the school who asked to remain anonymous. The school, which has an enrollment under 200, provided students with refillable water bottles over the summer, the staff member said.

At Science Park High School, only about half of the water fountains are functional, according to a source at the school who asked to remain anonymous. And those that are turned on have low water pressure where water “tends to trickle out,” the source said.

The lack of easily accessible water can at times be dire at the school.

A teacher started to sell bottles of water from her classroom due to the water fountains being unreliable, the Science Park source said. There is also a vending machine that has water bottles for sale, but not all students can afford to pay for water, they said.

Recently, when a student visited one of the teachers’ lounges saying she had a headache and needed a drink of water, the teachers provided her with a cup of water from their water cooler, the source said. The lounges are usually equipped with water coolers but the jugs for the coolers aren’t always replaced immediately, they added.

“The fact that some kids are still buying water is definitely problematic and it’s something they shouldn’t have to do,” the source said. “It sort of becomes this situation where people have to scrounge around to look for water.”

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark, covering the city’s K-12 schools with a focus on English language learners. Contact Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.

‘My son is suffering’: Newark parents say students with disabilities need more support

2022-10-26T15:19:13+00:00

Many nights, Lisa Flores finds herself staying up late and worrying that her 7-year-old son is falling behind in school. Eli, a Dr. William H. Horton Elementary School second grader, has a speech delay and qualifies for services for students with disabilities.

According to his individualized education program, or IEP, Eli is supposed to receive 30-minute speech therapy sessions twice a week. But last year he didn’t receive any, Flores said.

Eli’s sessions started again this fall after the district hired six new speech language specialists, but his progress has been slow, his mother said.

“I know that the district struggled and I was even empathetic with them and I thought, well, maybe they just had a hard time finding someone after COVID,” Flores said. “But my son is suffering academically, like his performance levels are the same as when he started in kindergarten.”

During the pandemic, students with disabilities were entitled to all of the services they would usually receive but some missed out on specialized instruction or therapies that were difficult to provide during remote learning or as staff was stretched thin.

As national education experts analyze the pandemic’s impact on students, little is known about the academic and social progress of students with disabilities, according to a report from the Center on Reinventing Public Education.

But parents and experts say students with disabilities — among those who lost the most ground academically during school shutdowns — may fall even further behind if they don’t get the services they need.

Last month, Newark Superintendent Roger León gave a glimpse into unreleased state spring assessment scores, which showed students with disabilities were the lowest-scoring student population in both reading and math. Only 4% of students with disabilities reached the proficient level in reading while roughly 3% did in math.

Parents like Flores are pushing for compensatory services, a legal right students in New Jersey and across the country have for making up instruction or services they might have missed during the pandemic. Others are asking for speech therapists and eligibility for services after being away from classrooms during the pandemic.

Newark public school officials are also tasked with taking corrective action by Nov. 1 after the New Jersey Department of Education found that the district failed to meet six federal responsibilities for students with disabilities. The state found problems with reporting in education plans, notifying parents of meetings, and missing meetings with parents and students with disabilities as part of responsibilities mandated under the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA).

Marilyn Mitchell, the director of the district’s office of special education, said the district would correct the faults by providing more training to child study team members and correct IEPs for students whose plans were identified as non-compliant by the state.

Families want help to recover from the pandemic

Some parents, like Flores, have become full-time advocates for their children by pressing the district for compensatory education. Other parents are scrambling to reach case managers, request evaluations, and ask for revisions to their child’s IEPs to help address learning loss during the pandemic.

Gwendolyn Booker-Brown is the mother of 11th grade twins with speech delays at Central High School. Like Flores, Booker-Brown has learned to become an involved parent and advocate for her children since they were evaluated for IEPs in the first grade.

As juniors, her two children will soon transition out of high school but their IEPs don’t include a transition plan, which usually consists of a process to help teens prepare to be young adults, Booker-Brown said. At the beginning of the year, she asked their case manager to include the transition plan, but has not been contacted by LaPrice Weatherington, the district’s special education transition coordinator.

Booker-Brown was promised an answer to her concerns by December. By then, the mother of two fears, it may be too late.

“We’re back in the building and I still can’t get a decent IEP. I can’t get it,” said Booker-Brown about her request. “And my son is supposed to get speech but how is he only getting speech therapy quarterly?”

During last month’s Special Education Parent Advisory Council meeting, or SEPAC, the district’s special education department unveiled its goals for the 2022-23 school year, which include improved access to the general education program, core content standards, and compliance efforts for students. The office is also looking to hire more paraprofessionals, a special education supervisor at the high school level, and board-certified behavior analysts to support teachers and students with behavioral needs and training.

Mitchell added that they are working on improving department workflow and providing more support for students with disabilities. She did not comment on compensatory education or make-up services for students.

“Our goal this year is not only to provide related services to students but also to take a look at the quality of the services being provided, assuring that the provision of services is appropriate to the student’s age and the learning needs of each individual student,” said Nicole Ford, supervisor of the district’s related services such as speech and occupational therapy.

This year, the district has 40 speech-language specialists, three occupational therapists, one physical therapist, and one audiologist working at the school level to provide related services. By law, these services are provided to students with disabilities in addition to primary learning and only if recommended in a student’s IEP.

Parents want questions answered

After two years of learning disruptions, parents want more than promises. They are eager to find solutions to get their children back on track.

During last month’s SEPAC meeting, some parents stressed the difficulty in reaching case managers and special education staff.

“When you even come to the school to try and get to the person, they won’t give you the chance to reach the person and talk to them,” said one parent about his daughter during the virtual meeting.

Other parents had questions about getting speech evaluations and starting the process to develop IEPs.

“We want her to get evaluated in depth. But what is our next step to get her on track to start speaking?” said June Cains about her daughter, Katora, a pre-K student who goes to Chancellor Avenue Elementary.

This year, the district recruited Jump Ahead Pediatrics and ProCare to provide additional support in occupational, physical, and speech therapy.

The remainder of the therapists employed are through outside agencies such as Clifton-based KidClan and national provider Stepping Stones Group to help provide physical, occupational, and speech therapists. The district also works with Effective School Solutions to provide counseling in select schools and Rutgers University to help with physical and occupational therapy.

But as the district works to help students catch up, parents like Flores continue to see the effects of missed services and virtual learning.

Flores said she filed a complaint to the state office of special education for compensatory education and is currently in the process of requesting her son’s make-up services. She is also dealing with a truancy charge from the district after her son missed 25 days of school last year. The mom of two kept Eli home when he showed COVID-like symptoms.

In the meantime, Flores says she will have to work with her son to get his learning — and confidence — back on track.

“I know how much better Eli could have been doing if he had more consistent speech therapy,” Flores said. “He’s a lot harder on himself now when he can’t finish his homework or remember what he learned in school that day.”

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark students, teachers: Help us examine access to water in your school

2022-10-07T10:46:57+00:00

Newark Public Schools kept all water fountains shut off last school year, as a way to curb spreading the coronavirus when students returned to in-person learning.

Teachers, staff, and at times, the district, bought cases of water for classrooms, and students would bring water bottles from home or buy some from vending machines. Sometimes, the teachers and students said, they refilled bottles at bathroom sinks, the only source of water they could find in their school buildings.

District officials promised this school year would be different.

But one month in, some students say they still don’t have access to functioning water fountains. Parents say they send their children to school with bottles of water for the day.

At a school board meeting in March, Superintendent Roger León’s presentation included a slide that stated the district would “continue installation of contactless water fountains with a completion date by start of next school year.”

Five months later, at an August meeting, board member Josephine Garcia said the district hadn’t yet started installing the contactless water fountains.

“The district will begin the installation of contactless water fountains shortly,” Garcia said, reading from the minutes of an Aug. 17 operations committee meeting.

Those minutes also stated that “all school drinking sources will be turned on in time for school opening.”

State rules require school districts to ensure students have access to safe drinking water.

León said last year the district kept the water fountains off as a COVID-19 precautionary measure to prevent spread of the virus. However, state and federal guidelines did not mention turning off water fountains when schools resumed in-person learning.

Part of the reason the water fountains remained shut off, it turned out, was a delay in testing water sources for lead and getting water filters replaced, Chalkbeat Newark reported last year.

As of mid-August, the district had completed testing for lead at 57 schools, and planned to test 12 remaining schools before the start of the school year, meeting minutes show.

School Business Administrator Valerie Wilson said Sept. 27 that more than 3,000 drinking water outlets had been tested for lead and turned back on.

But, she added, “As we turned them on we found out that certain components of our plumbing system caused the fountains to fail or be inoperable,” she told the school board.

The district fixed those problems, retested the fountains, and put them back into service, she said.

“There are no schools with fountains inoperable at this point in time,” she said. “All schools have fountains on.”

However, that is not what students, parents and staff have told Chalkbeat.

As the school year gets underway, help us tell this story accurately and thoroughly by sharing what you’re experiencing in your schools when it comes to access to water by filling out the form below.

If you are having trouble viewing this form, please go here.

Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark, covering the city’s K-12 schools with a focus on English language learners. Contact Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.

Newark public school students score low on math state tests, higher in reading

2022-09-30T20:56:28+00:00

Newark Public School officials gave a first look at how students fared in this year’s spring state assessments, the first since disruptions over the last two years due to the coronavirus pandemic.

On average, 13% of Newark students passed their math state assessments while about 27% passed their English language arts test, according to spring New Jersey Student Learning Assessments scores, or NJSLA, which measure student proficiency across subjects and grade levels.

School officials presented the scores at Tuesday’s school board meeting and also gave a glimpse into statewide scores that show similar student trends. The state’s Department of Education has not released the scores to the public although state officials said scores would be released in early fall.

This year, the scores show students’ slow recovery after learning disruptions. The sobering new test scores also point to the severity of the pandemic’s toll on student learning and the efforts school leaders must take to recover from it.

“Assessments, in particular, are snapshots in time,” said Rochanda Jackson, executive director of the Office of Policy, Planning, Evaluation, and Testing, during the presentation this week. “We need to always remember that when we’re looking at the data, especially from last year, is that the school year 21-22 is generally considered one of the most challenging years in recent memory in the field of education.”

NJSLA is typically administered in the spring to grades 3-9. Many of the trends in Newark, such as students scoring lower in math than English language arts, run parallel to trends seen nationally as students return to in-person school this academic year. National trends also suggest that fewer low-income students are starting at grade level than their higher-income counterparts. The latest data suggest that, at least in terms of test scores, students have made up little of the ground they lost during the pandemic.

“We have a lot of work to do and we don’t have a lot of time to do it but we’re going to be intentional throughout our instructional program to make sure our young people are getting the education they deserve,” said Newark school board member A’Dorian Murray-Thomas during the presentation.

Overall, Newark’s trends showed that students had better results in English language arts than they did in math. This spring’s district scores showed math passing rates ranging from 11% to 33% depending on grade level and course. In English language arts, passing rates ranged between 19% to 33% for students in grades 3-9.

Based on last year’s mid-year assessments, no more than 6% of students in any grade from 3-7 were expected to reach the “proficient” level on the state math tests, according to data that NPS officials shared in March, a month before tests were administered to students. By contrast, 27% of students in grades 3-8 met the state’s benchmarks on the annual math tests in 2019, before the pandemic shut down schools and drastically hindered learning.

A closer look at the data by grade level shows Newark students in higher grades were more likely to do better after the learning loss experienced during the pandemic as they outperformed lower grades in math and English language arts. But math scores in grade 7 showed a third of students were in trouble spots indicating they were “approaching proficiency,” Jackson said.

Student holds a pencil to a notebook placed on a desk.

Student subgroups also showed different score results among subjects. Students who were formerly in the English language learning program scored higher in both English language arts and math than any other student subgroup including general education, special education, and English Language learners students, Jackson said.

District officials added that regression models showed students who stayed at the same district school for a year or more scored higher on state test scores than those that didn’t. When these students were compared, English language arts scores were higher with differences ranging from 14 to 27 scaled score points, Jackson added. In math, the differences ranged from 17 to 24 points. Similarly, students who attended tutoring scored higher than those that did not.

“You can see this pattern consistent across the grade levels,” Jackson added.

Statewide, the trends are similar as less than half of students – 48% – passed the English language arts assessment in the spring, according to Jackson. In math, less than a third of students, around 31%, passed their math test in New Jersey, Jackson added.

Newark superintendent Roger León said this year’s scores are “horrible” but pointed to 14 elementary and high schools that performed better in both subjects this spring than they did in 2022. Those schools included Bard, Barringer, Carver, Cleveland, and Franklin, among others.

León added that the district is focusing on tutoring for its 38,000 students this year along with Saturday tutoring sessions, SAT prep classes, and after-school programs. So far, roughly 4,000 students are enrolled in afterschool programs, officials said.

“We know that from understanding what the data says, you can shine brighter,” León added. “So we’re very confident about what we’re doing academically to improve the schools that we govern over.”

Newark Public Schools has not made its data available online.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark laborers look to school board for answers over high school of architecture, design project

2022-09-28T20:32:18+00:00

Dozens of union workers gathered outside Newark’s Board of Education offices on Tuesday night looking for answers about the district’s new High School of Architecture & Interior Design project after the state stopped construction earlier this month.

Many waited three hours to speak before the board to express concerns about the district’s lack of public response over problems brewing between union workers and the developer of the future site of the high school. The Department of Labor stopped work on the construction site of the new high school after wage complaints from the union, even as Superintendent Roger León continued to promote the opening of the school, slated for next fall.

During the board’s first in-person meeting since March 2022, Ade’Kamil Kelly, an East Ward resident, asked the board “to provide accountability” and information. Laborers who previously worked at the construction site are Newark residents, some of whom have children enrolled in Newark Public Schools. Some of those workers are out of work while others are waiting for their owed wages.

“It is incumbent on you all to provide some level of accountability,” Kelly said. “I’m speaking on behalf of myself and my nieces and nephews who do go to the district and would benefit from going to this school. A lack of hearing from you only concerns us more.”

Union workers representing the Laborers Eastern Region Organizing Fund and Local 3 pose outside the Newark board of education’s district office on Sept. 27.

Matthew Richards, a member of the Laborers Eastern Region Organizing Fund, the organizing arm of the Laborers’ International Union of North America, also pressed board members to address the issues surrounding the project.

“DOL and OSHA will hold the developer accountable but the school board and administration also have to be held accountable,” Richards said. “There has been no comment or statement issued by the district. So how do we know if the $160 million of taxpayer dollars are being spent responsibly?”

Previously, neither León nor district leaders had publicly addressed or acknowledged the legal snags of the project even after the landlord of the property said the deal with the district was void. On Tuesday, León acknowledged some of the confusion by addressing laborer complaints and detailing the district’s plans to move forward with the September 2023 opening of the new high school.

“If it were us being able to say something, obviously, we would have done it,” León said during the meeting. “But it’s not our project right now.”

León also said the district is meeting with labor heads next week who “will help create the curriculum for the future high school” and is working to hire his own trade staff to become teachers to teach those classes.

“Where we are today is that we will continue to work with labor heads and developers to make sure whatever has to happen happens and whatever cleaning up, no pun intended, is done,” León added.

The new high school is set to focus on three trades – plumbing, electricity, and HVAC – and give students the opportunity to study architecture and interior design in a sleek and modern facility. The goal, according to officials, is to provide all students with an opportunity to learn skills and trades in an instructional program that will fast-track their technical careers and give them a high school diploma, license, and a contract if they want to work for the Newark Public School system.

The district entered into a $160-million, 20-year lease agreement with Urban Renewal LLC to turn 155 Jefferson Street into the Newark High School of Architecture & Interior Design. According to León, the district entered into a lease agreement with the developer because NPS does not have enough funds to purchase a new building.

The state promised Newark 40 new school buildings but delivered less than 10 new schools. León said district leaders have considered proposing a $1 billion bond to Newark voters to fix all the schools in the district but they wants to be “strategic” about when, and if, they move forward with their plans. But ultimately, New Jersey must pay for school construction and renovation in Newark and 30 other high-poverty districts.

Newark union organizers asked the board for answers about the district’s High School of Architecture and Interior Design project during the Sept. 27 Newark board of education meeting.

“Since they are hiring people that are not my staff, they more likely than not hiring one of my student’s parents and I can’t have them disrespected either,” León added. “There is work underway to make this smoother sailing than what it has been.”

David Johnson, director for the Laborers Eastern Region Organizing Fund, said he left with more questions than answers. He was hoping for more accountability from the district to ensure workers’ rights are being protected.

“I think it boils down to the superintendent having to make a choice,” Johnson said. “Are you going to go with developers who are exploiting Newark residents and not paying prevailing wages, or will the Board of Education take the necessary steps to ensure that the construction development there is held to a high standard that complies with the law?”

According to Johnson, prior to filing the complaint, León and the district convened a meeting between the building trades, union laborers, and the developer last May to discuss the wage issue. But nothing resulted from that meeting, Johnson said, prompting the union’s complaint to the state over the summer.

In June, Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration sent a letter reminding local governments and school boards they have a responsibility to ensure payment of prevailing wage, as well as contractor registration, at any construction job involving a public agency. Violations on a construction project could negatively impact the timeliness and cost of public works projects, but during Tuesday’s board meeting, León did not comment on the high school’s proposed opening next September.

In the meantime, construction on the property cannot resume until the developer pays workers the wages they are owed and the state finalizes its investigation into the union’s wage complaint.

“Has it been a mess? Yes. Is that mess our fault? No. Have we been silent?,” León said at Tuesday’s board meeting. “Yes. Did we speak up tonight? You made that happen.”

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org

District says Newark high school of architecture, design will open next fall, despite state stop-work order

2022-09-20T20:44:30+00:00

When a new high school focusing on skilled trades, interior design, and architecture was introduced to the public last year, Superintendent Roger León called it an “unheard initiative” to provide students with unique internships and apprenticeships in the field.

At an invite-only ceremony in May, school and city officials, developers, and architects gathered at the future site of the new Newark High School of Architecture and Interior Design, as León and other leaders dipped shovels into a mound of dirt marking the formal beginning of construction.

But as the district continues to promote a fall 2023 opening for the school, confusion and drama have consumed the construction process.

At the former St. James Hospital location, home of the future high school, the facade of the building remains intact with rooms open to the air and visible to pedestrians on the sidewalk. At the fenced-off property, a trio of red stop-work order papers is taped to one of the back doors, a contrast to the district banners announcing the arrival of the new high school.

Over the last couple of months, the state launched an investigation into the developer of the property, workers filed state complaints over unfair wages, and the landlord of the property said the deal with the district was void resulting in the Department of Labor issuing the stop-work order on the property on the second day of the school year.

The district has not responded to questions from Chalkbeat about the project’s legal snags, but on the first day of Newark Public Schools, León appeared on Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka’s podcast, “Ras in 60,” making no mention of the state’s involvement in the process. Instead, he highlighted the importance of the project.

“One of the things that we will teach these students is the importance of this business, so the importance of being in a bargaining unit, the importance of protecting their health, their finances,” said León during the podcast. “All of that will be part of the strategy because we don’t want any of these students to ever be in a situation that compromises their health and safety.”

The School of Architecture and Interior Design is expected to open in September 2023 at the site of the former St. James Hospital in Newark’s East Ward.

New school would revitalize vacant building

The Newark High School of Architecture and Interior Design, district officials said, would bring life to the dilapidated St. James Hospital building that has stood vacant for years in the city’s East Ward. They envisioned a school that would help address the nation’s shortage of skilled trade workers while drawing students away from private and charter schools.

The new high school would add to a string of new district schools, including two that launched during the 2020-2021 school year and three others that opened in fall 2021. The district also has revamped the vocational programs at its comprehensive high schools. Students who live in any part of the city will be able to apply to the new high school, León said.

Under the timeline given by the district, the school will welcome its first freshman class in September 2023 with 240 students, a change from its original plan to open with 260 ninth-graders this September.

The first freshman class will be broken up into two cohorts of 120 students split among 16 teachers, according to the district. Enrollment will increase to one grade level each year after that before capping off at 800 students in Sept. 2025. The school is projected to have its first graduating class in June 2026.

During a May 2021 public hearing on the project, Jason Ballard, the district’s former assistant school business administrator, said NPS would agree to a $160 million, 20-year lease with Urban Renewal LLC to turn 155 Jefferson Street into the Newark High School of Architecture & Interior Design. At the end of the 20-year lease, the district could renew or purchase the property. Ballard added that leasing is more affordable than building a new high school, which he said costs an average of $134 million, based on construction plans in other New Jersey cities.

The New Jersey Department of Labor issued a “stop-work order” to halt construction on the site of the former St. James Hospital and the proposed site for the new High School of Architecture and Interior Design in Newark’s East Ward.

Construction stops after state order

But days after workers at the site saw district engineers scoping the location in August, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development issued stop-work orders to the general contractor, Townhouse Builders Inc., subcontractor Dimension Contractors LLC, and developer of the property, Summit Assets. The department also cited the developer and subcontractor after finding they were not registered to perform public work in New Jersey, said Melanie Weiss, spokesperson for the Department of Labor.

“Our strongest enforcement tool is to stop work immediately on a public construction site when workplace violations are egregious and readily apparent,” said Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo. “Performing public work is a privilege, not a right, and we will not tolerate abuses to workers or the law.”

Albert Nigri, is the developer of the property who heads Manhattan-based Summit Assets and is the managing member of its subsidiary Urban Renewal LLC. Before the state issued a stop-work order on the property, Nigri told NJ.com that the lease with the district was void, adding more uncertainty to the project.

David Johnson, director for the Laborers Eastern Region Organizing Fund (LEROF), the organizing arm of Laborers’ International Union of North America, said the complaint was filed by union organizers to the state’s Department of Labor after workers were not being paid prevailing wages as required by law, prompting the state’s stop-work order. The union has also brought concerns about safety at the work site.

“It’s a building trades school, architecture, and it’s a little ironic that you got workers getting exploited like that on a school that’s going to be designed to educate kids on how to do construction work correctly,” Johnson said. “It’s very, very ironic.”

According to Johnson, prior to filing the complaint, León and the district convened a meeting between the building trades, union laborers, and Nigri last May to discuss the wage issue. Johnson said nothing resulted from that meeting.

The Department of Labor “then showed up and put the stop-work orders,” Johnson said. “We can’t have that kind of exploitation happening on a project like that where it’s clearly covered by prevailing wages.”

The general contractor, subcontractor, and developer have filed appeals to the state and are awaiting their respective hearings, Weiss said.

In the meantime, construction on the property cannot resume until the developer pays workers the wages they are owed and all issues have been resolved with the state.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Sign up for Chalkbeat’s monthly text updates on the Newark Board of Education

2023-09-12T22:15:26+00:00

Want to stay up to date on the latest news from the Newark Board of Education while also having a way to text your school board questions to Chalkbeat’s journalists? Sign up for Chalkbeat Newark’s texting service.

Each month, Jessie Gomez, who writes about Newark public schools for us, sifts through agendas and documents, attends board meetings, and interviews Newark leaders, attendees, and others before and after the meetings. She reports the decisions made by the school board, and tells the stories of the people who will be affected by those decisions.

And with our texting service, you’ll stay in the loop on the latest Newark school board news, regardless of whether you’re able to attend board meetings.

Here’s how it works:

To sign up to receive monthly text message updates on Newark school board meetings, text SCHOOL to 973-315-6768 or type your phone number into the box below.

Once you sign up, you’ll get a reminder text before each meeting, as well as a text after the meeting to tell you the news, and a text on occasion when there is additional important Newark school board news.

Plus, the texts are a direct line to Chalkbeat Newark, so if you have questions you don’t see the answers to, you can text back and ask us. We hope this texting service will make it easier for Newark families to stay plugged into the school board’s decisions.

The Newark Board of Education typically meets at 6 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday and Thursday of the month. Since the pandemic, the meetings have also been held virtually and livestreamed on the district’s Facebook page. But usually, the board meets in person at its headquarters at 765 Broad Street in Newark or at various school locations throughout the district.

Find this year’s board meeting schedule here.

Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark, covering the city’s K-12 schools with a focus on English language learners. Contact Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.

Newark approved for new schools as part of state project to address overcrowding

2022-09-12T19:18:48+00:00

As part of a larger project to address overcrowding in some of New Jersey’s poorest school districts, state officials approved two new schools in Newark, a district that’s dealt with rundown buildings for decades.

The Schools Development Authority (SDA) granted two new pre-K through eighth grade schools in Newark, along with 14 other projects across the state, according to a press release issued by the agency last Thursday. The project is part of the SDA’s 2022 Capital Plan, which includes 16 projects that will address overcrowding and infrastructure needs.

“The Board’s approval of these projects, identified in the SDA’s Statewide Strategic Plan as priority projects, will significantly reduce District-wide overcrowding and facility deficiencies that impact thousands of students statewide,” said SDA chairman Robert Nixon. “These projects will deliver thousands of new or replacement student seats in state-of-the-art facilities that will foster learning and student achievement.”

The average Newark school building was built more than 90 years ago, more than twice the national average, with many suffering from leaky roofs, outdated boilers, and dilapidated restrooms. Rundown buildings can dampen students’ enthusiasm for school and, in some cases, impair their learning.

The projects slated for Newark will address capacity needs within the district, which serves more than 38,000 students. The new buildings will replace former schools but state and local officials have not released details on which schools they’ve identified for replacement. During this planning phase, the specifics of the projects, such as building size and anticipated costs, are yet to be determined, according to the SDA. Currently, the projects do not have a completion date.

“It is our job to ensure New Jersey’s young scholars have equitable access to outstanding school buildings that will allow them to learn, thrive, and succeed as they embark on a lifetime of learning,” said SDA CEO Manuel Da Silva. “The Administration’s investment toward the improvement of New Jersey’s educational infrastructure has allowed this Board to advance projects that will address critical needs in districts throughout New Jersey.”

The board’s approval authorizes funding to move forward with planning activities for the project. Planning activity funding cannot exceed $200,000 per project, unless approved by the board.

Newark Public Schools did not respond to a request for comment.

A mother walks her son across the intersection of Lafayette and Prospect in Newark on their way to school.

Newark Public Schools buildings have been crumbling for decades and state officials have been slow to address the needs. According to a historic court ruling, New Jersey must ensure that children in poor communities have access to well-funded schools in up-to-date buildings.

The state allocated nearly $2 billion to support the SDA’s 2022 Strategic Plan to advance more than a dozen school construction projects in SDA districts, and an additional $350 million for facilities projects in regular operating districts. Last year, Gov. Phil Murphy announced $75 million to districts statewide for capital maintenance and infrastructure projects, including roughly $6.5 million for Newark Public Schools.

Of the 16 projects approved by the SDA, three will address “serious facility deficiencies” in the cities of Camden and Salem. These new projects join three more that were approved by the SDA Board of Directors in April for a total of 19 projects approved in 2022.

In March, the state approved Newark Public Schools’ plan to build 10 new school buildings and undertake major repairs at more than 60 existing schools, according to a five-year capital plan. The plan also calls for some 275 renovation projects, including repairs to roofs and plumbing, electrical, ventilation, and fire alarm systems.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark Public Schools drop mask requirement starting Sept. 12

2022-09-11T16:27:08+00:00

Newark Public Schools will go mask optional starting Monday, the district announced after the conclusion of the first week of school and following opposition from some families who became impatient with the ongoing mandate.

“Given our review of multiple indicators and with the advice of the Newark Health Department and our healthcare partners this evening, the mask mandate is lifted beginning Monday,” the district announced in a post on Friday evening on its Facebook page. “Masks are now optional in our schools and facilities.”

The district of 38,000 students was likely one of the last in New Jersey to start the new academic year with the mandate in place after most districts went optional in the spring, when Gov. Phil Murphy ended the school and daycare mask requirement.

Superintendent Roger León and school board members previously said the district’s mandate had stayed in place due to advice from the city’s health department that took into account COVID-19 trends and immunizations in the city.

On Saturday, Newark had 119 new COVID-19 cases, the Essex County dashboard showed. That was more than two times the number of cases the city reported on Sept. 1, before the school year began.

Meanwhile, the rate for at least one dose of the vaccine among 5- to 11-year-olds in the city went up in the last week from 37% to 38%, according to the state’s COVID dashboard. The rate stayed the same at 38% for 12- to 17-year-olds, the state’s dashboard shows.

“The NTU is cautiously optimistic about the lifting of the mask mandate,” said John Abeigon, president of the Newark Teachers Union, in a statement on Sunday. “As long as the health officials believe it is safe to do so, we welcome the decision.”

District staff and teachers, as well as students, can still opt to wear face masks.

“We are reminding our members that optional means common sense decision-making,” Abeigon said. “We are not all the same and we’re advising them to make the decision to wear a mask or not upon their personal health and comfort level.”

Communication about the change to mask rules seemed to be scant as of Sunday morning.

The district had posted the announcement on its Instagram page, but not on Twitter. On the district’s main website, as of Sunday morning, there were no clear announcements or banners about the change in face mask rules. In a search through district school websites, no communication to families via letters seemed to be available.

Families received a robo-call with the announcement from the district Friday evening, a few parents said.

For some families, the news of the switch to an optional approach was too little, too late.

Anna Da Silva removed her six-year-old daughter from Ironbound Academy Elementary School, a new K-4 school in the East Ward, after learning she wouldn’t be exempted from the mask mandate even though masks trigger a skin infection on her face. On the second day of school last week, Da Silva filed official forms to disenroll her child, saying she wouldn’t put up with another school year of her daughter being uncomfortable.

“My daughter already lost four days of school,” Da Silva said on Sunday. “On Friday, all of a sudden, nobody has to wear a mask? What changed in four days? This is reactive from the superintendent and an injustice.”

The district kept face mask rules in place through summer programming and into the first week of school, which started Sept. 6. The ongoing mask rules made Newark an outlier in the state and nationwide, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had eased most of its recommended school protocols to prevent the spread of the virus, including masking in low-risk communities.

On Sunday, Essex County was still considered a low-risk area for COVID-19 transmission, according to the federal county tracker.

Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark, covering the city’s K-12 schools with a focus on English language learners. Contact Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.

‘It could be a few days’: Newark parents struggle to get bus service for students with disabilities

2022-09-08T18:23:18+00:00

For Veronica Searles, the start of the school year has been more expensive than usual.

Her son, Deion Searles, is an eighth grader at Camden Street Elementary School who has ADHD and anxiety and receives services from the district’s office of special education. The South Ward family is on a strict income, but after Deion’s district-provided bus never came on the first two days of school, Searles was forced to spend $80 on Lyfts to get her son to and from campus.

“Probably by the end of the week I’m going to be tapped out. I’m not going to have any money to take him to school,” Searles said. “I told them if he doesn’t show up, that’s not my fault. You should have had everything lined up.”

Searles fears her budget might not handle the unforeseen expenses for much longer. This isn’t the first time Searles has had to deal with bus issues at the beginning of the school year.

“Come to think of it, isn’t it every year that we have to wait a week or two before he gets onto a bus anyway?” Searles asked.

The Searles family isn’t the only one facing these problems.

On the third day of school, dozens of Newark parents of students with disabilities had yet to receive a bus assignment for their children. On Thursday morning, the district’s board of education office was filled with parents waiting to get answers on bus assignments, school schedules, and enrollment among other issues. Currently, parents are not allowed inside the district’s board of education offices.

Some parents took their concerns to the Newark Board of Education office on the third day of school. Parents are not allowed inside the building and wait in the lobby until their questions are answered.

The district and Quanika Dukes-Spruill, executive director of the district’s transportation services, did not respond to comment.

A national bus driver shortage, exacerbated partly by the pandemic, has affected hundreds of thousands of students across the country as they returned to school this year. Schools have also struggled to fill a number of lower-paid positions during the pandemic and principals don’t expect that to change in the new school year, according to a federal survey of nearly 860 school leaders released last week.

In August, Newark Superintendent Roger León and the board of education spent just over $7 million on a contract with 20 transportation companies to service 126 routes to schools. The contract is for a two-year period starting on Sept. 1 with the option to renew for two additional one-year periods. The new agreement was a response to the COVID-19 National Declaration of Emergency and bids were received on Aug. 9, according to the district’s resolution.

Students with disabilities must also be provided with transportation under their IEPs or individualized education program, according to the office of special education. According to the office, parents should allow 72 hours for the student’s request to be fully processed and assigned to the student by the office of pupil transportation.

Additionally, under New Jersey law, the district is required to provide transportation to and from school for elementary school students who live more than two miles from their public school or high school students who live more than two and a half miles from their school.

Digna Lazo, one of the parents waiting in the lobby of the district’s board of education office on Thursday, said she’s been going to the district’s offices since Tuesday. Her son was waiting for the bus on the first day of school but it never came.

Lazo, a Spanish speaker whose son has ADHD and attends Franklin Elementary School, said she is finding it difficult to communicate with district officials and relay her concerns. In previous years, Lazo said there were district interpreters who would help her communicate.

“Every time I call the district or come here they say they’re going to get back to me,” said Lazo in Spanish. “It’s the same thing every year and everything is in English.”

Fifth graders board a bus after dismissal at Wesley Elementary School in Middletown, CT on October 5, 2020.

Jasmin Lee Phillips, the mother of 14-year-old Elijah Lee who has autism, did not get a bus assignment for her son on the first day of school. On Wednesday, the school’s principal called her and said her son was assigned to Phoenix Transportation services and should wait until 8 a.m. for the bus to take him to Central High School.

Lee waited for the bus on Thursday morning but by 8:15 a.m. the bus never arrived, prompting Elijah to be late for school.

“I’ve been calling. I called today, and still no answer,” Lee Phillips said. “I don’t know what’s going on.”

Despite the unexpected transportation expense, Searles said she’s happy her son has been having a good experience at school. She doesn’t want to keep him at home and hopes someone in the district can help her get her son transportation or financial assistance to keep taking Deion to school.

“She said they put in the paperwork yesterday but nobody knows how long it’s going to be,” said Searles about her conversations with district staff. “She said it could be tomorrow. Then I went down to the board of education and the board of education said it could be a few days.”

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Have you faced barriers to services for students with disabilities in Newark schools? Let us know.

2022-09-07T21:17:36+00:00

Students with disabilities are among the most vulnerable in Newark Public Schools. In 2019, Superintendent Roger León made a promise to fix the city’s programs serving those students.

But even the most thriving school districts can struggle to serve that population.

To better understand the challenges faced by those students, Chalkbeat Newark is looking to speak with students, parents, guardians, and family members who know or have a student with disabilities in a Newark public school.

Complex districts with many students who need services often run up against challenges that can stand in the way of getting those students the services to which they are legally entitled. After the onset of the pandemic, many Newark families continue to face problems as they relate to students with disabilities.

If you have a student with a disability receiving services or in need of services, we want to hear more about your child and your experience in Newark Public Schools.

Are you an educator who works with Newark students with disabilities? We’d love to hear from you too.

Having trouble viewing this form? Go here.

Newark public school teachers mask up to welcome students hoping for a smooth year

2022-09-06T16:28:40+00:00

Before Elijah Lee walked out to the car for his first day as a Central High School freshman, he said a prayer with his mom, Jasmin Lee Phillips, who kept her nerves inside.

They prayed for safety on the 14-year-old’s big day and for a good school year. Lee Phillips has been worried about her son, who has autism, starting high school but Elijah’s optimism and excitement put her at ease.

“I just have to let him go,” said Lee Phillips, who worked at her son’s middle school when he attended last year. “I’m not going to worry about anything, I’m going to let him have his day.”

By the time Elijah got to school, on a rainy Tuesday morning, he was grinning from ear to ear, excited to meet his teachers and classmates.

It’s a big transition for any teen, but especially for Elijah.

“I’m excited!” said Elijah, as he posed for a picture outside of the school building.

Elijah Lee, an incoming freshman at Central High School, poses for a picture on his first day of school. Elijah, who has autism, is excited to attend a new school.

Elijah joins more than 38,000 students who returned to Newark Public Schools this morning – some sporting new backpacks but all wearing face masks, a district mandate that NPS officials say comes from the city’s health department.

The district’s remaining COVID-19 preventative measures, including temperature checks, health screenings, and weekly testing for the virus were dropped this school year, according to Superintendent Roger León, who announced the new measures at a board meeting last month. COVID testing for unvaccinated staff is no longer required on a weekly basis following an executive order signed by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy last month, León added.

Yet some Newark parents weren’t too concerned about COVID this year. Parents such as Lee Phillips just felt happy to have their children return to a structured school schedule and daily social interactions.

At Central, dozens of teens rushed to the 18th Avenue entrance Tuesday morning as the rain trickled down their backpacks. Some hugged their parents goodbye while others just waved as they ran up the stairs. At the 17th Avenue entrance of the school, students waited in a line outside the school’s doors.

Siki Adebara, also a parent of a freshman at Central, said she felt “a mix of emotions” about her son’s first day. As she walked down the stairs of the school, she saw Elijah and leaned in to hug him and his mom. Her son, already inside the school, was Elijah’s classmate last year.

Elijah Lee and his mom, Jasmin Lee Phillips, pose for a picture on the first day of school for Newark students.

Adebara’s only concern was that she was still waiting on the school to give her a bus assignment for her son. Lee Phillips hadn’t received one for her son either as of Tuesday morning.

“The school said they would send it to us but we haven’t gotten anything yet,” Adebara said.

A block away from Central, KIPP Thrive students ran out of cars and into the entrance of that school as the rain picked up shortly after 8:00 a.m. Once their kids waved goodbye to them, parents drove out of the busy intersection on 18th Avenue and Livingston Street. Crossing guards at both schools helped kids cross the street and avoid drivers eager to leave the area.

Last year, Newark and other cities in New Jersey struggled to fill crossing guard positions. Currently, the city is at 72% of its budgetary allocation for school crossing guards with an additional 27 in the hiring process, according to Sharonda Morris, Newark Police deputy director of operations. Assuming that all 27 prospective applicants are hired, the department will bump up to 92%, Morris added.

Newark had 11 openings in a force of 126 crossing guards, according to the city police department last October.

This year, school officials will not only have to deal with the lingering effects of the pandemic but also have to tackle some of the district’s most pressing issues including attendance rates, support for students with disabilities, and teacher and student mental health. Even though in-person learning resumed last fall, teachers will continue to focus on academic progress and learning loss due to the pandemic.

Ahead of the school year, the district hired 600 new teachers arriving from other districts and starting out in the profession, according to León in an interview with ABC7. In June, the district announced the appointment of 10 new principals across district high schools. An additional two were appointed over the summer to Science Park High School and Newark Vocational High School and replaced two first-year principals.

Students walk up the stairs at Central High School on the first day of school for Newark Public Schools.

Newark has struggled to hire enough teachers and other educators in the past, as districts nationwide contend with staffing shortages. By the end of March, Superintendent Roger León said, there were 115 instructional openings. During a board meeting last month, León said there were 75 vacancies across the district with numbers fluctuating every day.

A teacher at Thirteenth Avenue Elementary School who preferred to remain unnamed said she felt nervous ahead of the first day of school because of the experiences she went through last year. The teacher said understaffing and a lack of resources were a problem at the school.

Last week, district officials held their annual convocation to welcome teachers and staff to Newark ahead of the school year. León thanked teachers for their hard work during the pandemic before he highlighted some of the district’s accomplishments this year, including an increase in student enrollment, student attendance, scholarship awards, and graduation rates.

“I really appreciate all of you for your hard work,” said León during the convocation. The impact of your work is realized every day in our schools by our students who have a safe, nutritious, and healthy learning environment with the resources needed to be successful.”

The district did not respond to comment on Tuesday morning.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark Public Schools’ face mask rules will stay in place, but some parents are frustrated

2022-09-01T21:00:52+00:00

When Gov. Phil Murphy ended the statewide school mask mandate in March, Newark and several other large districts across New Jersey kept one in place, keeping watch on local COVID-19 trends.

As positive cases began to climb after spring break in April, Newark, the state’s largest district with 38,000 students, still maintained its mask mandate, though other large school systems transitioned to an optional measure.

Even through summer programs, during which Newark Public Schools reported 82 total COVID cases among staff and students from July 4 through Aug. 7, the district’s mask rules didn’t budge.

Now, as students gear up to start a new school year on Sept. 6, the district mandate will remain – a recommendation that NPS officials say comes from the city’s health department — leaving face masks as a back-to-school item many parents would rather do without.

Many families are growing impatient with the district’s wait-and-see approach, saying they feel “ignored” by the district about their concerns.

“My child cannot start yet another school year wearing masks when the majority of children throughout New Jersey and the country are returning to school with some kind of normalcy,” said Anna Da Silva, as she watched her 6-year-old daughter run around without a mask among other kids at a Newark park on Wednesday.

“I feel frustrated and in disbelief that we’re here once again,” said Da Silva, whose first grader attends the new Ironbound Academy Elementary School.

At a recent school board meeting, Superintendent Roger León and school board members announced that most of the district’s remaining COVID-19 preventative measures, including temperature checks, health screenings, and weekly testing for the virus, would be dropped this school year.

León also said the water fountains would be turned on this school year, as contactless water fountains are in the process of being installed throughout the district.

Newark kept water fountains shut off last school year, a measure that León had attributed to preventing the spread of the virus, even though it wasn’t included in federal or state health department guidance.

Records showed that lead testing had not been completed before buildings reopened last year. As of late August, León said most water fountains had already undergone lead testing and that “a number of schools” would be completing that process “prior to students and all staff returning back to their schools.”

Mask mandate spurs frustration, disappointment

The continued mask rules make Newark an outlier in the state and nationwide, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has eased most of its recommended school protocols to prevent the spread of the virus. Face masks are still recommended in high-risk level communities.

As of Thursday, Essex County was in a low-risk level category on the federal COVID tracker. That day, the county reported 50 new cases in Newark out of 143 cases countywide. New Jersey reported 1,815 new cases on Sept. 1, compared to 904 on March 7, when the state ended the face mask mandate.

Among the nation’s largest school districts, Newark is one of four to continue the mask mandate, including Philadelphia City School District, Jefferson County school district in Kentucky, and Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland, according to Burbio, a data service platform mask policy tracker.

Newark school board member Crystal Williams said she was “disappointed” to hear that mask rules will continue for staff and students on the first day of the new school year.

“I can see the frustration of parents or even the students,” Williams said during a board meeting last month, adding that school staff might have the flexibility to step outside for mask breaks but students “don’t get that type of freedom.”

Board officials said the recommendation for the mask mandate came from the city health department.

“This is based on our numbers and how they rise and fall, as well as immunizations,” board president Dawn Haynes said.

In Newark, the vaccination rate among school-age children hasn’t changed much over the last month, according to the state’s COVID-19 dashboard.

Thirty-seven percent of 5- to 11-year-olds and 87% of 12- to 17-year-olds have received at least one dose, the same rate of vaccination as four weeks ago, the dashboard shows.

The rates back in February, according to Newark Mayor Ras Baraka at the time, were 27% of 5- to 11-year-olds and 76% of 12- to 17-year-olds who had received at least one dose.

Da Silva said she received a letter in late August informing her of the continued mask mandate. As a parent and taxpayer, she says, she feels excluded from the district’s decision-making process.

“We’re never asked how we feel,” she said. “I feel so ignored and disrespected.”

Da Silva’s daughter has a recurring skin infection that’s triggered by rubbing from the mask, she said. Though she’s sought out a mask exemption for her daughter before, she’s been denied, she said. She’s again attempting to secure an exemption for this school year.

This time, she said, she won’t accept a denial.

“It will be a very serious family decision, but I would rather homeschool my daughter than force her to wear a mask for hours a day again if rates are low in the city,” Da Silva said, adding that she’s not against wearing masks when the city is at an elevated risk of transmission.

For Megan Matos, a different and more common health risk makes her uneasy about having her East Ward Elementary third grader wear a mask again this school year.

Her son has asthma that gets triggered “when he’s running around” or isn’t in a well-ventilated area, she said.

“Between his asthma and his allergies, his face will turn a bright red when he’s wearing a mask,” she said, adding that she’s concerned that the fear building up in those moments when breathing gets difficult will also have an effect on his mental health.

Matos says she’s also “annoyed” with the district for informing parents of the decision regarding masks in the last two weeks of August.

“Everything always feels last-minute here,” she said.

Matos hopes the district will move to an optional mandate soon.

“If someone feels safer wearing a mask, then wear a mask. If you don’t want to send your child to school wearing a mask for six hours a day, then you shouldn’t have to,” Matos said. “I hope they listen to families.”

Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark, covering the city’s K-12 schools with a focus on English language learners. Contact Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.

How New Jersey and Newark plan to beef up school security this academic year

2022-08-30T23:50:00+00:00

In an effort to keep students safe, New Jersey will direct $6.5 million to have school districts digitize building maps for use in emergency situations and Newark plans to hire more security guards, launch a new student identification system, and use updated software to track incidents.

The state and local efforts to ramp up school security come months after a mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas that left 19 students and two teachers dead. Districts nationwide have invested significant portions of their budgets and federal relief funds to upgrade school security measures in the months prior to and following the massacre, as school shootings hit a 20-year high in the 2020-21 school year.

“Ensuring school safety is among my, and I think, our collective, most sacred obligations,” Gov. Phil Murphy said on Tuesday at a news conference the week before the new school year starts for most districts in the state. “An important part of school safety is ensuring that first responders have the tools they need to answer any emergency of any size and at any time.”

Money for the digital school mapping effort will come from the state’s American Rescue Plan funds, Murphy said. The announcement follows a directive from Murphy earlier this month for school districts to create threat assessment teams by next school year, who will be tasked with identifying students who might be a threat to school safety.

The digital maps allow police to easily pinpoint key access points, stairwells, and other locations, which could be useful if, for example, a school is under threat of a shooting.

The funds for this initiative will be used to support the creation of the digital maps for the remaining 1,500 schools, Murphy said. The governor’s office did not share which school districts already have the digital building maps.

Critical Response Group, run by former and current members of New Jersey state and local police departments, has been providing the digital blueprint service to hundreds of schools across the country for years, according to trade magazine articles about the company.

Governors and school district leaders in other parts of the country have also been announcing plans to invest in digital school maps, including in Iowa and Virginia.

“When every second matters, the first and perhaps most important tool is the ability to know without delay not just where an emergency is within a building, but also the fastest and safest route to get there,” Murphy said at the news conference, which was held in the East Brook Middle School of Paramus.

The renderings combine aerial imagery, floor plans, and other features into a gridded graphic, which allows various agencies to better communicate on strategy both inside and outside of a building in emergency situations, the company says.

“I think it’s a pretty good strategy to have and a step in the right direction,” said Mo Canady, executive director of the National Association of School Resource Officers, in an interview on Tuesday. “But as we talk more about technology, we cannot dismiss the human element of this whole piece of school safety.”

Canady said he urges law enforcement and public safety officials to visit schools in their regions, getting familiar with the physical layout of the buildings and the people who run the schools.

“This cannot be overlooked, it’s critical and makes all the difference in the world,” Canady said.

He also suggests that while districts invest in upgraded technology and cameras, they should also consider basic maintenance of doors and reporting systems when there are malfunctions.

Last school year, Newark schools faced multiple bomb threats and saw an uptick of disruptive behavior.

Newark has earmarked $2.8 million from its second coronavirus federal relief package for security measures, including about 5,000 new security cameras, six new patrol cars for school safety officers, and equipment at high school entrances to scan students for contraband and weapons.

Some education experts are critical of districts using federal relief money for school security measures, arguing the money was intended to address academic recovery and mental health support after students experienced months of disrupted learning.

For the upcoming school year, the district’s Office of Safety has hired 40 permanent security guards and is looking to hire an additional 50 guards on a per diem basis, according to a board operation committee report.

At a school board meeting last week, Superintendent Roger León said there will also be a new student identification system.

The district will be using a newly upgraded command center in the Office of Safety this coming school year to monitor the district “with our remote surveillance system while dispatchers utilize our new incident tracking CAD (computer-aided dispatch) system,” the operation report stated.

“We will continue to resource all security staff with superior training for the ever changing security threats we face in public education,” the report said. “All implemented security upgrades will benefit NBOE students, staff, and community.”

Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark, covering the city’s K-12 schools with a focus on English language learners. Contact Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.

Newark schools missed federal requirements for students with disabilities, state finds

2022-08-30T13:44:29+00:00

After a review of district records, policies, classroom visits, and interviews with child study team members and administration, the New Jersey Department of Education found that Newark Public Schools failed to meet six federal responsibilities for students with disabilities. The state has ordered the district to take corrective action by November.

The state’s corrective action plan, released last Thursday by the district, found problems with reporting in education plans, notifying parents of meetings, and missing meetings with parents and students with disabilities as part of responsibilities mandated under the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA).

The findings are a fraction of the issues district leaders continue to face after the pandemic as they relate to students with disabilities. Previously, the district was cited in 2019 for failing to meet key mandates related to education plans for students with disabilities.

The district did not respond to a request to comment on the state’s latest report or corrective action plan.

In February 2021, the state department of education visited the district to monitor the implementation and use of federal funds for IDEA and Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) programs. The goal was to determine whether the funds were spent in accordance with the program requirements, federal and state law, and applicable regulations, according to the April 21 NJDOE Collaborative Monitoring Report.

The state’s corrective action plan issued to NPS in June found that Newark is falling short on reporting requirements for “individualized education programs,” or IEPs. The plans, which schools are legally required to produce for students with disabilities, detail what classrooms students will be taught in and what services they must receive.

The report also found flaws when considering student placement in the least restrictive environments. Under federal law, a student is placed in a more restrictive learning setting when the district agrees that the student needs a different placement for their learning.

The corrective action plan states that the district did not note the consideration of placement in the least restrictive environment on IEPs of students who are removed from general education classrooms for even part of the day. NPS must also conduct training for the child study team that writes education plans and revise IEPs that were found to be non-compliant.

State monitors also found that the district did not consistently provide parents of students with disabilities proper notice of a meeting for identification, eligibility, reevaluation planning, and determination of continued eligibility after their reevaluation.

Similarly, the district failed to provide notice of graduation and a summary of academic achievement and functional performance to students eligible for services before their graduation. The state also found that the district did not “consistently convene meetings” for NPS students with disabilities and their families.

The report calls on the district to address issues with child study team members who “did not consistently participate” in conferences with parents and students to help students move out from early intervention.

The district also failed to consistently complete all components of a functional assessment, which is part of the initial process for developing IEPs for students. The initial evaluation reports of some students did not include observations in non-testing settings, which allows staff to fully identify support services for them.

The district is required to develop an “oversight mechanism” to fix its compliance with all of the missed requirements and provide training to child study team members on the issues by Nov. 1, per the state’s corrective action plan.

The findings are just a fraction of the long list of issues related to services for students with disabilities in Newark, according to an NPS employee who prefers to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. They added that NPS has a history of “being dysfunctional,” specifically when it comes to providing services and oversight for students with disabilities.

“I’ve seen a lot of what’s been going on for a long time that’s not so great,” said the employee, who has knowledge of requirements for students with disabilities in the district.

The employee said the state’s report touches on the procedural issues within the district such as how an IEP is written or how the district communicates with parents, but there are still issues with the implementation of the recommended support service for students with disabilities.

In 2019, the state also ordered Newark to take corrective action after finding that the city’s public schools failed to meet four key mandates related to education plans for students with disabilities, including explanations of services in IEPs. In that same year, Superintendent Roger León made a promise to fix the city’s programs for students with disabilities.

This year, the district plans on allocating more resources for those programs. During last year’s budget hearing, León said the district would partner with local organizations such as Rutgers ABA Center and STAR Autism to provide more services.

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Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org

Former Newark elementary school principals take top roles at Science Park, Vocational

2022-08-12T21:31:01+00:00

Newly appointed principals at Science Park High School and Newark Vocational High School, both named over the summer by the Newark Board of Education, sent out welcome letters to parents this week to announce their arrival and set the stage for the year.

The new arrivals come amid concerns over principal turnover in the district after their first-year predecessors were ousted from their positions. But parents aren’t sure if the reshuffling will help address some of the long-standing issues affecting both high schools.

“I’m just tired of meeting new principals,” said Doug Freeman, whose son is a senior at Newark Vocational. “The first two didn’t have a real opportunity to bring their vision to life.”

Both high schools are set to face more challenges following a year of learning disruptions due to COVID, student mental health, and staff burnout. The departure of the former principals has also sparked questions over the district’s support given to first-year staff.

Additionally, the departure of vice principals and leadership of color raises questions about district officials’ stated goal of elevating people of color to leadership positions, especially men. Both incoming principals are white women who are replacing people of color.

Karisa DeSantis is the new principal at Newark Vocational replacing Lucinda Eason, a former vice principal at two Newark high schools who started in the fall of last year. DeSantis, a former principal at Elliot Street School and vice principal at Rafael Hernandez School of the Performing Arts, will have to address the high schools’ struggle with discipline, violence, and absenteeism, and concerns over racial representation.

“The school used to be a family-friendly environment,” Freeman said. “You barely needed security and there’s security on the outside corners because they keep making these changes.”

Marcus Allen, president of the Parent Teacher Student Organization at Newark Vocational, is concerned about the continuous turnover at the high school. He’s hoping to meet with DeSantis in the coming weeks but fears for his son’s experience in school.

“Now, he doesn’t trust the experience or trust that he will have the experience he was initially promised because there have been so many changes,” Allen said.

Darleen Gearhart takes the principal’s role at Science Park High School replacing Angela Mincy, who left in 2021 to take the helm at Marion P. Thomas Charter School. Gearhart also faces challenges in the highly selective magnet school that has been accused of under-enrolling Black students.

The district, DeSantis, and Gearhart did not respond to requests for comment.

The district plans to spend $35 million to make urgently needed fixes to buildings, including the future site of Newark Vocational High School.

In a letter to parents on Thursday. DeSantis laid out COVID and safety protocols for the year along with the announcement of a new vice principal, Peter Ramos, and a new department chair, Patrick Malpass. She brings 20 years of experience as an educator working in urban districts in New York, Florida, and New Jersey. In July, DeSantis sent out a survey to parents to gauge concerns, pointing to interest in addressing the school’s issues.

On Monday, Gearhart addressed Science Park parents in a letter detailing her plans for the upcoming year. The former Sussex Avenue School principal brings more than 28 years of experience working in Newark Public Schools. She started her career as a math teacher at Weequahic High School, but will face concerns over discipline at Science Park after several fights broke out and multiple bomb threats were reported last year.

Science Park is the third high school in the past year to lose a Black male principal and Gearhart will have to address concerns about diversity and racial representation.

“As your new school principal, I believe it’s important that I understand both your needs as a parent and the aspirations you have for your child,” said Gearhart in a letter to parents this week.

Teacher retention and principal experience are key factors of school stability. Principals who have led their first school for five or more years hire significantly more teachers who stay at the school, according to a study released in May. At a time when many school districts are facing a teacher shortage, principal turnover could cause serious strains on students and educators.

Last month, district officials also approved 13 internal leadership promotions, two outside appointments for vice principal positions, and four resignations of top administrators.

Allen and Freeman are hoping to develop a working relationship with their new principals as they prepare their children for the first day of school next month.

“I want to know now what to expect,” Freeman said. “Morale has been very low.”

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org

Ten new principals to take the helm at Newark schools

2022-07-01T19:38:38+00:00

The Newark school board recently approved 13 internal leadership promotions, two outside appointments for vice principal positions, and four resignations of top administrators in the latest staffing shake-up for the district.

It’s unclear if the shuffling of school leaders will pay off as the district heads into another unprecedented year that will focus attention on how Newark helps students and educators recover from the learning disruptions of the last three academic years.

The departure of vice principals of color runs contrary to district officials’ repeated goal of elevating people of color to leadership positions, especially men.

And after the recent ousting of two first-year principals, the promotion of 10 first-time principals could cause some concern or, at the least, hint to district officials that support is greatly needed during that transition.

School board president Dawn Haynes said in an email this week that the district would provide that necessary support.

Ten of the 13 promotions are for principal positions at elementary and high schools, mostly going to educators who have worked their way up through the ranks in the district. Two promotions are for vice principal positions at elementary schools and one promotion is for a special assistant to the student leadership team.

The district announced the 10 new principals in an email this week, which, notably, did not include the replacements for the principals at Science Park and Newark Vocational high schools who were removed after one year.

“I am thrilled to announce one of the most diverse group of principal candidates to be named principal for school year 2022-23,” Superintendent Roger León said in the email.

León called the promotions “a shining example of internal mobility at its best” and said that school leadership teams helped with the hiring process.

All candidates for the principal positions met with community members, students, staff, and León as part of the interview process, district spokeswoman Nancy Deering wrote in the announcement.

“Being a principal is the most important leadership role in our schools and we look forward to providing the support needed to be successful,” Haynes said.

A study released in June suggests principal turnover can lead to teacher turnover, and at a time when schools are facing a detrimental teacher shortage, it could cause serious strains on students and educators.

“Principals hire significantly more teachers who persist after they have led their first school for five or more years,” read the findings of the study, which followed 11,717 Texas principals from 1999 to 2017.

The study also showed that principals who enter an “unstable school,” or a school with less than 69% retention in the two years prior to the principal’s arrival, and stay for five years, can counteract prior instability.

Data from the New Jersey Department of Education shows that 87.5% of Newark administrators stayed in their role between the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years, a lower retention rate than the statewide average of 89.7%.

Here’s a list of leadership changes taking effect ahead of the 2022-23 school year, including resignations, that the school board approved at recent meetings.

Promotions

Vice principals

Kishanda Montes, one of two vice principals at South 17th Street School, was promoted to the student leadership team as special assistant at a salary of $125,000.

Denise Rawding, a math teacher coach in the district, was promoted to a vice principal position at Roberto Clemente Elementary with a salary of $103,763.

Sandy Ferreira, a teacher coach in the district, was promoted to a vice principal position at Benjamin Franklin School with a salary of $95,319.

Principals

Margaret Murray, who was most recently a vice principal at East Side High School and held other positions in the school throughout her 20-year tenure, was promoted to principal of American History High School with a salary of $134,100 effective July 1. She studied at the University of Illinois, Columbia University’s Teachers College, and University of Phoenix.

Krishna Dalal Barroso was most recently vice principal at Avon Avenue School for eight years. Barroso was promoted to principal of Avon Avenue with a salary of $134,100 starting July 1. Barroso studied at Seton Hall University and Rutgers University.

Filipa Alexandra Silva was most recently vice principal of Salomé Ureña Elementary School. She was promoted to principal of Dr. E. Alma Flagg Elementary School with a salary of $134,100 starting July 1. Silva studied at Drew University, St. Elizabeth College, and Grand Canyon University.

Carlos M. Rodriguez, who was most recently a vice principal at East Side High School, was promoted to principal of East Side with a salary of $134,100 starting July 1. He studied at Kean University and Saint Peter’s University.

Andres Barquin was most recently special assistant to the North Ward Leadership Team and previously served as an after school programs director. He was promoted to principal of Elliot Street School with a salary of $134,100 starting July 1. Barquin studied at Thomas Edison State College, Grand Canyon University, and Caldwell College.

Erica L. Paich most recently served as director of enrollment for the district for two years. She was promoted to principal of Ironbound Academy Elementary School, a new school opening this fall, with a salary of $134,100 starting July 1. Paich studied at Rutgers University, Kean University, and Rowan University.

Daniel Guerra, who most recently served as a vice principal at Elliot Street School, was promoted to principal of Luis Muñoz Marin School with a salary of $134,100 starting July 1. Guerra studied at Essex County College, Montclair State University, and John Hopkins University.

Lynnette Dortrait has served as a vice principal at Dr. William H. Horton Elementary School for the last three years. She was promoted to principal of McKinley Elementary School with a salary of $134,100 starting July 1. Dortrait studied at Rider University and St. Peter’s University.

Courtney R. Johnson, who most recently served as special assistant of the high school leadership team, was promoted to principal of Quitman Community School with a salary of $134,100 starting July 1. Johnson studied at the College of New Jersey, Capella University, and New Jersey City University.

Tiffany Wicks, who most recently served as a vice principal at Sir Isaac Newton Elementary School, was promoted to principal of that school with a salary of $134,100 starting July 1. Wicks studied at Caldwell University, Montclair State University, and Seton Hall University.

Appointments

Roberta Washington, who was an assistant principal in the Orange Public Schools district, was appointed to a vice principal position at Belmont Runyon School with a salary of $120,651 effective Aug. 30.

Kevin Williams, who was an assistant principal at Irvington High School this past school year, was appointed to vice principal of Central High School with a salary of $133,000 effective Aug. 30 .

Resignations

Norma Diaz, who was one of four vice principals at Barringer High School, resigned from her position effective June 24, the last day of school.

Mariama Sesay-St.Paul, who was the vice principal of curriculum and instructions, the autism program, and the health and physical education program at American History High School, resigned from her position effective June 30.

Shannon Crowell-Edghill, one of four vice principals at Lafayette Street School, resigned effective June 30.

Krystal Allbright, one of three vice principals at Peshine Avenue School, resigned effective June 30.

Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark, covering the city’s K-12 schools with a focus on English language learners. Contact Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.

Newark’s 2022 Teacher of the Year says kids strive when they feel accepted

2022-06-30T21:52:46+00:00

When Newark’s 2022 Teacher of the Year reflects on her personal experiences with school, she recalls having educators who established warm and inviting classroom environments that she eagerly anticipated.

And others who made their classes feel like a dreaded task.

So, when Jessica Tavares began teaching for Newark Public Schools eight years ago, she prioritized setting an example in her classroom of acceptance and kindness. From her firsthand experience, she knew those qualities were key to inspiring students to learn.

“When you actually want to be in school and feel like you are accepted, you are more willing to try your best,” Tavares said.

The eighth grade science teacher at Lafayette Street School was recently named the district’s teacher of the year, a recognition she was surprised and honored to receive.

“She was nominated and selected based on her interdisciplinary approach to teaching that centers on student growth, which is both challenging and engaging,” said Nancy Deering, district spokeswoman, in an email about the announcement earlier this month. “Tavares has compassion and sensitivity that allows her to connect with her students and others on a personal level.”

Tavares’ approach to modeling acceptance in her classroom as a way to promote learning is also supported by research.

“Students who learn in positive learning environments that are safe, supportive, and engaging are more likely to improve academically, participate more fully in the classroom, and develop skills that will help them be successful in school and in life,” according to the National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments.

Tavares spoke recently with Chalkbeat.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Why did you want to become a teacher? Did you always want to teach middle school science?

As far back as I can remember, I have always wanted to be a teacher, and I have always loved science. Blending the two just made sense. But I wasn’t always sure about what grade I wanted to focus on. When I was younger, my first job was covering the after-school and summer programs for a community center in the Newark area. I was able to experience working with all different grade levels. I found that I was able to connect and make the most impact with the middle school students. When it was time to become a teacher, I decided my best fit would be as a middle school science teacher.

How do you feel about being named the 2022 Teacher of the Year?

I feel honored. I was very surprised by the award. I never thought I would be chosen above all the other great educators in the district.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received, and how have you put it into practice?

The best advice I have ever received is to be kind to everyone and treat people as you would like to be treated. Most teachers see their students as kids and not always as people. But just like adults, our students have good days and bad days. The toughest student is usually just having a bad day or a hard time and they feel defeated. Most students just need someone to be kind and understanding. You can’t learn and be successful if you are in a negative mindset.

Teaching and showing kindness, compassion, and life lessons are sometimes more important than the curriculum we teach in the classroom. Encouraging my students to be nice people and to show kindness in everything they do is sometimes the best lesson I can teach them.

Tell us about your own experience with school and how it affects your work today.

I have had many different experiences in school. I attended Ann Street School here in Newark from kindergarten through eighth grade. For high school, I attended a small private Catholic school. I was exposed to different teaching styles and environments. Throughout my schooling, I have had some great teachers that made me love going to school and some that made going to school feel like the worst chore. I learned a lot from both experiences and they have definitely all had an effect on my teaching.

Taking in all these different experiences, I have learned that having an inclusive, encouraging, and positive environment in the classroom helps students learn and persevere. When you actually want to be in school and feel like you are accepted you are more willing to try your best. I try to make sure that all my students feel like they can be themselves and not worry about struggling in my classroom. We all need a little extra help from time to time, and it is okay to ask for it. I try to make sure all of my students feel comfortable coming to me for help, whether it is help for something in school or outside of school.

What’s your favorite lesson to teach, and why?

I think my favorite lesson to teach my students isn’t one specific science lesson but something that is taught throughout the school year. I try to teach my students to persevere, whether that be in life or in science. Many students tend to give up when something seems hard, but I try to encourage them to keep pushing forward.

One of my favorite moments as a teacher is when I see a student who once struggled and would give up start to persevere and become the one to help others in the classroom. They have become more confident and have learned to work through difficult tasks. Perseverance and never giving up is a lesson I hope they carry with them throughout their lives.

Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark, covering the city’s K-12 schools with a focus on English language learners. Contact Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.

Newark school board approves changes to attendance, discipline, graduation policies

2022-06-22T22:37:07+00:00

The Newark Board of Education approved updates to several policies Tuesday that will, among other changes, modify the way absences are tracked and suspensions are imposed.

Certain rules embedded in the old policies contributed to an unclear number of retentions and suspensions. For example, a clause in the previous attendance policy would keep a student in the same grade due to chronic absenteeism without considering the cause of the absences.

New language in the policies aims to keep students in school and on track, Superintendent Roger León said.

The updated attendance policy and guidance will give attendance monitors and teachers codes to mark if an absence is due to trauma, crisis, bereavement, or health conditions, or if a tardy is because of bus and public transportation issues.

Absences can also be due to out-of-school suspensions, and so, board member A’Dorian Murray-Thomas, pushed on Tuesday to amend the guidance further to add disciplinary actions as a reason for absences.

“I think we really risk funneling that school-to-prison pipeline and creating these spaces where kids who are suspended are also more likely to be chronically absent because they have no choice but to not be in school,” Murray-Thomas said.

Leòn agreed to add a marker to indicate if a student is out of school due to suspension.

Black students in the district have historically been suspended at a higher rate than students of any other race, the latest federal data from 2017 shows. In a district where 16% of students were chronically absent in 2020-21, a significant number of students were penalized — in some cases even held back a grade — under the previous policy.

The amended discipline policy adds therapeutic interventions for level three conduct offenses, which include a wide range of disruptions from excessive tardiness and chronic absences to fighting and trespassing.

An amendment to the graduation requirement policy removes the June 1 deadline for seniors to submit a waiver to opt out of filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known as the FAFSA. The form helps students determine how much money they can get from federal financial aid to cover the cost of higher education, which can help students make an informed decision on college.

That requirement was imposed this school year for the first time but proved to be a challenge for the Class of 2022.

As of May, León said last month, 75% of seniors had either submitted the FAFSA, or the New Jersey Alternate Financial Aid Application for undocumented students, or the required exemption form to their counselors. That meant that about a quarter of students were at risk of not fulfilling this graduation requirement. An updated number was not shared on Tuesday.

The amended co-curricular activities policy will require all students participating in activities to abide by a code of conduct that will be developed with input from student leaders and presented for approval by the board.

Lastly, the amended dress and grooming policy and guidance will remove hooded sweaters from a list of prohibited items and encourage schools to include students when developing uniform codes.

Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark, covering the city’s K-12 schools with a focus on English language learners. Contact Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.

Newark board considers changes to discipline, absence policies

2022-06-17T14:51:44+00:00

The Newark Board of Education has been reviewing policy changes that could change the way administrators and teachers approach discipline, attendance, dress codes, and retention.

From removing an 18-day absence retention clause to including therapeutic interventions as part of disciplinary measures, policy amendments that could see a vote at a Tuesday board meeting would significantly affect students’ educational experiences.

Under current policies, Black students in the district are suspended at a far higher rate than students of any other race, according to federal data from 2017 that is limited by state reporting lapses. Students were penalized for absences — sometimes even held back a grade — in a district that had a 16% chronic absenteeism rate in 2020-21.

Proposed changes to disciplinary measures, highlighted below, would add more restorative responses for students who might have previously faced disciplinary action, such as in- and out-of-school suspensions.

“Policies are not supposed to be designed to punish students,” Superintendent Roger León said. “We want to educate our students.”

Teams of administrators, teachers, parents, and students met multiple times over the last two years to review decade-old policies, León said during a board retreat meeting last month where he presented recommendations to amend certain policies and guidance.

Many of the revisions, León said, aim to keep students on track and in school.

The amended policies were introduced at a May school board meeting.

Board committees have been meeting throughout June to discuss and make adjustments to the policies that were recommended. According to León’s timeline at the meeting last month, the policies will likely be up for a vote at the June 21 meeting, before taking effect for next school year. The agenda for the Tuesday meeting was not yet available on the board website.

If approved at that meeting, the updated policies will be added to student and parent handbooks, and shared with families before the start of next school year, León said.

Here are some of the recommended policy changes the board is considering.

Discouraging retention

The board will consider removing a clause in the policy that penalizes students with 18 or more absences, or chronic absenteeism, with being held back a grade.

“It shouldn’t be a sole determining factor” for retention, León said at the May board meeting.

There would also be guidance added to indicate if an absence is due to trauma or crisis, bereavement, or a health condition or concern, or if a tardy is due to school bus or public transportation issues, he said.

On the district’s promotion and intervention policy, there would be guidance added to “focus on promotion with intervention for students who are not meeting benchmarks.”

Therapeutic interventions

The amended discipline policy would include school-based and therapeutic interventions, as well as restorative circle time, for students who commit “level three” offenses. Level three offenses, the current policy stipulates, can include excessive tardiness and chronic absences.

Board member A’Dorian Murray-Thomas has advocated for a restorative justice program in the district and to formally include trauma-informed, restorative-based interventions in policies.

Updated guidance would include sending students home with educational packets if they face suspension and to add a post-suspension conference meeting with students.

“This is not the criminal justice system, this is education,” León said. “Our job is to create pathways of success for students and these policy recommendations do that.”

Removing FAFSA deadline

The current graduation requirement policy, instituted last summer, requires seniors to either submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known by the acronym FAFSA, an alternate financial aid form, or a waiver by June 1.

The application for current and prospective college students helps them determine their eligibility for federal financial aid.

León shared that as of last month 75% of seniors have either submitted the FAFSA, or the New Jersey Alternate Financial Aid Application for undocumented students, or the required exemption form to their counselors. The remaining 25% of seniors may be at risk for not completing this graduation requirement.

“We’re at crunch time,” he said. León recommended eliminating the deadline.

There would also be guidance to add FAFSA workshops for parents and seniors throughout the school year and training for parents on how to use the federal financial aid website.

Student life

The amended co-curricular activities policy would require all students participating in activities abide by a code of conduct to be developed with input from student leaders and presented for approval by the board.

Students would also have to sign a memorandum of understanding before being considered eligible to participate in activities.

The board will also consider an amended dress and grooming policy that would add student input, remove hooded sweaters from the list of prohibited items, and align with the updated disciplinary policy to remove suspensions as a consequence.

Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark, covering the city’s K-12 schools with a focus on English language learners. Contact Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.

N.J. is supposed to replace Newark’s crumbling schools. So far, it hasn’t.

2022-06-06T21:06:11+00:00

Joshcelynne Henderson fondly recalls her childhood school in New Jersey with its green lawns, shiny playground equipment, and bright classrooms.

The elementary school she went to in wealthy Somerset County is a world apart from the one her children attend in Newark. Students there struggle to focus on hot days in classrooms without air conditioning, they couldn’t use the water fountains this year due to lead concerns, and at recess they dart across bare asphalt that serves as both playground and parking lot.

“These schools are old,” she said.

Indeed, the average Newark school building was erected more than 90 years ago, district officials say — more than twice the national average — and many suffer from leaky roofs, outdated boilers, and dilapidated restrooms. Rundown buildings can dampen students’ enthusiasm for school and, in some cases, impair their learning.

Now, Newark wants to modernize its aging schools — a dream which, in the past, has been dashed by inadequate funding.

The district is looking to construct 10 new school buildings and undertake major repairs at more than 60 existing schools, according to an ambitious five-year capital plan, which the state approved in March.

New buildings would be erected for three existing schools, one yet-to-open school, and six closed schools that would be brought back to life, according to the plan, which officials have not discussed publicly. (District spokesperson Nancy Deering said in a statement that officials “will discuss details of those projects with parents and the community as they come to fruition.”)

The plan also calls for some 275 renovation projects, including repairs to roofs and plumbing, electrical, ventilation, and fire alarm systems. Henderson said such improvements would send a strong message to students.

“I absolutely think that if their schools are repaired and updated,” she said, “they’ll see that people care about them.”

But the plan raises an uncomfortable question: Who will pay for it?

Each new building would cost between $15 million and $75 million, and the repairs alone would total $350 million, according to district estimates.

There’s no doubt as to who should write the check. Thanks to a landmark court case, New Jersey must pay for school construction and renovation in Newark and 30 other high-poverty districts — a rarity in the U.S., where districts often must cover their own building costs.

Yet New Jersey has fallen far short of its obligations, spending just $200 million on school construction this year when officials estimate that more than $6 billion is needed. And as Newark asked for dozens of new schools over the past two decades, the state paid for just eight.

As a result, the district patches up antiquated campuses using money that otherwise could buy new books and computers. It is considering issuing up to $1 billion in bonds to fund further repairs. And as enrollment grows, the district has had to lease former Catholic schools, offices, and even a hospital to create more classroom space.

Newark shouldn’t have to do this, said David Sciarra, executive director of the Newark-based Education Law Center. The center launched a legal campaign 40 years ago that led to historic court rulings ordering New Jersey to ensure that children in poor communities have access to well-funded schools in up-to-date buildings.

“The state is on the hook for this 100%,” Sciarra said, and yet thousands of students in Newark and other urban districts continue to learn in schools that are “unsafe, overcrowded, or inadequate.”

“How long are these kids going to wait?” he asked.

Urgently needed repairs

Newark’s school buildings have been falling apart for decades.

In the winter of 1999, icicles formed on a high school’s walls after its heating system broke.

In 2010, a chunk of bricks fell from a school building onto its front walkway just days before first lady Michelle Obama visited.

In 2018, four classroom ceilings collapsed at Lafayette Street School, which was built in 1848 — 13 years before the Civil War.

And a 2019 survey of the district’s buildings found damaged roofs and bathrooms with missing sinks and toilets.

“There were some conditions that I just shook my head and said, ‘I would never send my child to one of these schools,’” said Steve Morlino, the district’s recently retired facilities director, on a podcast last month about New Jersey legal issues. “Therefore, why are they in this condition for other kids?”

In recent years, Morlino oversaw extensive repair work ordered by Superintendent Roger León.

Yet huge troubles remain. At Camden Street School, sewage problems cause frequent flooding on the ground floor, and mice are common in classrooms, said a staff member, who requested anonymity to speak freely about building conditions. And like many other Newark schools, the building lacks air conditioning.

“The third floor felt like an oven today,” the staffer said last week when outside temperatures exceeded 90 degrees.

So once again, Newark has cataloged the repairs that its schools desperately need.

Earlier this year, Newark submitted to the state a new long-range facilities plan, which New Jersey school districts must complete every five years. The plan includes proposed renovations at each of its 65 schools, including new boilers, HVAC systems, windows, roofs, doors, and gyms.

In the meantime, poor ventilation, missing A/C, and outdated heating systems make learning difficult for students, especially the many in Newark who suffer from asthma, said Kim Gaddy, an environmental activist and former Newark school board member.

“If you have a coat on in your classroom, how are you expected to perform to the best of your ability?” Gaddy said. “It makes students think that we don’t value their education — that we don’t value them.”

Newark also wants to rebuild and reopen the former Dayton Street School.

Room to grow

Since becoming superintendent in 2018, León has been on a quest to grow the district.

He has already opened four new high schools and three elementary schools, with plans to launch several more. But aside from a new building whose construction began before his tenure, León has had to put the new schools on existing campuses or lease vacant properties.

Now the district says it needs more space.

The facilities plan calls for 10 newly constructed buildings. Three would house existing schools — Abington Avenue, Ann Street, and East Ward — that have outgrown their current buildings, and one would feature a new school, also in the crowded East Ward.

The other six buildings would house schools to replace ones that Newark’s former state-appointed superintendent, Cami Anderson, decided to close because of low enrollment and poor performance.

The district hopes to replace the former Boylan Street School.

It’s clear the district needs new buildings. But it will have to prove there is demand for so many new schools.

The district’s plan projects that enrollment will grow by about 1,250 students over four school years, reaching 37,621 by 2023-24. But a state report this April said Newark only needs classroom space for an additional 455 students.

Newark officials argue that the growth would be greater if the district had new buildings, which could attract families who might otherwise choose charter or private schools. And as more people move to Newark, the new schools could convince them to stay, Mayor Ras Baraka said last week at the groundbreaking for a new high school the district will open in a leased building.

“People are coming back home,” he said. “They believe in Newark Public Schools, and we’ve got to grow our school system so they stay in Newark Public Schools.”

Schools deferred

Once upon a time, it looked as if Newark’s wish for new, state-funded schools might be granted.

In 1998, and again in 2000, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that the state is obligated to pay the full cost of school construction and repairs in high-poverty districts. In response, the state created the Schools Construction Corporation, and the legislature allocated nearly $9 billion for the first round of construction in the 31 neediest districts, including Newark.

In 2001, Newark submitted a plan, which the state approved, calling for 43 new school buildings and 29 renovations at an estimated cost of $1.6 billion. The newly established construction agency began acquiring property for more than 30 of the proposed buildings, and selected architects to draw up blueprints.

But within a year, the construction corporation had blown through all of its funding. A few years later, the state dissolved the agency, citing waste and mismanagement. Newark would have to wait.

In 2007, the state replaced the agency with the Schools Development Authority, or SDA. It eventually built or upgraded more than 850 schools statewide. But like its predecessor, the SDA was accused of mismanagement and ran out of money with many projects left on its docket.

The SDA did make progress in Newark, where it spent more than $760 million on school repairs and eight new buildings. Yet the construction never matched the need.

After requesting 39 new schools in 2005, the district scaled down its request in 2014 to just 15 new buildings. None of them materialized.

One of Newark’s earliest requests was for a new West Side High School. Its building, which opened in 1926, had become overcrowded and plagued by plumbing problems and power outages. In 2009, the SDA made plans for a new $142 million campus. In preparation, the agency bought adjacent property, relocated families from the site, and presented designs to the community.

But after repeated delays, the SDA abandoned those plans with a whimper. In 2017, it sold the property it had acquired for the campus for $1.

“After spending all that money, buying all those homes, displacing all those families, you still don’t have a school at that site,” Morlino said on the podcast.

Fifteenth Avenue School would be rebuild under Newark’s plan.

Will anything change?

With every year of stalled construction, Newark’s needs grow more acute.

In 2016, David Daughety was a freshman at Arts High School. That year, Newark sent the state a list of building conditions that could cause “imminent peril to the health and safety of students and staff.” At Arts High, the conditions included falling pieces of roofing, broken windows, and failed HVAC systems. The district asked for $4.9 million to make repairs at the school.

Meanwhile, Daughety and his classmates sat in classrooms that could be boiling hot or freezing cold, and watched water drip from ceilings into strategically placed trash cans.

“For some reason, that was normalized,” he said.

The state approved just 11 of the more than 150 renovation projects that Newark requested in 2016. Arts High School didn’t make the list.

Six years later, Daughety is finishing his sophomore year of college and Newark has submitted yet another wishlist of school renovations. The cost to repair Arts High has climbed to $7.8 million.

“It sends a message,” Daughety said, “that the state doesn’t really care about inner-city kids.”

This year’s state budget includes $75 million for school repairs, with $6.5 million going to Newark, in addition to the $200 million earmarked for school construction statewide.

Gov. Phil Murphy has proposed allocating another $350 million for school construction in the budget for next fiscal year, and wants to use $150 million in previously borrowed funds for additional capital projects.

But at a legislative hearing in April, Schools Development Authority CEO Manual Da Silva estimated that it would cost roughly $5 billion to replace 50 aging schools the agency has identified across the state, and another $1.5 billion to build schools in overcrowded districts.

The SDA says Newark needs two new schools to address overcrowding — but the agency doesn’t have the money to build them.

Last year, the Education Law Center returned to court seeking to compel the state to pay for those projects and the other schools that poor districts need. A judge is working to determine how much that would cost.

Meanwhile, Newark is trying to fund whatever school improvements it can.

It has spent much of its federal COVID relief money on improved ventilation and other building upgrades, and plans to use nearly $86 million of its most recent round of federal aid on building projects.

Newark also has taken advantage of a state program that allows districts to finance repairs through anticipated energy reductions. Officials say the $120 million in expected energy savings will fund upgrades to 60 buildings, including new boilers, solar panels, roofs, and insulation.

The district also tapped into $30 million that the city raised by issuing bonds to help cover school renovations. But that’s far short of the $1 billion in bond money that León said last year the district might need for repairs.

And while the state has approved Newark’s building plan, that doesn’t guarantee funding. The SDA considers each proposed project individually.

“Unless the governor and the legislature step up and start putting serious money into these projects,” said Sciarra of the Education Law Center, “they’ll essentially remain proposals on paper.”

Now at Rutgers University-Newark, Daughety can only imagine what would happen if every Newark student was able to walk into a state-of-the-art school building.

Improved attendance. Better grades. Brighter moods. Most importantly, Daughety said, the sparkling hallways and modern classrooms would signal to Newark’s young people that they matter.

“When you can give that to students,” he said, “that’s when change starts to happen.”

Patrick Wall is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat. Contact Patrick at pwall@chalkbeat.org.

Newark raises pay for veteran and rookie teachers amid staffing crunch

2022-06-03T00:14:06+00:00

The Newark Board of Education and the district teachers union agreed to raise the starting salary for new teachers to $62,000 starting next school year, as part of a deal that includes across-the-board teacher pay increases amid staffing struggles linked to COVID.

Raising the starting salary for new teachers with a bachelor’s degree by $6,500, and by $4,500 for new teachers with a master’s degree, will make the district “one of the most competitive urban school systems in the northeast,” Superintendent Roger León said in a Thursday email announcing the increases.

Meanwhile, more experienced teachers making under $62,000 will get pay increases to match the new starting salary for first-time teachers. Teachers making over $62,000 will receive pay increases of $1,000 over the next two years, according to the new agreement.

“These new salaries will attract fresh talent and at the same time foster retention by increasing the salaries of experienced teachers,” León said in the email.

Due to a “reopening provision” in the Newark Teachers Union contract that allows for the union and district to renegotiate salaries in emergencies, the two parties were able to discuss increasing the starting salary for new teachers as a recruitment strategy. An already small pool of teaching candidates that dwindled further during the pandemic, and the more-competitive salaries offered by other districts, created an emergency situation under the terms of the contract.

The current contract runs through the 2023-24 school year, and negotiations over a new deal are set to begin in January.

For months, the district has had trouble filling vacant teaching positions. It started the school year with 120 instructional vacancies, and began the final month of the school year with 95. A number of teachers also left the district for better paying positions, said John Abeigon, president of the Newark Teachers Union.

“We would see three, four, sometimes five resignations in a single week throughout the year,” Abeigon said, though he couldn’t provide an exact number of resignations. “At that rate, we weren’t going to have any teachers left.”

The increases across the board would bump up Newark Public Schools’ median salary for teachers. As of the 2019-20 school year, the median teacher salary was $65,618 for Newark, which is lower than nearby districts in Essex County, including $72,631 for Belleville, $86,944 for East Orange, $73,085 for Irvington, and $77,368 for Montclair, state data show.

Newark’s new hires in critical areas — such as science, math, special education, bilingual education, and English as a second language — will also be eligible for a $4,000 signing bonus, León said. District employees can also get a $1,000 bonus for referring a new teacher that is successfully on-boarded.

The decision to bump up the pay for Newark teachers follows the district’s plan to hire retired teachers to help fill open positions. In April, the state approved the district’s request to hire retired teachers under a new state law. More than 40 retired teachers had expressed interest in returning to the district at the time.

Newark has also started a teacher pipeline program that encourages high school students to pursue a teaching career and promises a teaching contract with the district after graduating with their bachelor’s degrees.

Newark’s difficulty with attracting and retaining teachers is not new, Abeigon said.

“Our warnings to the district to raise the starting salary pre-date COVID, but the pandemic made it abundantly clear that it was needed,” he said. “Other districts have better salaries and less burdensome conditions than Newark. We have to make it competitive.”

Abeigon said León has also agreed to meet with union members to discuss other ways to boost morale among teachers, and reduce their workload.

Shrinking hiring pool

Earlier this week, the state Board of Education unanimously approved policies that could help widen the pool of prospective teachers by providing an alternate route for those whose grade point averages or standardized test scores fall short of the requirement. Under the new policies, those candidates would receive mentoring and take courses in teaching to earn a standard teaching certificate.

Several staffing problems are growing in the state’s schools. A new report released Thursday shows New Jersey has a shrinking hiring pool, a surge in retirements, and fewer teachers available as substitutes.

“The number of those completing teacher preparation has declined sharply in New Jersey,” according to the report by New Jersey Policy Perspective, a nonpartisan think tank.

The group recommends increasing compensation for teachers, streamlining the process to obtain a teacher certification, and working with teacher preparation programs to attract more candidates of color, among other things.

“If New Jersey does not act soon, there will not be enough qualified candidates to replace teachers leaving the profession,” the report states.

Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark, covering the city’s K-12 schools with a focus on English language learners. Contact Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.

Newark parents left in the dark about threats of explosives at schools

2022-05-27T01:18:51+00:00

Newark officials gave conflicting explanations this week after two schools were evacuated, causing confusion and anger among parents already anxious about their children’s safety after this week’s deadly school shooting in Texas.

No one at either Newark school was in danger, officials said. Still, the mixed messages about the incidents call into question how schools communicate with families about safety issues at a time when officials say the district is on high alert due to “reported threats.”

In a statement provided to Chalkbeat on Thursday, Newark Public Safety Director Brian O’Hara said that police responded to calls about explosive devices at Park Elementary School and Technology High School on Tuesday morning, but found none. Police are continuing to investigate, O’Hara said.

School board member Josephine Garcia echoed that version of events. At a school board meeting Tuesday evening, she said there had been “a hoax bomb threat” earlier that day, prompting worried parents and community members to call her seeking information about the situation.

But at the same meeting, Newark Public Schools Superintendent Roger León flatly denied that the threats occurred.

“As it relates to bomb threats, if there would have been one we would have talked about it,” he said after Garcia mentioned the bomb threat. “It’s extremely important that we do not add to mass hysteria by saying there was a bomb threat in Newark when there wasn’t one.”

Yet at a board meeting on Thursday, district officials acknowledged that some schools did face threats this week.

Levi Holmes, the district’s safety and security director, told board members that some schools received messages meant to “cause hysteria and panic.” The threats were not credible, but his team and the police have identified a suspect and are working to “bring this person to justice,” Holmes said. He added that the district is creating a more efficient process for responding to threats.

León did not explain his Tuesday comments saying that there had been no bomb threats, but he said some information is limited to law enforcement and asked for families’ patience.

“People are worried about what has in fact occurred and we will constantly revisit our procedures, make changes, share those that we can, obviously, with the respective school communities,” he said.

A district spokesperson did not respond to emails asking how the district responded to the threats and what information was shared with families.

León’s initial comments Tuesday also did not square neatly with a message he sent to district families and employees Wednesday.

In the message, he offered condolences to residents of Uvalde, Texas, where 19 children and two teachers were killed in the school shooting Tuesday. León then said the Newark school district has been operating “at a heightened level of alert” in recent months due to “reported threats” nationally and in Newark, but did not provide details about the threats.

He added that the district reviewed the safety protocols at every school after the shooting in Texas, and said school safety is the district’s “top priority.”

Meanwhile, a Newark charter school received its own bomb threat on Wednesday, according to police. The school, People’s Prep, sent families a detailed email the same day explaining the situation and saying police had determined the threat was “non-credible.”

People’s Prep shares a building with Bard High School Early College Newark, which is part of the Newark school district. Rasheeda Walker, whose daughter is a sophomore at Bard, said neither the school nor the district informed her about Wednesday’s bomb threat even after her daughter observed a police bomb squad outside of the building.

At Park Elementary, Principal Sylvia Esteves told families in a brief email Tuesday that the school had “exercised an evacuation” and that all students and employees were safe. She did not say what caused the evacuation, but said families could call the school with questions.

At school dismissal Thursday, several Park parents said they were unsure what had triggered the evacuation. Some thought the school was just conducting a safety drill, while others heard there had been a bomb threat.

Already on edge after the Texas shooting, some parents said the uncertainty added to their unease.

“They need to let the parents know for sure what exactly is going on,” said Taina Rodriguez, whose daughter is in kindergarten at Park. “Don’t sit here and lie to us knowing that we already know what’s going on.”

Principal Esteves referred questions about the incident — including whether there had been a bomb threat — to the district. A district spokesperson did not respond to repeated emails Thursday seeking comment.

Board members say families should be kept informed

At Tuesday’s board meeting, Garcia left no doubt about what caused the evacuations.

“We know we had a hoax bomb threat in the city of Newark today,” she said, adding that she received a “massive” number of calls from parents and community members about the incident.

She also said the parents who called her were not aware that the district maintains a safety and security plan, which state rules require. Chalkbeat could not find the plan on the district’s website, and the spokesperson did not respond when asked where it is located.

“In lieu of what occurred today out in Texas, I think it’s just alarming and it’s something we need to explore,” Garcia said about families’ limited understanding of school safety protocols.

León responded that school staffers are aware of the procedures, and they will share them with parents during back-to-school events this fall.

Another board member, Vereliz Santana, suggested that the district post updates on social media informing families about safety concerns, including threats that are investigated and deemed not credible.

León rejected that idea, saying the district does not want to needlessly worry people by “crying wolf.” He also said schools must avoid tipping off families about safety drills, though no one at the meeting had suggested notifying families in advance of drills.

“People need to know that we can’t call you at your house and say, ‘Hi, we’re doing a drill in the school,’” he said. “We don’t publicize it to students because it’s a drill.”

A new law, which Gov. Phil Murphy signed in January, says school districts must provide written notification to families after every security drill. Schools are required each month to conduct a fire drill and a security drill, which are meant to prepare schools for active shooters, bomb threats, and other emergencies.

After the bomb scare at People’s Prep Charter School on Wednesday, officials sent a lengthy email to families explaining what happened.

Around 9:40 a.m., the school said it received a “suspicious email,” which it forwarded to police, the message to families said. The police determined the threat was “non-credible” and the building did not need to be evacuated. Officers then searched the inside and outside of the building and did not find anything suspicious. Meanwhile, staff members explained the situation to students and classes continued.

A People’s Prep spokesperson said the school notified Bard High School as soon as it received the threat. However, it’s not clear that Bard or the district relayed that information to students and parents.

Walker, the Bard high school parent, said no one explained to the Bard students what was happening, and that her daughter called her during the incident “distraught and hysterical” after seeing the bomb squad outside.

No one from Bard or the district called or emailed her about the incident, Walker added.

“I think the schools need to have more active communication,” she said. “The best way to get information is to get it from your kids and their friends, and that’s not right.”

Bard’s principal did not immediately respond to an email Thursday.

District spends millions on cameras, locks, metal detectors

The district has invested heavily in security upgrades over the past year.

It planned to spend $2.4 million of its second package of federal COVID aid on 5,000 security cameras, $2.1 million of a third aid package on additional security equipment, and $6.6 million of its 2022-23 school year operating budget on more cameras, walkie talkies, and magnetic door locks.

The district has also taken steps to prevent and prepare for shootings, according to school board documents. It has purchased additional metal detectors and installed panic buttons in schools to alert police of emergencies, which is required by a new state law enacted in 2019 after the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

The Newark Police Department has also provided training for schools on how to conduct active shooter drills.

At Park Elementary School on Thursday, parents said they generally trust district and school employees to do everything they can to protect students. Still, they said, better communication would go a long way at a time when many parents can’t help but worry about their children’s safety.

“Anxiety is kicking in heavy,” said Sandra Casseus, whose son is in kindergarten at Park. “Let us know what’s going on because otherwise it makes us feel like our kids aren’t safe.”

Catherine Carrera contributed reporting.

Patrick Wall is a senior reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city and across New Jersey. Contact Patrick at pwall@chalkbeat.org.

Sources: Newark plans to replace first-year principals at Science Park, Vocational

2022-05-20T14:48:32+00:00

The Newark school district plans to replace the principal of prestigious Science Park High School just one year after he was appointed, according to two people with direct knowledge of the district’s plan.

The district is also replacing the first-year principal of Newark Vocational High School, a recently revamped school that has struggled over the past year with violence and absenteeism, according to a person with direct knowledge and the school administrators union.

The changes cut against district officials’ stated goal of elevating more men of color to leadership positions, as Science Park will become the third high school in the past year to lose a Black male principal. The turnover also raises questions about how the district supports new principals, and whether it gave the two leaders enough time to establish themselves.

“You need more than one year to really get your feet on the ground and do what needs to be done,” said Christine Taylor, a former Newark principal and president of the City Association of Supervisors & Administrators union. “I think it’s patently unfair.”

Now both high schools are set to face more upheaval after a challenging year of COVID disruptions, student mental health struggles, and staff burnout.

“We are in desperate need of stability,” said Cheryl Bell, a physical education teacher at Science Park who said she dreads another leadership change. “This is devastating and it will be detrimental to the students.”

Neither principal responded to emails or phone messages. A spokesperson said the district does not comment on personnel matters.

Science Park, a selective magnet school in the city’s Central Ward, is considered one of the jewels of the Newark school system. After its previous principal left last year, the district appointed as her replacement Kcyied Zahir, a former Newark math teacher and track coach who most recently was a dean in the East Orange school district.

The first-time principal took the helm at a difficult moment. Educators across the country reported a surge in student behavior issues this fall as they returned to classrooms, after more than a year of remote learning. Science Park was no exception: Several fights broke out, which is rare at the academically demanding school, and there were multiple reported bomb threats.

The school did not immediately inform families of the bomb threats, angering parents who only learned of the incidents from the news or their children, three parents told Chalkbeat. The situation was part of a pattern of poor communication by the new principal, the parents said.

“From the beginning we had zero communication with him,” said Lourdes Pinto, a former Science Park PTA member who has two children at the school, “and he never made the effort to change that.”

A few students echoed that complaint, saying they rarely hear from Zahir. But others said the principal is caring and approachable, and that he had done a good job under difficult circumstances.

“There’s problems,” said 12th grader Leo Garcia, “but I feel like he’s done his best in his first year.”

Superintendent Roger León has lamented the scarcity of Black and Hispanic male educators and administrators in the district, who together make up only 11% of the workforce, he has said.

Last year, he created a program to help those men earn master’s degrees and certifications that would put them on a path to becoming school administrators. Yet at the same time, he replaced the Black male principals at Malcolm X Shabazz High School and Newark Vocational last year, and now at Science Park.

Amina Anabui, whose daughter is a 10th grader at Science Park, said she had been dissatisfied with Zahir’s communication with families. Yet she also believes that the district can do a better job assisting school leaders.

“They’ve got to support the principals,” she said, “in order for the principals to be able to support the staff and students.”

A fire, a brawl, and bruised staff morale

Newark Vocational has had a rocky few years since León promised to relaunch the school in fall 2019 in a fully renovated building.

First, the renovation was delayed, forcing students to relocate to an elementary school building for a year. Then, the pandemic kept students out of the new building. Finally, students learned last spring that the district was removing the school’s popular principal, Kyle Brown, who had spent less than two years in the role.

Lucinda Eason, right, is the principal of Newark’s Vocational High School who previously oversaw the vocational programs at Central and Weequahic high schools. Above, Eason represented Central at a school fair in 2018.

The district replaced him with Lucinda Eason, a former vice principal at two Newark high schools who most recently was an administrator at a vocational school in Passaic. Like Zahir, she is a Newark Public Schools graduate.

Since Eason began this fall, the school has grappled with the sort of attendance and discipline challenges that have become increasingly common nationwide during the pandemic. However, the problems at Newark Vocational at times have been extreme.

The school’s absenteeism rate has been exceptionally high. In February, two-thirds of Newark Vocational students qualified as chronically absent — more than at any other district high school that month.

Student behavior has occasionally posed serious safety risks. In November, a student set fire to a classroom, forcing everyone in the building to evacuate, according to news reports and staff members. In March, a large brawl broke out; one teacher who intervened was injured and taken to a hospital, the staffers said. A parent told Chalkbeat at the time that the school had become “a battle zone.”

Douglas Freeman, whose son is a junior at Newark Vocational, said Eason and other administrators met with parents after the fight to discuss the situation.

“Once she laid out the obstacles and challenges, then we came up with corrective measures,” he said, adding that the school appeared much calmer when he visited recently.

Chris Canik, a math teacher at Newark Vocational, said circumstances at the school this year would have tested even the most experienced administrator. A large number of teachers had limited classroom experience, renovations continued during the school year, and COVID protocols kept the staff from meeting in person even after the building reopened.

“A lot of that really hurt our staff morale,” he said, “and when you have low staff morale, you’re going to have low student morale.”

Canik said the situation has improved recently, leading to gains in attendance and academic performance. While Eason has occasionally stumbled as a new principal, she has the potential to develop into a strong leader, he added.

“I believe that everybody deserves a chance to grow,” he said.

At Science Park, 12th grader Inioluwa Obafemi said he is tired of the churn. Since his freshman year, he has had to adapt to three different principals.

“Everyone comes in and we get new rules and everything,” he said. “A little bit of consistency wouldn’t do any harm.”

Patrick Wall is a senior reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city and across New Jersey. Contact Patrick at pwall@chalkbeat.org.

Newark area has some of the country’s most segregated schools, study finds

2022-05-18T17:37:08+00:00

The schools in Newark and nearby communities are among the most severely segregated in the nation, according to a new nationwide analysis.

The Newark area ranks first in economic segregation and second in Black-white segregation, according to the analysis of public and private schools in all 403 metropolitan areas in the United States. The rate of segregation between Black and white students in Newark’s region is nearly three times the national average.

The Newark metropolitan area includes 118 school districts spread across six counties in northern New Jersey and one county in Pennsylvania. The vast majority of racial and economic segregation in that area occurs between school districts, not within them, according to the analysis, which also found that school segregation is more extreme in the Northeast than in other regions of the country.

The new report was published Tuesday, exactly 68 years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that segregated schools are inherently unequal. On the same day four years ago, a coalition of families and advocacy groups filed a lawsuit claiming that New Jersey’s widespread school segregation violates the state constitution and harms students.

“Almost seven decades after Brown v. Board, we still see intense levels of segregation across the country,” said Halley Potter, author of the report and a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, a liberal think tank.

The Newark area “stands out as one of the most segregated metro areas,” Potter added, though the legal challenge, which a state Superior Court judge is expected to rule on in the coming weeks, has the potential to change that. “It also stands out to me as one of the places where I do see some hope.”

Potter partnered with the Segregation Index, a project led by researchers Ann Owens and Sean Reardon. Their analysis, including an interactive map, is based on data from the 2017-18 school year across all metropolitan areas, which are home to about 85% of the U.S. population.

The analysis uses a 0-1 index to measure segregation, where 0 indicates that students in different racial or economic groups are evenly spread across schools and 1 means the groups are fully separated. In this model, a value above 0.5 is considered “very severe” segregation.

Among all metro areas in the U.S., the average level of Black-white student segregation is 0.24, the analysis found. But in the Newark metro area, the segregation level is a staggering 0.71 — second only to the Milwaukee area, whose level is 0.73.

The segregation level shows the average demographic gap, measured in percentage points, between schools in a given area. The way the analysis explains it: If the average Black student in the Newark region attends a school where only 10% of students are white, then the average white student goes to a school that is 81% white — a 71-point gap.

While the analysis combines seven counties in the Newark area, vast racial disparities also can be found within individual counties. For example, in Essex County where Newark is located, 75% of students in the Glen Ridge school district are white. Just three miles away in the East Orange district, only 1% of students are white.

“One of the top-line findings continues to be that Black-white segregation is the most extreme form of racial segregation in our schools,” Potter said.

Schools are also divided by family income. Across all metro areas, the average economic segregation level is 0.19, according to the analysis, which used students’ eligibility for free or reduced-priced lunch as a proxy for low family income.

But the Newark area’s rate, 0.49, is more than double the national average and higher than in any other metro area. In other words, the analysis says, if the average poor student in the Newark metro area attends a school where 75% of students are also poor, the average non-poor student goes to a school where only 26% of students are poor.

The analysis also sought to pinpoint the sources of this segregation. It looked at how students are sorted between public and private schools, within and across school districts, and between different types of public schools, such as traditional and charter schools.

It found that, nationwide, private schools and charter schools account for a small portion of racial school segregation — just 12% and 4%, respectively. By contrast, 35% of the segregation between white and non-white students happens among traditional public schools in the same districts.

But the bulk of racial segregation — 54% — is caused by the differences between districts, not within them. In other words, white students and students of color are more likely to be enrolled in separate districts than to attend different schools in the same district.

A table in the report shows the main drivers of racial school segregation in each region and among all metropolitan areas.

Many districts are “wildly different from each other,” Potter said, “even though the schools within each district might not have that many demographic differences.”

The story is somewhat different for economic segregation. The analysis found that nationwide, 57% of the sorting of poor and non-poor students happens within school districts, while 43% occurs between districts.

However, that is not the case in the Northeast, where 73% of economic school segregation and 76% of racial segregation happens across district lines. The reason: States like New Jersey are home to hundreds of small school districts that map onto segregated communities, all but ensuring that schools will reflect the localities’ divided demographics. By contrast, Southern states, many of which faced federal desegregation orders in the past, tend to have countywide school districts that each encompass a range of communities.

The Newark area offers an extreme example of how fragmented districts can drive segregation. A whopping 96% of economic segregation and 88% of racial segregation occurs between the area’s small, demographically divided districts, according to the analysis. Only a fraction of the segregation happens within those districts.

Segregation between districts presents a special challenge.

“That’s not a problem that school district leaders — superintendents or school boards — can solve on their own,” said Potter, noting that those officials control the enrollment policies and attendance boundaries only inside their own districts. “It really requires having some state or federal involvement.”

In the decades since the Brown decision, conservative majorities on the Supreme Court have struck down or curtailed school desegregation plans. Meanwhile, many federal desegregation orders have been lifted or gone unenforced.

But advocates in New Jersey believe they can circumvent those legal obstacles by turning to the state’s own constitution, which explicitly bans school segregation. In their lawsuit, they propose possible remedies, such as creating magnet schools that enroll students from multiple districts, allowing students to attend schools in different districts, or consolidating districts.

On Tuesday, three racial justice groups in New Jersey released a statement lamenting the persistence of school segregation in the state so long after the 1954 Brown decision. The groups — Salvation and Social Justice; the Inclusion Project; and the Latino Action Network, which is a plaintiff in the lawsuit — said they hope New Jersey’s high court will force the state to live up to its ideals.

“Now, thanks to a lawsuit filed four years ago today,” they wrote, “New Jersey students have a path toward a fairer, more diverse education.”

Patrick Wall is a senior reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city and across New Jersey. Contact Patrick at pwall@chalkbeat.org.

Helping students rebound after pandemic is top of mind for new Newark board member

2022-05-13T10:00:00+00:00

Crystal Williams, the newly elected member of the Newark Board of Education, has safety, school culture, and academic recovery at the forefront of her agenda as she takes office.

Williams, who accrued the most votes in the April 19 school board election, was sworn into a three-year term — and her first elected position — at last week’s virtual reorganization meeting. Reelected board members A’Dorian Murray-Thomas and Daniel Gonzalez also took the oath of office. The three ran on a slate backed by powerful politicians including Mayor Ras Baraka, who won reelection to a third term on Tuesday.

Williams said at the meeting that she knows there is a lot of work to be done to help students rebound from the pandemic. “I am just here ready to serve, ready to do what’s necessary to make sure the kids get what they need. We need to emerge from this pandemic not the same, but stronger and smarter and kinder, with the commitment to do what’s right for the kids.”

Williams, a network technician at Verizon for more than 20 years, sees her role on the board like that of a customer service representative.

“If you don’t give your customers a quality product, then your customer service is lacking, and a competitor steps in and takes your customer,” she said during a recent interview. “It’s the same way for the students and parents of the Newark Public Schools system. They are our customers and we should be providing them with high quality service and education.”

And, in those terms, she says she deeply understands what her new “customers” want from the board.

As a single mom of seven children who currently attend or have attended public and charter schools in Newark, Williams has seen deteriorating school buildings, lunches that make her kids lose their appetites, a lack of classroom resources, and low test scores.

She’s also seen the unsafe routes children take to and from schools and she hopes to address them, though she wasn’t sure how exactly. “This is all new to me, but I’m going to be asking a lot of questions,” she said. She also said the pandemic’s toll on students’ academic progress is a huge concern as is school culture, with low teacher morale affecting students’ motivation.

“I want students’ quality of life while they’re in our schools to improve, making sure that they want to be there and have pride in their school and feel welcomed and loved and valued,” she said.

While juggling full-time work and her children’s needs over the years, Williams found time to volunteer on parent teacher associations and advocacy groups such as Unapologetic Parents, a group of parents who are proponents of school choice.

She met Jasmine Morrison, a fellow parent and the group’s leader, on a school bus to Trenton. Morrison said they were heading to the state capital along with other group members to rally against a decision to block the expansion of some charter schools in Newark.

“Crystal has been instrumental in the group, whether it be for going to rallies or helping to run coat drives and book bag giveaways,” Morrison said in a recent interview. “She has so much energy and you see that energy in her interactions with her kids, and I think she’s going to bring that to the board.”

Board co-vice president Asia Norton said she looks forward to the fresh outlook Williams will bring to the board and its monthly committee meetings.

“Although she is new to politics, she’s not new to motherhood or to the workforce,” Norton said. “Ms. Williams exudes pride in being a mother and making sure that her children have everything that they need whether it be in the classroom or on the football field or applying to colleges. And I think she’s going to do the same for children across the district.”

Williams’ children range in ages from 3 to 23. Her oldest, Brooklyn, graduated from Rutgers-Newark in May 2020 and struggled with the switch to remote learning during that time.

Her son Jayson, 16, did well with remote learning but had serious difficulties returning to school in person, she said. After considering several options, Williams transferred him to Leaders for Life Academy in the South Ward, a school that helps students earn a high school equivalency diploma. He graduated in December and now attends Universal Technical Institute, a trade school campus in Bloomfield.

“He took a different path,” Williams said. “I’m not going to make him fit into anything he’s not. Now, he comes home excited from school and makes money at his part-time job.”

With seven kids, Williams said, it becomes quickly apparent that all children learn differently and require different supports.

During a recent phone call as Williams drove her second oldest, Autumn, 17, to Temple University in Philadelphia for a campus visit, she shared some advice that she often gives her children.

“Sometimes, we have to detour and a detour is not necessarily a bad thing — you might find where you want to live along the way,” she said. “Sometimes a detour works in your favor. Keeping an open mind and a positive attitude is key.”

Williams said she never imagined running for any public office, especially because she doesn’t enjoy public speaking and would rather stay away from the limelight.

But after getting COVID early in the pandemic and seeing her children persevere through their struggles, she decided she didn’t want to “hide” anymore. When she was approached by other parent advocates and community members to run for the open Newark school board seat, she decided to go for it. Having guaranteed support from influential political players, including state Sen. M. Teresa Ruiz, and the money that comes with that backing, played an integral role in her successful campaign.

“I’ve never been on the board so I don’t know a lot of stuff and I’m going to look to my board members for help,” Williams said. “But I do know I want a better quality of life for the children, and I’m going to stand true to my promise.”

Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark, covering the city’s K-12 schools with a focus on English language learners. Contact Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.

Newark schools’ new curriculum highlights African American history. What’s in it?

2022-05-12T17:39:18+00:00

Newark schools have a new history curriculum. It has a long history of its own.

The school district’s new curriculum includes lessons for every grade level about the contributions — and oppression — of Black people and other marginalized groups in America. Students will learn about ancient Africa, the enslavement of African people in the United States, the long struggle for civil rights, and much more.

For decades, Newark community members have called for schools to thoroughly teach African American history; in the late 1960s, some Newark students even staged a school boycott in part to demand that officials add “Negro history” to the curriculum. In 2002, New Jersey adopted the Amistad law, which required schools to teach African American history. But many districts failed to abide by the new rule.

“Amistad is written in the legislation,” Newark Superintendent Roger León said in 2019, “but if you try to find it in any of our curriculum, it is absent.”

León has set out to change that. In 2020, the district rolled out a new curriculum — essentially teaching guides — for grades K-5 that combines social studies and English language arts and puts Black, Hispanic, and indigenous people center stage. And, after teachers wrote then rewrote a new history curriculum for grades 6-11, the district finally introduced it in schools last fall.

Officials say the goal of the new materials is to ensure that students learn accurate accounts of American and world history — not sanitized or Eurocentric versions.

“Those histories marginalized people,” said Carynne Conover, the district’s social studies director, during a recent presentation. “We’re just putting them back in.”

Newark has undertaken this work at a time when some states are trying to restrict what students learn about America’s past. Republican lawmakers in at least 36 states have sought to limit certain classroom discussions about race and racism, which conservatives have dubbed “critical race theory.”

“In this district, we are pioneers,” Newark school board member Asia Norton said in October, during a discussion about the new curriculum. “We didn’t need someone to talk about critical race theory for us to do this work.”

District officials discussed the new curriculum during a recent online “community roundtable.”

But even as board members tout the curriculum, few parents or community members know what’s in it. The rollout of the new materials, which some teachers say was rushed, was done with little fanfare. The district hasn’t made the documents easily accessible, and did not invite community members to speak during an online “community roundtable” last month about the curriculum.

District officials did not respond to questions for this article.

Nadirah Brown, whose daughter attends Harriet Tubman School, said she had no idea schools had adopted a new history curriculum.

“This is news to me — and I attend all the PTA meetings,” she said. “I can’t tell you what is being taught.”

So what is this curriculum and how is it working out in schools? Chalkbeat’s guide has the answers.

What is the new curriculum?

Curriculum here means a collection of materials that shape what students learn.

Mainly intended for teachers, the materials include weeks-long “units of study,” daily lesson plans, readings, discussion prompts, and learning goals and activities. They cover social studies and English in grades K-5, and U.S. history, world history, and geography in grades 6-11.

The cover of a new first grade “unit of study” that combines English and social studies.

Here are some examples of the lower-grade teaching units..

Grade 1: “Learning About Africa & African Culture,” a four-week unit about the countries and cultures of Africa.
Grade 2: “The Science of Skin Color and Colorism,” a three-week unit about the biological processes that produce skin tones and the concept of “colorism,” coined by writer Alice Walker to describe prejudice against people of the same race based on their skin color.
Grade 4: “Life After 1492: Native American Assimilation, Human Rights, and Genocide,” a five-week unit about the history of Native Americans after Christopher Columbus’ arrival, including natives’ forced assimilation and their ongoing fight to protect their rights and traditions.
Grade 5: “Initiating Change: Boycotts, Marches, Sit-Ins and Strikes,” a four-week unit about the movements in the U.S. in the 1950s and 60s for African American, Latino, and workers rights, led by Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez, and others.

Here are some examples of units from the grades 6-11 materials, which include “compelling questions” to guide student thinking.

“Early African Civilizations: Did Ancient Africa depend on Europeans to become civilized?”
“Emerging Global Economy: What happens when cultures collide?”
“World War II: Does the end justify the means?”

New units of study listed in a Newark school district newsletter in March 2022.

In addition to the district-created materials, the board also approved new social studies textbooks last August. Harcourt Mifflin Houghton, a Boston-based education publisher, will provide the books under a one-year, $1.75 million contract.

Who made it?

Newark educators created most of the new materials.

Thirty district teachers and 16 administrators convened last summer to write the social studies curriculum for grades 6-11, which includes 68 different units, Conover said in her April presentation. The materials are intended to meet the mandate of the Amistad law, as well as other New Jersey laws requiring students to learn about the societal contributions of LGBTQ Americans, people with disabilities, and Asian Americans, Conover added.

A unit from the new fourth grade curriculum adopted by Newark Public Schools.

The new materials, which teachers started using this school year, are actually the district’s second attempt to create an Amistad-compliant curriculum for the upper grades. A group of educators wrote such a curriculum in 2020, but Conover, who was not involved in that process, decided to try again.

“She felt the curriculum wasn’t as in depth as she had hoped,” said Yvette Jordan, a high school history teacher who helped write the 2020 curriculum for the upper grades but was pleased with the revised version. “I think she and the teachers did a phenomenal job.”

A series of lessons for fifth graders in Newark Public Schools.

District educators and staffers also wrote the K-5 curriculum.

It intentionally features books written by and about people of color, said Mary Ann Reilly, the district’s assistant superintendent in charge of teaching and learning, during a talk in 2020 hosted by Rutgers University-Newark. When students see their own cultures and ancestors reflected in the curriculum, that captivates their interest and enhances learning, Reilly said.

“This is a major lever for student achievement,” she said, adding that “the community has been asking and wanting us” to more deeply embed African American history in the curriculum.

Where can you find it?

It isn’t easy.

The district website includes a “Curriculum Resources” page, which has a separate curriculum section. However, the social studies materials only include grades 6-12 and appear to be outdated; they don’t feature the newly adopted teaching guides. A separate Amistad section is labeled “Under Construction,” and also does not include the new materials.

The Newark school board uploaded some, but not all, of the materials to its online agenda when the board approved them in 2020 and 2021 — but parents and members of the public must search through two years of agendas to find them.

The lack of curriculum transparency is not limited to Newark — other New Jersey districts also make it difficult or impossible for the public to review the documents that dictate what students learn.

In response to recent controversy about sex education, the state Senate’s education committee advanced a bill on Monday that would require districts to post their health curriculums online. Sen. Vin Gopal, the committee chair, said a forthcoming bill will extend that requirement to other subjects.

What are people saying about it?

The curriculum has received some favorable reviews.

Charles Payne, an African American studies professor at Rutgers University-Newark and an expert on school reform, gave the K-5 materials high marks during the university event in 2020.

“One of the biggest things for improving districts is high-quality curriculum and teaching,” he said. “This curriculum looks high quality to me.”

Other people have expressed concerns. Wilhelmina Holder, a longtime Newark activist who died this month, said the K-5 curriculum materials she reviewed in 2020 were “terrible” and “did not live up to the letter of the [Amistad] law.” She said district officials were receptive to her feedback, but did not show her any subsequent revisions.

In September, the district hired a local historian, Junius Williams, to help develop additional K-5 materials. He told Chalkbeat that the district also asked him to review the teacher-created curriculum.

Other criticism has focused on the district’s rollout of the curriculum. Teachers said the new textbooks did not arrive at schools until late September — after classes had already begun. One high school teacher said the curriculum provides lesson overviews, but teachers still must create their own worksheets and assessments.

Another teacher said the district didn’t give educators enough time to get acquainted with the new curriculum.

“Nobody liked how it was rolled out at the beginning of the year,” said the teacher, who requested anonymity to avoid retaliation. “It shouldn’t have been rushed in — particularly coming off a COVID year of chaos.”

Bashir Muhammad Ptah Akinyele, a longtime history and Africana studies teacher at Weequachic High School.

Yet other teachers said the curriculum is worth celebrating, even if it leaves room for improvement.

“Although the Amistad curriculum is not perfect, it has opened up our classrooms to factual and balanced instruction in history,” said Bashir Muhammad Ptah Akinyele, a longtime history and Africana studies teacher at Weequachic High School.

Nadirah Brown’s daughter, Kareenah, said she learns about historical and current events in her seventh grade social studies class through news articles and the new textbook. Kareenah said the class has studied famous figures, such as her school’s namesake, Harriet Tubman, but has not gone as deep into African American history as she would like.

“It feels like I’m just getting retaught what I already know,” she said.

What’s next?

More materials are on the way.

Conover, the social studies director, said her team is working on assessments for the new curriculum, as well as a freestanding social studies curriculum for grades 4-5 — a shift from those created before she arrived that combined social studies and English.

They also have created teaching guides for seven Advanced Placement social studies courses to be offered next school year, and are developing survey courses for high schoolers on African American, Latino, and Caribbean history, Conover said.

Her team also is exploring the creation of high school elective courses focused on topics such as the roots of inequality in the U.S., the politics of conservatism, and the history of Black women in music.

This summer, the educators who wrote the grades 6-11 curriculum will work on improving it.

“Like the U.S. Constitution, curriculum is a living document,” Conover wrote in a district newsletter. “It requires space to change and expand.”

Patrick Wall is a senior reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city and across New Jersey. Contact Patrick at pwall@chalkbeat.org.

Newark will help pay for 40 students to attend college, as free-tuition movement grows

2022-05-10T17:20:42+00:00

The city of Newark will help pay for 40 local students to attend a four-year university, officials announced Monday, adding to a growing list of municipalities and states seeking to offset the soaring cost of college.

Newark’s new program, called the Guaranteed Education Pilot Program, will help cover the students’ tuition and housing at Saint Elizabeth University, a small, Catholic institution in Morris Township, New Jersey. Participating students must commit to studying social work, psychology, education, or nursing. The city chose Newark students who have endured challenging circumstances, including violence or a parent’s incarceration.

“Those hardships make it difficult for us to do the things we dream about,” Mayor Ras Baraka told the students and their families during a ceremony Monday at City Hall. “This is an opportunity to help you fulfill those dreams.”

The city recruited students from the school district, the youth program Leaders for Life, and the Newark Street Academy, which serves young adults who dropped out of school, officials said. The city’s Office of Violence Prevention and Trauma Recovery and the Brick City Peace Collective, a Newark violence-reduction group, will provide mentoring and assistance to students while they’re in college.

Newark will fund the new grant program with $1 million, officials said. The grant and any state, federal, or institutional aid students receive will cover the full cost of college, so the 40 students should not need to take out any loans, the officials added.

College tuition has risen steadily over the past decade, saddling many students with extensive debt. Black college graduates owe an average of $25,000 more in student loans than their white peers, a major driver of the racial wealth gap.

Elected officials at every level have sought to ease the burden on students. While President Joe Biden’s plan to make community college free for all students has stalled, roughly 300 local governments and 33 states now have programs that help pay students’ college tuition.

In New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy has launched grant programs that help fund up to four years of college for students from low-income families. Known as last-dollar programs, the state grants pay any tuition and fees not covered by a student’s financial aid and scholarships. Newark’s new initiative uses the same last-dollar model.

“This announcement underscores our collective commitment to providing a high-quality and affordable education to 40 resolute, brave, strong, and brilliant scholars,” said Saint Elizabeth University President Gary Crosby.

College has long been out of reach for many in Newark, where less than 16% of adults have bachelor’s degrees, according to census estimates. The pandemic added new challenges, leaving some students feeling unprepared for college or unable to afford the costs while their families struggled financially. Last fall, just 41.5% of Newark Public Schools graduates enrolled in college, down 10 percentage points from 2019.

Ronisha Daniels, a senior at Malcolm X Shabazz High School, knew she wanted to attend college but didn’t think she could pay for it. She had just about decided to enroll in trade school when she got a call this Saturday: She was chosen for the city’s free-college program.

“Next thing you know, I had this opportunity,” she said, “and I’m going to take full advantage of it.”

To be eligible for the grant program, students must live in Newark and earn a 1.8 to 2.5 grade point average. They also must have a parent who is or recently was incarcerated, a family member who died due to violence, have faced violence themselves, or would be the first in their family to attend college.

Dawn Haynes, former manager of the Brick City Peace Collective and the Newark school board president, spoke to students at City Hall on Monday.

“Our job is to support you with this mission,” said Dawn Haynes, former manager of the Brick City Peace Collective and president of the Newark school board. “I want to see you all graduate in four years and walk across the stage knowing that the work we did wasn’t in vain.”

College completion is a major challenge for students nationwide and in Newark, where fewer than 40% of students who enter college right out of high school earn degrees within six years.

Students in the new grant program will join Saint Elizabeth’s Educational Opportunity Fund program, or EOF, a longstanding statewide effort to help low-income students complete college. Incoming EOF students take summer classes, which are meant to ease their transition to campus life and fill in academic gaps. During the school year, they meet regularly with EOF counselors who track students’ progress and talk through any challenges.

Sariette Ekambi, a student development specialist at Saint Elizabeth, said many low-income students struggle to pay their bills. A former EOF participant, Ekambi worked two jobs — one on campus and one off — to cover expenses. Thanks to Newark’s new grant program, the students will be able to focus on their grades instead of their finances.

“Just not having that burden will be a big help,” she said.

After the ceremony at City Hall, the students piled into buses to visit Saint Elizabeth’s campus and have lunch with Crosby.

Before they left, Ronisha Daniels stood next to her mother, Nikisha Eure, who recalled how college had seemed unaffordable until they heard about the city’s grant program.

“This is a blessing, it really is,” Eure said. “I tell my daughter, do good things and good things will happen for you.”

Clarification: This story was updated to include the cost of the grant program and to note that Dawn Haynes is the former manager of the Brick City Peace Collective.

Patrick Wall is a senior reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city and across New Jersey. Contact Patrick at pwall@chalkbeat.org.

Remembering Wilhelmina Holder, Newark activist and ‘warrior’ for children

2022-05-03T23:46:47+00:00

If you wanted to keep up with Wilhelmina Holder, you had to move fast.

The Newark grandmother, parent organizer, student mentor, education activist, and self-described “lifelong learner” was always heading somewhere, talking to someone, planning something. And whether she was setting officials straight at a school board meeting, cornering a superintendent to raise some urgent matter, or prodding a high schooler to hit the books, she did not waste time equivocating. She told it like it was.

“That’s how I am these days — I have less of a filter,” she told me when we spoke last week, just days before her family on Sunday announced her death, at age 70.

Holder kept it real, but she also kept it joyful. She was fiercely serious about improving education for every young person, but playful in her approach. During our conversation last Thursday, she told me how she had been criticizing some policy or politician the other day when her daughter jokingly said she sounded like a bully. Holder thought that was hilarious.

“I’m going to be the senior bully,” she told me, punctuating that with her signature, rollicking laugh. “And guess what: I don’t give a damn who don’t like it!”

In the hours and days since her death, social media has overflowed with tributes to “Mrs. Holder,” “Mimi,” the “community mom.” She made those around her feel cared for and appreciated, energized, and inspired.

“She just supported all of us in growing in our voice,” said Kaleena Berryman, former executive director of the Abbott Leadership Institute, a group that teaches parents about education policy and activism. Holder was active in the group since its inception. “She was our example of youth advocacy and parent advocacy and working unapologetically for children.”

That, perhaps, is the heart of Holder’s legacy. She didn’t just fight for the rights of parents and students — she also galvanized countless others, through her example and encouragement, to take up the fight themselves.

Wilhelmina Holder with a student at a college fair she helped organize in 2018.

One lesson she modeled for would-be activists: Keep showing up.

She rarely missed one of the Abbott Leadership Institute’s Saturday workshops; just last week, she led a training for parents on social-emotional learning. She was a fixture at school board meetings, and continued to work with families at West Side High School long after her daughters had graduated and her stint as PTA president had ended.

“She was the embodiment of that: consistent community activism and organizing,” said Bashir Muhammad Ptah Akinyele, a history and Africana studies teacher at Weequahic High School, Holder’s alma mater. “That was Wilhelmina Holder.”

After New Jersey took control of the Newark school system in 1995, Holder demanded that state officials — seen by some as an occupying force — listen to the concerns of families. When one state-appointed superintendent, Cami Anderson, announced a plan that involved closing some schools and putting charter school operators in charge of others, she helped lead a boycott of the district. “Keep your children home,” she urged parents.

“She was a warrior,” said Junius Williams, who helped found the Abbott Leadership Institute and was close friends with Holder. “She didn’t take no stuff from anyone in authority.”

In 2018, the state began transitioning the Newark school district back to local control. As the threat of school closures dissipated, and the elected school board chose a well-known Newark educator to become superintendent, the protests died down and attendance at school board meetings sagged.

But Holder kept showing up. She demanded that the board release details about the system used to assign students to school, urged officials to support overburdened comprehensive high schools, and, more recently, called for aggressive action to help students recover from pandemic learning loss.

“I don’t know how deeply we are aware of the fact that they need support — more than the lip service that some of them have been given,” she told the school board last November.

She was quick to add that she assumed good intentions on the part of officials and administrators. But she also wasn’t going to accept vague assurances that “something” was being done to catch students up.

“What is actually going on and how impactful is that for the students?” she said during the online board meeting. “See, I need someone to understand data, impact, and outcomes.”

Many times over the years, after I’d written about attendance rates or test scores or the opportunities students were — or weren’t — receiving, I would get a call from Holder: Can you share the data?

She wanted evidence of what was happening in the city’s schools and the effect on students. That was the essence of her advocacy: It wasn’t to gain recognition or engage in endless debates — it was to improve outcomes for children.

“What are we doing this work for if we can’t get kids access to a better life?” she once said to me.

Expecting greatness

She pushed elected officials, parents, and, in particular, students to do more, to be better, because she believed they were capable of so much. That belief had been ingrained in her growing up in Newark in the 1950s and 60s in a family of six children.

“Even though I came out of a home that had lower socio-economic status, my mother and father had certain expectations of us and so did all the people in their circle, all the people in my church,” she told me, adding that their message to her was clear: “You’re very smart, you’re going to college.”

Holder posed students for a photo in 2019 to celebrate their completion of the college-prep program she helped run with Lyndon Brown.

In high school, Holder submitted poems to the school newspaper. Decades later, her passion for language spurred her to become an advocate for better schools when, as a volunteer at the Boys & Girls Club, she noticed that an alarming number of children had trouble reading and writing.

“I used to complain a lot about that to the director and other volunteers,” she recalled in an interview last year. “One of them, my dear friend, said to me, ‘Well do something about it.’”

She did. With Lyndon Brown, she helped run the High School Academic Support Program, which for more than three decades has helped prepare thousands of Newark students for college. She spent countless hours reading and revising students’ personal essays, and accompanying them on college visits.

One of the first times I spoke with Holder was in March 2018 at a college fair that she and Brown organized on the second floor of the Springfield branch of the Newark Public Library. Hundreds of students turned out for it.

I returned to the library a year later to attend a graduation ceremony that Brown and Holder held for the students in their free college-prep program. The pair and their helpers had decorated the room with balloons and photos of the students, brought fried chicken and cake, and handed out “certificates of excellence.” At one point, Holder lined the teens up for a photo.

“Smile, we’re so proud of you,” she told them. “You are great students, and we expect great things from you.”

Holder expected great things from a lot of people. She believed in the innate greatness of the children and adults of Newark, which she made it her mission to unleash.

“One of the main things she taught me was that everyone has a purpose,” said Omayra Molina, whom Holder raised as her daughter. “Her purpose was to come in and change the community, one person at a time.”

A few years ago, I watched Holder speak at a school board meeting held in the basement of the school district’s downtown headquarters.

She commended a principal who worked closely with parents, then raised concerns about the high schools and asked for more data. She kept speaking even after her allotted three minutes ended and someone cut off her microphone.

On the way back to her seat, she added for all to hear: “I’ll be here every month until God calls me home.”

She kept her word.

Patrick Wall is a senior reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city and across New Jersey. Contact Patrick at pwall@chalkbeat.org.

Newark keeps face mask requirement in schools

2022-05-02T20:26:00+00:00

Newark Public Schools will keep its mask requirement, temperature checks, and other COVID preventative measures in place as the infection rate climbs across the city.

The district was set to end the measures this week. But an increase in the city’s COVID infection rate last week stopped any changes to protocols.

“In Newark, our numbers are starting to grow,” said Mayor Ras Baraka on Friday during a live Facebook update. “The numbers are still relatively low but they are growing, so we have to be cautious.”

Meanwhile, cases among students and staff dropped last week, according to the district’s most recent data posted Monday.

Baraka did not mention the district’s mask mandate during that update. The district did not respond to requests for comment.

John Abeigon, the Newark Teachers Union president, said the district’s decision to keep the COVID protocols in place came after the city’s health department advised Superintendent Roger León against making any changes.

Newark, the state’s largest school district, is one of the last in New Jersey to keep the mask mandate in place across its 65 schools and 38,000 students. Gov. Phil Murphy ended the statewide mask mandate in March, but school leaders were able to keep the rules in place for their districts. Paterson and New Brunswick are among the other districts to keep the rules in place.

Of the 500 largest school districts across the country, only 2% still require masks, including Newark, according to a school mask policy tracker from Burbio.

The city’s infection rate climbed in the last few weeks. On Friday, the seven-day rolling average was 5.31%, up from 3.25% two weeks earlier.

In the district, there were 49 positive cases among staff the week of April 18, when schools were closed for spring break. That was an uptick from 15 cases among staff the week prior.

“The slight bump was expected due to travel during the break,” Abeigon said.

But when the district updated its COVID dashboard Monday, it showed 16 positive cases among staff and 18 among students last week, a return to case counts seen before the break.

The district did not respond to a question about when it plans to revisit the mask requirement.

Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark, covering the city’s K-12 schools with a focus on English language learners. Contact Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.