Staten Island Advance/Hilton FloresFranca Okeiche, attending last night's meeting, has concerns about the city's process for closing PS 14 in Stapleton. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Members of the Community Education Council District 31 made plans last night to get the community prepared for an upcoming public hearing regarding the proposed closure of PS 14 in Stapleton and also addressed...
Franca Okeiche, attending last night's meeting, has concerns about the city's process for closing PS 14 in Stapleton. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Members of the Community Education Council District 31 made plans last night to get the community prepared for an upcoming public hearing regarding the proposed closure of PS 14 in Stapleton and also addressed the need for parental outreach and responsibility, as well as sensitivity training for young people, in light of the cyberbullying that reportedly led 15-year-old Amanda Cummings to take her own life.
During their monthly meeting in the Michael J. Petrides Educational Complex in Sunnyside, CEC members were readying the community to pursue answers from city Department of Education officials during the Jan. 25 public hearing at the school.
Even though the closure is likely a done deal, the community wants to fight. The proposals to phase out PS 14 and phase in its replacement, PS 78, both need to be approved by the Panel for Educational Policy at its Feb. 9 meeting.
CEC President Sam Pirozzolo and other members said the community has many questions for the DOE:
What is their game plan for the new school? What will be different about the new school?
And if both schools are going to operate under the same budget and resources, how will the new school be any different, let alone survive?
Member Tamica Fairley said the community is also concerned about the staff and teachers, who "put their blood, sweat and tears [into the school]. The community doesn't want people to leave the building and be without jobs."
NAACP President Ed Josey said that to make any school in that location a success, there's a bigger picture that needs to be addressed.
"Unless the community gets together and cleans up the neighborhood, the new school will be PS 14 all over again. "They [DOE] will have put all this money into the school and we will be right back where we started from."
Josey also suggested that DOE consider a "strong black male" as principal for the new school.
Last night's CEC agenda also devoted time to discuss Stand Up and Lead, an initiative announced Saturday during a forum at Markham Intermediate School, Graniteville, to stop bullying.
CEC Vice President Mike Reilly said that proposed legislation in the state Senate to address cyberbullying is inadequate; there is need, he said, of "a clear and concise method of reporting and tracking incidents of bullying by school districts."
Community Superintendent Erminia Claudio said the schools might be overwhelmed, but suggested that federal regulations might be needed, perhaps including fines for parents who let children under a certain age have Facebook accounts.
While Reilly said there needs to be an "open conversation with parents and children," CEC member Ting Lei said schools have a role to play: "Schools should teach our children education, but they should also teach our children how to feel other people's pain. If we just punish these children, it's not enough. They need to be educated to learn sensitivity and empathy for others."
The council also discussed the new "Community Awareness Through Journalism Award" co-created by the CEC and the Advance to encourage borough public school elementary students to read their local newspaper as a way of learning about their community and current events.