Newfield tackles pandemic, racism, budget

Despite the rollout of vaccines for COVID-19, the pandemic is far from over, and Newfield’s Board of Education (BOE) discussed the district’s current efforts at its Jan. 21 meeting.

The district switched to remote learning Jan. 22, after Interim Superintendent Eric Hartz said there were COVID cases in the community and some Newfield faculty and staff were in isolation, and resumed in-person classes Tuesday, Jan. 26.

“I’m being cautious and proactive,” Hartz said at the meeting.

While Hartz praised the Health Department’s efforts, he said the department is “a bit behind” on quarantining people, so he and district officials took initiative last week.

Many Newfield staff members received their first vaccine doses this month, Hartz said. According to a recent announcement from the state, more vaccine doses aren’t expected until later this week at the earliest. Hartz asked faculty members to be patient and said he was optimistic about more doses becoming available soon.

Hartz said that with 60 new COVID cases in Tompkins County the day before the meeting, bringing the total of active cases to more than 290, the pandemic was “not going away any time soon.” He urged residents to continue safe practices such as washing hands and social distancing.

“I truly apologize for this,” Hartz said. “It is frustrating for us as we’re working so hard to have our kids in person, but listen, we’re in a pandemic.”

Budget troubles ahead

Newfield BOE Business Administrator David Shaw reported on the status of the new budget but said the news was not as good as some might have hoped.

Shaw said according to information about the federal stimulus package, Newfield could receive about $1 million, but it could take up to a year to arrive.

“This is not something that’s going to help us right now,” Shaw said. “It may even be spread out over a couple years. Money is money, and help is help, and we certainly don’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth. But it’s not going to be a saving grace right this minute for us.”

Shaw said that while Gov. Andrew Cuomo discussed lowering the projected 20% cut to state aid to 5%, it would be permanent and would roll into the next school year. He said that if the cut happens immediately, the district will lose $500,000 or more in funds this year, but if it happens a month from now, the district will only lose $350,000.

Shaw also mentioned that Cuomo was considering compiling various forms of subsidiary aid, such as transportation aid and software aid, together and lowering the total aid amount.

“That 5% will feel like more than 5% when all is said and done,” Shaw said.

Shaw said that Newfield was not alone in its current budgetary predicament.

“It’s ugly, it really is,” Shaw said. “I would say that every district in this state is feeling this pinch right now.”

Unfair punishments for minority students

Hartz gave the BOE an update about Sharroky Hollie’s diversity training, which he said was an ongoing, “evolutionary process.” School faculty and staff finished the five modules on schedule, and administrators have been conducting meetings with their faculty and staff, hoping to gather information to send to Hollie.

Hartz said that students will switch to remote learning Feb. 2 so the faculty and staff could spend the morning on professional development and work with Hollie. He said he was excited about the work and knew that their efforts were only beginning.

“I keep telling everybody, make sure you’re patient,” Hartz said. “This isn’t something that just happens and overnight, everything changes. This is going to be an ongoing process.”

Newfield resident Caitlin Howell once again spoke at the privilege of the floor, this time to speak about Black students being punished more severely than white students. She attended the meeting with Faith Emery, a junior at Newfield High School who had come to Howell with her story.

Emery told the Board about an incident involving a dispute between her and a white student during her freshman year, in which the latter pulled off her wig. Emery said she received a five-day off-campus suspension as punishment and heard that the other student may have only received lunch detention and attended school the following day.

“I felt like, as a student of color, I received a harsher discipline during that time period,” Emery said.

Newfield alum Lena Kennell said that many studies indicate that educators tend to be biased in favor of white students. She said that not only do many educators punish minority students more severely than white students, but they may not understand the effects racism has on minority students and the community.

Kennell said that one possible solution is to provide educators with information that they can use to determine whether they are punishing students appropriately and give the Board data about the rate at which minority students are punished compared to white students for similar actions.

“Understanding that racism is present and understanding that educators have an implicit bias only does so much,” Kennell said.

Kennell thanked Emery for sharing her story.

“Too often, Black trauma needs to come onto stage in order for people to take it seriously,” Kennell said to Emery. “At the same time, it’s really powerful that you gave your story, and I’m really hoping that we can make some changes for your last couple of years.”

In Brief:

Clarity Connect

Clarity Connect is considering a build-out of high-speed internet service around Millard Hill Road, which will include Bishop Road, Douglas Road and Fishkill Road. Before proceeding, staff wants to know how many residents would subscribe to this service. Interested residents should email supervisor@newfieldny.org with “Clarity Connect” in the subject line and their name and address in the body of the email if they have not already responded to the Facebook post on the subject.

For more information, visit newfieldny.org/high-speed-internet-in-millard-hill-road-area.