Written by Suzanne Russell
[…]
But Donna Chiera, president of Perth Amboy Federation/AFT, the union representing teachers and other staff, has another idea.
“We need to find a place where we can put a true alternative school, where a child who cannot function within a school building that may be causing disruptions to others could go to a school and still remain academically viable but yet is receiving counseling and behavior modification by people who are trained to do that,” Chiera said.
“The moment they get back on program, they can go back to the regular population. But they are not in the regular population causing havoc where 28 other kids can’t learn. For our middle and high school kids, I think we really need to look at an alternative program.”
Chiera said the district has a code of conduct that needs to be followed.
“Building administrators should not have the option of following that policy or not,” she said. “We put that in place in the ’90s because it’s consistent in the district so the discipline is the same. And everyone is treated fairly.”
Caffrey said the rift with the school board has not deterred people from wanting to work here.
“We haven’t done any major recruiting, but we have had more than enough applications for all of our open positions,” she said. “We have seen no impact in terms of that. We had very few resignations. And any new open positions that we have are going to be filled by some high-quality people.”
The one major open position has been the principal at the Richardson School, where the former principal was not rehired after serving one year following the alcohol sale allegation. About 50 applications have been received for that position. Caffrey seems to recall reviewing about the same number last year when that position was first vacant.
“I am going to take the time necessary to find the right person for that position. This is not something we need to rush,” said Caffrey, adding that the vice principal will open the school on Thursday.
Chiera, however, remains concerned about the lack of collaboration and communication in the district, where board members can’t talk to staff without the superintendent present or without her permission, the reason a discussion between the union and district officials on school discipline has not taken place.
“It can be an ethics violation if a staff member stops a board member in the supermarket,” Chiera said. “How can they set policy if they can’t see what is going on in an unobstructive way or sit and talk to people without having to worry. Staff won’t talk because they are intimidated to have retribution. Administration is afraid. I don’t know how you move forward if you are not creating a situation where people feel comfortable to say what they feel needs to be done.”
Chiera said she wants to move three issues this year: standards of conduct and achievement, national core standards and teacher evaluation.
“When we work in a very collaborative way, the district makes strides,” she said. “I don’t know if we can do that. I’m hoping. There are power struggles going on. But I represent 1,486 people who chose to come to Perth Amboy, many of them to teach knowing they were going into an urban setting, who believe our kids can do a lot more and believe we can move this district to a place it never has been before and they want to be part of that.”
More>>
