By Kate E. Salute
Cheatham¹s chief concern was that Herber had 15 new teachers, who, she said, had been hired only weeks before the school year started. Ten of them, she added, were entirely new to the profession. With such a large number of rookies, Cheatham said, she and a number of other Herber parents felt that the school¹s assistant principal, Steven Gilhuley, had his hands so full with directing and assisting new staff that he didn¹t have the time to discipline rowdy students who were interrupting classes.
At first Cheatham spoke calmly, congratulating the board on Herber¹s recent Blue Ribbon status. Then, as she got to her point, which was to suggest the hiring of a part-time, retired dean of students ‹ ³Someone who knows the children,² she said ‹ Cheatham grew frustrated with the answers she was receiving from the board and Deputy Superintendent Diane Scricca ‹ Superintendent Dr. Mary Ellen Freeley was out of the country at the time. Cheatham argued first with Scricca, then with board member Marguerite O¹Connor and then board President Greg Padmore.
³But the middle school has the same population as the high school and they have a dean, we should have one too,² Cheatham argued. Back and forth it went, emotions high until Padmore, insulted by a comment about the board not caring and failing to do their job asked Cheatham to step down. ³Our children are suffering,² Cheatham said before removing herself from before the microphone.
Cheatham was followed by another Herber parent echoing Cheatham¹s concerns saying that next year would be too late, the students need a dean now before it really takes away from their education.
Nothing was resolved, though the board was certainly made aware of the situation. For Cheatham, it was the end of a battle but not the end of the war, not even close.
The next week, the Herber PTA met in the school¹s library at 7:30 p.m. Herber Principal, Dave Zimbler was in attendance. Cheatham explained that she had brought the idea of a dean to the board but that she was basically brushed off. ³We need to do something to reach them,² she said. ³What do you think Mr. Zimbler?²
School officials, as explained to the Herald, are not at liberty to make statements of opinion regarding school matters to the public and especially the press unless given permission by the Superintendent. ³You would have to talk to the Superintendent about that,² the Herald was told by Zimbler the day after the board meeting.
Put on the spot, Zimbler stated only fact, ³We do have the same population as the high school and they have a dean.²
For 10 minutes the PTA threw around some ideas eventually settling on a petition. One of the parents said, ³OK, good, now all we have to do is type one up and send it around, I guess.² With that Cheatham, prepared, reached into her purse and produced just that, a typed petition that by the end of the meeting every parent in the room had signed. In addition to the petition, the PTA parents had said they would encourage the other Herber parents to attend the next Board of Education meeting to further the cause. Strength in numbers.
Three weeks passed but the demand for a dean only intensified with time ‹ three weeks more that the Herber children had to bear without a dean, more importantly, without any knowledge of at least the possibility of a dean. There had been no definite answers given at the November board meeting of whether this plan was feasible to implement this far into the school year.
On the 13th the December Board of Education meeting started at 8:05 p.m., a measly five minutes late as compared to the 45 minute wait at the prior month¹s meeting. Standing room only, a hopeful sight at first glance, but with the announcement that it was Board Appreciation Night ‹ usually held in November but postponed during Freeley¹s absence ‹ some hopes were dashed. Students from each Malverne School from Davison Elementary to the high school were paraded before the board, some with songs, some just with kind words and trinkets to thank the board for all their hard work. Even after the board appreciation portion of the night was over, there was still an adequate crowd, until the Student Appreciation part of the night ended and with it, the crowd diminished to about 15 people and the tension grew palpable though board members played it cool knowing that with each completed order of business they were getting closer to public participation and a probable tongue-lashing. Zimbler and Gilhuley stayed even after Herber made its presentation, they stood silently away from the direct sight line of the board, nearest to the exit.
Time for public participation and this time Freeley was present to give some more definite answers.
When Cheatham, dressed in a black jacket and yellow boots, approached the board this time, she was met with answers, though not the ones she wanted to hear.
Freeley said, ³Mr. Zimbler has put a line in the Herber budget, the proposed budget for the next school year. But because it is the proposed budget and items do get cut, there are no guarantees.²
With that, Cheatham¹s three minutes were up.
After a few others addressed the board on unrelated issues, Ronica Ebron followed up on the subject explaining that her children are honor students and that they have told her that class often gets disrupted.
After Ebron, Beverly Todd sat in the hot seat and added that the answer, Œwe¹ll look into it,¹ from the board was not a satisfactory one, especially when it takes a month for the board to get back to the public. ³Isn¹t there anything you can do now?²
³No,² said Freeley firmly yet compassionately. ³But here¹s why. It¹s because there is no lee-way in this year¹s budget. We cannot find any more money in this year¹s budget. Let me tell you why: just as you are paying astronomical fuel prices, we are paying astronomical fuel prices ‹ right now we are paying $130,000 more than was projected and budgeted for in this year¹s budget and we have to find they money to pay that. We have to pay our bills too and New York State has a law that you cannot overspend your budget.² She continued, ³It¹s not that we don¹t want to be able to add staff at this time, we can¹t, we don¹t have the money to do so, that¹s the reality we face and we¹re not alone, every district is having this problem.²
With that the matter was taken off the table for the night and the meeting ended. Cheatham, who didn¹t give the petition to the board remains determined. Though she acknowledges the valid point made by Freeley and that it may have taken the sting out of the fight, as far as Cheatham is concerned, the matter is not dead yet. ³There¹s got to be some way,² she said among a group of parents on the way out.
Comments about this story? KSalute@liherald.com or 569-4000 ext. 205.
