Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Community Concerns topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Parents and students press East Ramapo board on food, schools and staffing shortages
Summary
Multiple parents and high-school students used public comment to press the board for better cafeteria food, improved facilities and more teachers; the superintendent said the proposed budget addresses many of those concerns.
Parents and students used the public-comment period to press the East Ramapo Central School District board for improvements to school food, building conditions, transportation safety and staffing shortages.
Several student speakers from Spring Valley High School told the board they face limited electives, old or damaged sports equipment, weak communication about activities and, repeatedly, unappetizing school food. “Most of the time students are blamed for not doing so well in their school activities or in their school classes. But you gotta realize most of that comes from the environment that they are in and the environment that they are seated in given the food,” said Bruce Grama, a tenth grader at Spring Valley High School.
Parents and guardians also raised concerns. A parent who identified herself as president of the Association of Marching Band Parents urged clearer communications about discipline policies and asked the district to consider holding some events at Spring Valley High School to ease travel costs for families. A different speaker called attention to fees and taxi costs for some families traveling to district events and urged simpler directions in Spanish and other languages. The board announced interpretive headsets would be provided at tonight's meeting for Spanish-speaking parents.
On school food, students and parents said meals are often unpalatable or insufficient. “They don't have anything to go off of. And in my opinion, that's a major problem because these kids are your future,” Bruce Grama told the board. The superintendent said the budget includes money for cafeteria renovations and that the district plans to hire an outside food-service consultant to review menus, compliance and student input. The district noted federal U.S. Department of Agriculture nutrition rules limit menu options but said a consultant will help redesign menus within those rules.
Public safety and staffing concerns A resident urged immediate action on school-bus safety, reporting buses that travel faster than posted limits and students standing on buses. “If this is allowed to continue on public roads ... then there will be more injured students or dead students,” the speaker said, calling for the district to ensure contractors maintain safe driving practices. Transportation staff told the board they are expanding safety oversight and proposed adding two route-safety inspectors and other staffing to improve daily checks and communications with families.
Several speakers called for more teachers and electives. Tenth-grader Jamila Zamadano said Spring Valley High School lacks enough teachers and class options (for example, anatomy for health-care pathways) and urged the board to continue the administration's recent hiring push. The human-resources presentation later in the meeting laid out three job-fair dates and said the district has roughly 200–250 vacancies to fill across teaching, bilingual/ELL, paraprofessional and clerical roles.
Board and administration response Superintendent DeCarlo repeatedly acknowledged the complaints and said the administration's proposed budget aims to make
