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Parents, SEPTA press Hastings district over special-education turnover and staffing plans
Summary
Parents and the district SEPTA chapter urged the Hastings-on-Hudson Board of Education to explain recent special-education departures, demand a permanent hire for an assistant director role and create a special-education oversight committee after a wave of resignations and role changes left families worried about continuity of services.
The Hastings-on-Hudson Board of Education heard pointed public comment on Sept. 25 about turnover in the district’s special-education department and the need for clearer leadership and hiring timelines.
At the start of public comment, a parent described repeated staffing changes that have left families “worried” and said teachers who provided stability for students with individualized education programs have left the district or moved to other roles. That parent said families expected district leadership to address concerns at a recent resource-room meeting but no administrators attended.
Nicole Bloomfield, speaking as a representative of SEPTA, read a letter into the record asking the board to: lay out the expected future structure of the special-education department; begin a hiring process immediately for a permanent assistant superintendent for pupil personnel services; and create a special-education committee including board members, SEPTA and students. “We ask this committee to be created now,” Bloomfield said in the letter read aloud.
The board had earlier introduced Jean (interim assistant superintendent for pupil personnel services) to the public. Jean described administrative changes the district is making to cover recent departures, including elevating Mary Angela Sanchez to a districtwide supervisory role and hiring a new K–12 CSE (chair) and a replacement high-school coordinator after recent resignations. “We then have 1 remaining assistant director of Special Ed and that is Mary Angela Sanchez,” Jean said in her presentation, and added that interviews for a new special-education chairperson were scheduled.
Board and district leaders told the meeting they are trying to balance immediate coverage with a longer-term hiring strategy. Speaker 2 (district leadership) told trustees the superintendent had been authorized earlier to make temporary appointments and said the administration will present recommended hires to the board before the Oct. 7 meeting, while planning a fuller discussion in December about permanent organizational structure.
Public commenters and trustees pressed for more transparency about timelines and roles. SEPTA’s letter said failure to hire a permanent assistant director after a year-and-a-half of lead time had resulted in “an understaffed department and confusion among families.” The group asked that hiring not be left to last-minute interim appointments.
The board did not take immediate personnel action during the public session; trustees said they would expect more detailed hiring and structure proposals at upcoming meetings and that the superintendent’s office would bring recommendations for board review.
What happens next: SEPTA requested formation of a special-education committee and immediate initiation of a hiring process. Administrators said they would provide an update at or before the Oct. 7 meeting and anticipated bringing recommended appointments and more detail on department structure to the board for consideration.
