A Tale of Two NYS School Districts: Hempstead and Garden City

I live in Hempstead, on the Mason-Dixon Line of education in Nassau County. Garden City is about 20 feet across the street from my front door. The gap between these school systems is much wider than the physical distance between them.

While the academic outcomes of the two school districts are distinct — Garden City having above average standardized testing results and Hempstead having poor testing results — I would argue the social and intellectual capacities of the children are the same. However, I would not argue that the management of the two school systems is the same.

As with any public school district, I am sure Garden City has its challenges. However, they likely pale in comparison to Hempstead, particularly in the areas of student and staff diversity, teacher quality, racial diversity, socio-economic status, quality school facilities, 21 century technology and infrastructure, and financial resources.

Here is my recent experience at a school board meeting at Hempstead High School:

On Tuesday, May 10, 2016, I arrived at 6:55 p.m. to what was probably one of the most important school board meetings of the year: presentation of the proposed school budget.

When I arrived, I expected to see a near-capacity audience. Instead, as I entered the dimly lit auditorium, I asked myself if I was the first person here. As my eyes adjusted for the darkness, I saw at least three people, in addition to two security guards, seated about an auditorium that has an occupancy capacity of at least 1,000. At 6:58 p.m., there were eight people present. At 7:00 p.m., I heard more voices behind me.

At 7:01 p.m., a technician walked in to set up the microphones. There were 11 chairs and four tables in the well of the auditorium. I suspected that this was arranged for the members of the board, the superintendent, and her deputies. I was wrong. No one occupied those seats during the entire meeting.

At 7:05 p.m., someone behind me asked, “Where is everybody?” No one answered.

At 7:08 p.m., the superintendent began the meeting by introducing two staff members who would share information about the primary schools in the district. Before they could reach the microphone, the board president announced, “Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.” Seemingly, the pledge was done as a perfunctory act.

Overall, I thought the presentations of the state of the schools was fair to good. I give high marks to the budget presentation by the business manager. He gave a detailed breakdown of the budget. Once he completed his presentation, he answered questions from the audience.

The audience was composed mainly of teachers and support staff. In total, about 30 people attended this meeting, at least 20 of whom appeared to be either school personnel, members of the superintendent’s team or members of the board of education.

The questions focused on potential staffing cuts. Understandably, people are concerned about their livelihoods. The business manager spoke with authority about what he called “righting the ship.” In other words, it was his job to make sure that the district operated in a fiscally responsible manner henceforth, implying that this was not the case before he arrived to his new post in March 2016.

I found it interesting that the superintendent and the board president did not address any of the questions raised by members of the audience directly. The two deferred to the business manager, who handled it relatively well. In fact, he appeared to be the superintendent, speaking with authority and convincing expertise.

One memorable moment came when an audience member questioned why the business manager would buy new student furniture for dilapidated trailers rather than renovate the schools and get rid of the trailers. The business manager turned to the superintendent for guidance, who mouthed something to him, after which he replied that the quickest fix was to purchase new furniture because of budget constraints. I thought, “I know they are not having a similar discussion in Garden City.”

The business manager went on to imply that once he “rights the ship,” the district would then have money to remove trailers and renovate and replace older schools. Until then, he was approving the furniture purchase.

After two hours, as the meeting was coming to a close, the business manager was trying to justify why children who attend schools in dilapidated and mole-infested portable trailers needed to bear it. He began to talk about conditions that he and others had to endure in Tuskegee, Alabama. One person said, “This is not Alabama, this is Hempstead.” I found it historically compelling that he would draw the analogy between Alabama and Hempstead.

Because Garden City held its budget presentation on the same day and at the same time as Hempstead, I could only imagine the contrast.

As I reflect on the school board meeting and the apparent differences between the Garden City and Hempstead school districts, I am reminded of the prophetic words of former Alabama Governor George Wallace: “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.”