The BoE rejects the pleas of some parents to delay the appointment pending an evaluation of Walker's performance, and grants him an initial 14.6% salary increase.
The Property Tax Report Card shows a 3.39% decrease in enrollment from 1,592 to 1,538. That is despite all the additional housing that has been built, Pugh's Projects, and the extra Accessory Dwelling Units. Despite all this growth, parents of a net 54 children are withdrawing them. There is more housing and children than ever, but school enrollment is decreasing.
The wealthiest and pushiest parents are going private, going to neighboring districts, registering at homes outside the district, or just moving out. My kids tell me about their friends going to Chappaqua, Briarcliff, Catholic schools, and regular private schools, but staying in the District.
At last night's BOE meeting, one parent spoke about how he believed in public education, but was withdrawing, heartbroken, to go to St Augustine's in Ossining: https://staugustineschool.org/.
For years the same old people were saying there was nothing wrong, now those same people are saying it doesn't matter there is something wrong.
One of the speakers was a Special Education teacher who has devoted her career to helping special needs kids. It is insulting our intelligence and her integrity to suggest her support for academics for all, was somehow at the cost of special education. All kids deserve an education.
So many of the people who spoke against Walker were parents who were expert educators or teachers. On one side there were teachers from Chappaqua, other local Districts, and the City, arguing against rewarding Walker's failure. These are our expert parents, taxpayers, and voters. On the other side, the usual deluded political activists, with no teaching experience, who argued in favor of rewarding Walker.
Walker has created this problem for himself by interfering with partiality in the election, as reported in this newspaper. Appearing in support of one candidate at a private event, during the election, means Walker has publicly taken sides politically. Now one side of the community is hell-bent on replacing Walker.
It doesn't help Walker that he treats local journalists so badly and doesn't respond to their enquiries. He ignores the most local of newspapers.
Every annual Board of Education election from now on is in effect a plebiscite on eliminating Walker. Every candidate will be a proxy for either giving Walker a pay rise or firing him.
Isn’t it amazing how the board dragged out the teacher aide’s contracts for a tiny microscopic raise but didn’t bat an eye lash at a new contract for the superintendent with a very generous raise and yet he has no Phd. Do these people really think they are doing us any favors!
He said at the time that he was going for his Doctorate at SUNY Binghamton and that he would have successfully completed it around the time of his next contract renewal. Does anyone know if he actually made good on that statement?
A majority (55%) of voters in the most recent school board election voted for better academics, more transparency from the administration and board, better communication from the board, and improved academic standards and outcomes. This is NOT a small vocal minority. Additionally, the current high school seniors benefited from enrichment programs that used to exist at CET, Honors programs that used to exist at the High School, and have since been stripped away. How will this impact current students at CET who lost valuable time in the classroom to Tiger Days?? Who came up with the idea for Tiger Days? Obviously someone with no knowledge in curriculum. Who in our school district is developing the curriculum?? We need answers!!
Disappointing for our school and our children as our academics flounder. My cat is a great listener and doesn’t answer any questions ever. Maybe he should make $282,000 from the district.
Thanks, Dan! This begs the follow up question (paragraph 15). If anyone knows, have the board's criteria, goals, and objectives for the Superintendent position been made public? Or the yearly written evaluations of whether they were met? Genuine question about what's public and what's not.
I asked this question at the BOE meeting. I asked for the criteria to measure his successes and what protocols are in place to engage families in his process. The role of the superintendent is extremely important and costly and taxpayers should have input.
Those are reasonable questions that deserve a response. If anyone is feeling motivated, per 8 NYCRR 100.2(o) and the Board's policy manual, the procedures they've developed for his annual review "shall be filed in the district office and available for review by any individual no later than September 10th of each year." As for the review itself, I'm not a FOIL attorney, but I'd think that portions of any document either setting annual performance goals or making a final determination about whether he'd met those goals would be subject to FOIL.
Thanks for this. I would certainly encourage parents and taxpayers to make these kinds of inquiries, and the Chronicle will also do so as part of our regular reporting on these issues. Please watch for a new report on academic questions coming no later than tomorrow.
That the Board of Education approves the appointment of Mr. Stephen Walker as Superintendent of Schools for the Croton-Harmon School District effective January 4, 2022 as presented.
WHEREAS, the Board of Education of the Croton-Harmon Union Free School District seeks to appoint Stephen A. Walker as Superintendent of Schools for the School District and to approve an Employment Agreement setting forth the terms and conditions under which Mr. Walker will be employed;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Board of Education of the Croton-Harmon Union Free School District hereby appoints Mr. Stephen A. Walker to the position of Superintendent of Schools for a three and one-half (3.5) year term to commence January 4, 2022 and ending June 30, 2025; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Board of Education hereby approves an Employment Agreement with Mr. Walker dated October 25, 2021 setting forth the terms and conditions of employment under which Mr. Walker will serve as Superintendent of Schools during the aforementioned term, with an annual salary for the first year of the Agreement to be $240,000, and hereby authorizes the President of the Board to execute same, subject to the conditions set forth above.
The obsession with getting into Ivy League schools is annoying. Getting into any college is like playing a chess game blindfolded. Don’t blame it on any school district. There are too many other factors in play.
I don’t understand the obsession with demonizing parents and students who strive for academic rigor. NO ONE is saying cut the music program, arts program, SEL, etc. No one! If you preach equity, then practice what you preach and continue to allow for growth and enrichment; allow for other pathways for children to tap into their strengths and interests - that’s true innovation.
This is not about pushing your kid to get into Harvard just to stoke your own ego. This is about basics. The thing that, because of virtue signaling and (dare I say it) unbridled 'Progressivism,' was lost. There are several children in the elementary school who are reading below grade level by 2 years, and when the district finally starts doing something about it in terms of additional instruction, some yahoo institutes the concept of "Tiger Days" which are an additional construct to that of "House Days," meaning that it's yet another day out of the 20-odd days in the month where the child is not being educated on the most foundational level.
Exactly! The Tiger days are a big pull away from critical learning time during the most formative years of a child’s education time. My daughter hates them. She dreads going to school on those days. She always comes home and says how she would rather have class and her special and felt bored all day.
On February 13th the Board of Education presented their demographic study, projecting a net increase in students, mostly due to the new housing projects in the Village. https://go.boarddocs.com/ny/chufsd/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=DBMS6B7120C7
But by April, only 2 months later, and the Board of Education was now predicting a significant decline in enrollment, instead of an increase. https://go.boarddocs.com/ny/chufsd/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=DD7RNK6EAFDA.
The Property Tax Report Card shows a 3.39% decrease in enrollment from 1,592 to 1,538. That is despite all the additional housing that has been built, Pugh's Projects, and the extra Accessory Dwelling Units. Despite all this growth, parents of a net 54 children are withdrawing them. There is more housing and children than ever, but school enrollment is decreasing.
The wealthiest and pushiest parents are going private, going to neighboring districts, registering at homes outside the district, or just moving out. My kids tell me about their friends going to Chappaqua, Briarcliff, Catholic schools, and regular private schools, but staying in the District.
At last night's BOE meeting, one parent spoke about how he believed in public education, but was withdrawing, heartbroken, to go to St Augustine's in Ossining: https://staugustineschool.org/.
For years the same old people were saying there was nothing wrong, now those same people are saying it doesn't matter there is something wrong.
One of the speakers was a Special Education teacher who has devoted her career to helping special needs kids. It is insulting our intelligence and her integrity to suggest her support for academics for all, was somehow at the cost of special education. All kids deserve an education.
So many of the people who spoke against Walker were parents who were expert educators or teachers. On one side there were teachers from Chappaqua, other local Districts, and the City, arguing against rewarding Walker's failure. These are our expert parents, taxpayers, and voters. On the other side, the usual deluded political activists, with no teaching experience, who argued in favor of rewarding Walker.
Walker has created this problem for himself by interfering with partiality in the election, as reported in this newspaper. Appearing in support of one candidate at a private event, during the election, means Walker has publicly taken sides politically. Now one side of the community is hell-bent on replacing Walker.
It doesn't help Walker that he treats local journalists so badly and doesn't respond to their enquiries. He ignores the most local of newspapers.
Every annual Board of Education election from now on is in effect a plebiscite on eliminating Walker. Every candidate will be a proxy for either giving Walker a pay rise or firing him.
Isn’t it amazing how the board dragged out the teacher aide’s contracts for a tiny microscopic raise but didn’t bat an eye lash at a new contract for the superintendent with a very generous raise and yet he has no Phd. Do these people really think they are doing us any favors!
He was the only one of the 3 final round candidates without a doctorate, too.
Crazy! Thank you for sharing!
He said at the time that he was going for his Doctorate at SUNY Binghamton and that he would have successfully completed it around the time of his next contract renewal. Does anyone know if he actually made good on that statement?
He’d call himself Dr. Walker if he had…
A majority (55%) of voters in the most recent school board election voted for better academics, more transparency from the administration and board, better communication from the board, and improved academic standards and outcomes. This is NOT a small vocal minority. Additionally, the current high school seniors benefited from enrichment programs that used to exist at CET, Honors programs that used to exist at the High School, and have since been stripped away. How will this impact current students at CET who lost valuable time in the classroom to Tiger Days?? Who came up with the idea for Tiger Days? Obviously someone with no knowledge in curriculum. Who in our school district is developing the curriculum?? We need answers!!
Disappointing for our school and our children as our academics flounder. My cat is a great listener and doesn’t answer any questions ever. Maybe he should make $282,000 from the district.
Can you link to the original contract, if it's available? I'd be interested to see what the performance benchmarks are. Thank you.
https://go.boarddocs.com/ny/chufsd/Board.nsf/files/C8ERUK6DF8D7/$file/Employment%20Agreement%20-%20Superintendent%20Walker_0001.pdf
Thanks, Dan! This begs the follow up question (paragraph 15). If anyone knows, have the board's criteria, goals, and objectives for the Superintendent position been made public? Or the yearly written evaluations of whether they were met? Genuine question about what's public and what's not.
I asked this question at the BOE meeting. I asked for the criteria to measure his successes and what protocols are in place to engage families in his process. The role of the superintendent is extremely important and costly and taxpayers should have input.
Those are reasonable questions that deserve a response. If anyone is feeling motivated, per 8 NYCRR 100.2(o) and the Board's policy manual, the procedures they've developed for his annual review "shall be filed in the district office and available for review by any individual no later than September 10th of each year." As for the review itself, I'm not a FOIL attorney, but I'd think that portions of any document either setting annual performance goals or making a final determination about whether he'd met those goals would be subject to FOIL.
Thanks for this. I would certainly encourage parents and taxpayers to make these kinds of inquiries, and the Chronicle will also do so as part of our regular reporting on these issues. Please watch for a new report on academic questions coming no later than tomorrow.
Has your new report come out? I am curious to read an update.
Agenda Item Details
Meeting
Nov 04, 2021 - Business Meeting
Category
New Business
Subject
Superintendent Appointment
Type
Action
Recommended Action
That the Board of Education approves the appointment of Mr. Stephen Walker as Superintendent of Schools for the Croton-Harmon School District effective January 4, 2022 as presented.
WHEREAS, the Board of Education of the Croton-Harmon Union Free School District seeks to appoint Stephen A. Walker as Superintendent of Schools for the School District and to approve an Employment Agreement setting forth the terms and conditions under which Mr. Walker will be employed;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Board of Education of the Croton-Harmon Union Free School District hereby appoints Mr. Stephen A. Walker to the position of Superintendent of Schools for a three and one-half (3.5) year term to commence January 4, 2022 and ending June 30, 2025; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Board of Education hereby approves an Employment Agreement with Mr. Walker dated October 25, 2021 setting forth the terms and conditions of employment under which Mr. Walker will serve as Superintendent of Schools during the aforementioned term, with an annual salary for the first year of the Agreement to be $240,000, and hereby authorizes the President of the Board to execute same, subject to the conditions set forth above.
My sixth grade son's Passion Project was baking and eating unhealthy brownies.
Stephen Walker is personally responsible this nonsense: https://riverjournalonline.com/around-town/for-the-local-good/pursuit-of-passion-is-the-golden-rule-in-croton-schools/197292/#
May I ask what Tiger Days are?
Touchy-feely BS that takes kids out of the classroom at a rate of once every week-and-a-half.
https://www.chufsd.org/post-details/~board/cet-news/post/discovering-tiger-day-innovative-learning-adventures-await-at-cet
Yikes! So glad we sent our kids to out-of-district schools. It was years ago, but the Kool-Aid was crazy even then.
The obsession with getting into Ivy League schools is annoying. Getting into any college is like playing a chess game blindfolded. Don’t blame it on any school district. There are too many other factors in play.
Who is obsessed with “Ivy League” schools??? Concern over academic standards and academic outcomes has NOTHING to do with Ivy League schools!!
I don’t understand the obsession with demonizing parents and students who strive for academic rigor. NO ONE is saying cut the music program, arts program, SEL, etc. No one! If you preach equity, then practice what you preach and continue to allow for growth and enrichment; allow for other pathways for children to tap into their strengths and interests - that’s true innovation.
This is not about pushing your kid to get into Harvard just to stoke your own ego. This is about basics. The thing that, because of virtue signaling and (dare I say it) unbridled 'Progressivism,' was lost. There are several children in the elementary school who are reading below grade level by 2 years, and when the district finally starts doing something about it in terms of additional instruction, some yahoo institutes the concept of "Tiger Days" which are an additional construct to that of "House Days," meaning that it's yet another day out of the 20-odd days in the month where the child is not being educated on the most foundational level.
Exactly! The Tiger days are a big pull away from critical learning time during the most formative years of a child’s education time. My daughter hates them. She dreads going to school on those days. She always comes home and says how she would rather have class and her special and felt bored all day.