‘TAKING A TOLL’
Stamford students, educators, parents seek support as pandemic nears a year
“Kids are losing out on social skills that they should be developing.” Shreyans Daga, a student in the Stamford school system
STAMFORD — Stamford students asked for more emotional support; staff requested that certain positions be preserved and others reinstated. Parents asked for relief.
Three “listening sessions” hosted by school administrators this week as they begin crafting a budget for 2021-22 revealed a school community made weary by nearly a year of operating within a pandemic. With no one sure of how much longer the crisis will continue, they are seeking support and reinforcements.
Several students during the session reserved for them spoke about the importance of mental health resources.
“Social distancing and isolation are taking a toll on students not being able to see all their friends,” said Aishwarya Sivasubramanian, a junior at the Academy of Information Technology & Engineering.
She asked school officials to include additional mental health services as part of the budget.
“If anything, this year is when students will need it the most,” she said.
Samantha Samuel, another junior at AITE, echoed those sentiments.
“The more we can do to support all students in our community, the better,” she said.
She also suggested the school system adjust curriculum to make it more inclusive and sensitive to
gender identity.
Lili Levano, a Scofield Magnet Middle School seventh grader, suggested allowing students time to interact with each other virtually since typical socializing in schools is not allowed.
Shreyans Daga, another Stamford student, agreed.
“Kids are losing out on social skills that they should be developing,” he said.
That wasn’t the only topic brought up by students, however.
Angad Sohanpal, a Dolan Middle School seventh grade student, said the district should offer a course on cybersecurity, as students have all moved to more distance learning this year.
He also spoke about struggles with the online platform Edgenuity which is being used extensively this year.
Students who elected to do full-time remote learning this year did not have access to as many classes as they would in normal circumstances, but were given the option to take certain courses through Edgenuity instead.
Amy Beldotti, associate superintendent for teaching and learning, said in September that almost 800 requests for classes were filled with courses from the online curriculum tool.
Sohanpal said his experience taking a Spanish course using the virtual tool has left much to be desired, as the program has reset his progress and hasn’t been beneficial, he said.
“Overall, it’s messing with us more than actually helping us,” he said.
Jennifer Pinto, another Dolan student, said she experienced the same struggles with the program.
During the session reserved for staff, teachers and administrators urged leaders to restore positions that had been cut.
Carolyn Daher, head of the arts department at Stamford High School, advocated for maintaining arts programming.
Art teaching positions were part of the cuts approved by the school district this summer in response to the effects of COVID-19, which caused the city to cut 136 positions and $12.5 million from the education budget.
“It does take money to support the arts and I would like to express that we would like you to continue to support that,” she said. “Try not to cut us anymore.”
Michael Rinaldi, principal at Westhill High School, asked officials to bring back some of the positions lost due to COVID.
Specifically, he called for three counselor and three security positions to be reinstated at the high schools.
“Safety and security is every school’s top priority,” he said. “Our security officers serve an undeniably vital role for everyone’s safety at our school.”
Jennifer Gomez, a parent organizer for local nonprofit Building One Community, supported adding counselors and having more workshops for parents.
“A lot of children are facing a lot of anxiety, not only at the high school level, but elementary and middle school as well,” she said.
Mark Bonasera, the Roxbury Middle School principal, asked that a parent facilitator position at the school be expanded to full time.
On a different night, that facilitator, Noemi Berkoff, spoke as well. She also asked for an expansion of her hours to cover for the increased work she has experienced.
“We need to be paid for all the extra hours that we work,” she said.
Christine Velazquez, who spoke as a community member, had two suggestions.
One was getting rid of uniform pay for SPS teachers.
“We should pay teachers who teach well,” she said. “We should not pay teachers who do not teach.”
Velazquez also suggested that families should be compensated for the burdens brought on by COVID-19, which has forced many to act as co-teachers for their children during remote learning.
Another parent on the call asked for the same later in the meeting.
The 2021-22 budget document not yet available. The sessions this week were meant as a way for people to provide input before the budget is crafted.
The Board of Education is expected to vote on its budget in February, followed by review by the Board of Finance and the Board of Representatives.
After that, the Board of Education votes to reallocate the final budget amount, a process tentatively scheduled for May.
Over the past five years, the average increase to the Board of Education budget has been 2.28 percent.