The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
School superintendents discuss impact of coronavirus
ALBANY, N.Y. » The Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung Center for the Promotion of Mental Health & School Safety at Russell Sage College in Troy recently hosted a public seminar with the New York State Council of School Superintendents (NYSCOSS). The seminar’s topic was “The Impact of COVID-19 on our School Communities: Stressors, Strategies and Lessons Learned.”
The hourlong seminar was part of the Hochsprung Center’s winter/spring lecture series. Three additional lectures are planned for March, April, and May, all on the topic of mental health and how it relates to the pandemic.
During the event, superintendents from around New York state shared specific data about their districts and how they have adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The seminar was moderated by Dr. Charles Dedrick, executive director of NYSCOSS and introduced and concluded by Dr. Jerome Steele, chair of the Department of Education’s Doctoral Leadership program at Sage.
Seminar participants were Dr. Jason Andrews, superintendent of Windsor Central School District; Dr. Cosimo Tangorra, superintendent of Niskayuna Central School District; Dr. Miatheresa Pate, superintendent of New York City Department of Education Community School District 23; Dr. Alex Marrero, interim superintendent of New Rochelle City School District; and Patricia Kilburn, district superintendent of Oneidaherkimer-madison BOCES. Also present was Charles Chafee, a representative of New York Schools Insurance Reciprocal, the event’s sponsor.
Dedrick asked each participant to speak about the challenges their school districts faced and continue to face during the pandemic. The overwhelming answer was making sure all students had access to continued learning.
“We have a significant digital divide - not all of our students have access to the resources needed for remote learning,” commented Andrews.
“We’ve had to adjust to the challenges of instructional delivery using Zoom,” said Tangorra.
Pate, whose district has a high population of low-income students - 85% qualify for free or reduced-price lunches and many live in low-income high rises - agreed that the biggest challenge her district faced was a digital divide.
“We gave out 5,300 tech devices, plus internet devices, to enable our students to have ac
cess to remote learning,” Pate said. “We needed to ensure that all our schools had digital curriculums - and all our teachers needed training to do it.”
Pate also commented on the optimism of her staff, noting that they could always find a solution to a challenge and always keep learning.
“There’s always knowledge in the room, you just have to ask the right questions,” she said.
Marrero, whose district was at the epicenter of the virus, with the first confirmed case in the country and the first schools ordered to close, talked about the challenges his district faced switching over to an online learning model as fast as possible. He noted that the greatest challenge his district faced was with staffing, making sure he had enough staff to cover the district’s increased needs.
Marrero said that the entire time, he has focused on meeting the students’ needs above all else.
“If you stick to what’s best for the students, you don’t lose sleep at night,” he commented.
Kilburn also stated a challenge in getting equal access and resources to all students in her district, noting that her position as a BOCES superintendent put her in a uniquely challenging situation. With all the districts that BOCES serves operating on different learning options - some fully remote, some fully in person, and some with a variety of hybrid models - it was most challenging trying to work around everyone’s schedules.
“We have to be all things to all people,” she said.
Dedrick asked the superintendents to share the “number one leadership lesson” each had learned during the pandemic.
Pate said she had learned “to be willing to expose my own vulnerability, to become a springboard for other leaders to expose their own vulnerabilities when communicating and asking for support.”
Marrero agreed that “asking for help isn’t a weakness,” and added he had learned to “understand that this is a community effort.”
Kilburn said her most valuable lesson was the inevitability that “something’s going to give,” and when it happens you have to own those moments, learn from them, and move on.
Andrews said he had learned that “clarity precedes competence.” Tangorra said his lesson was “there’s strength in numbers.”
The last question Dedrick asked the superintendents was to name a specific strategy each had come up with to respond to socialemotional needs of their districts.
Kilburn said she was regularly checking in with union leaders to make sure her employees had access to mental health services.
Andrews said listening to his staff was paramount, and not tainting the listening with personal biases.
“Don’t impose middleclass expectations and perspectives on people who aren’t middle class,” he said.
Tangorra said he was taking note of which students and staff were flourishing under the district’s present learning conditions, and figuring out how to help them continue to flourish once the pandemic ended and things shifted back to a “normal” education model.
Marrero said his most successful strategy was one that had been implemented PRE-COVID and had now shifted to an online format: community circles of healing, which gave attendees opportunities for reflection and conversation.
Pate also had a strategy that was started PRE-COVID and was still working well in a virtual format. Before the pandemic, she had hosted events called “Sip and chat with the superintendent,” where attendees could enjoy juices and hot beverages while engaging in opportunities for questions and conversations. Since then, it has adapted to “Zoom and chat with the superintendent.”
Pate also spoke of one strategy that had a noticeable impact, the “20-second hug.” Nowadays, it’s something you can only do with members of your immediate family/household, but Pate said it’s still worth doing. She mentioned studies that had shown a hug lasting for 20 seconds releases chemicals in your brain that promote feelings of happiness and reduce stress.
All of the participants supported Pate’s idea, and the seminar ended with a virtual group hug.