Before reading this blog post, kindly watch the above video that recounts the moment I realized that more parents need to be involved in overseeing Plainedge UFSD. It will give insight behind my motivation to win a seat on the Plainedge Board of Ed (“BOE”) and enact meaningful reform.
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One of my daughters, who was in 5th grade in 2022, recounted an incident involving access to adult websites on school-issued Chromebooks. Being concerned, I attended a BOE meeting on February 15, 2022 seeking answers. At that meeting I was assured that such an infraction wasn’t possible and was advised to speak to her elementary school principal at the direction of Dr. Salina. The principal of her elementary school reached out to me the next day and we spoke at-length about the incident. However, during our initial exchange and subsequent conversation several weeks later it became clear that her principal, who was very sincere in trying to help me, was limited in his ability to effectuate change.
In early April, I still hadn’t received any updates from central administration regarding the aforementioned incident. I noticed that there was an upcoming BOE meeting on April 7, 2022 and decided to attend so that I could raise my concerns regarding the 8th grade curriculum and Chromebooks. At that meeting, with respect to the Chromebooks, I was assured that the proper security measures were already in place to prevent unauthorized access to adult sites and was reminded that it’s the parent’s responsibility to monitor their children’s activities on school devices. The fact that nothing had changed in terms of further securing Plainedge’s Chromebooks was shocking.
Frustrated by the continued resistance, lack of response, and lack of progress to meaningfully address my concerns, I decided that I needed to stress test a Chromebook. After sending the BOE and central administration an email on Friday, April 8th detailing how I was able to easily access unauthorized websites with minimal resistance and without possessing advanced computing skills, Plainedge UFSD finally sprung to action and sought to rectify their failure to better secure these devices. [Scroll down to see a copy of the email sent in its entirety with minimal modifications to redact personal info and make it appropriate for wider consumption. You may need to click a link to view the PDF.] Central administration’s response to my email noted that they will convene an internal meeting on Monday, April 11th to discuss next steps. At the Tuesday, April 12th BOE meeting it was announced that Plainedge would launch a pilot program of the GoGuardian application. Finally, a step in the right direction.
[Side note: The Tuesday BOE meeting was the only follow-up I received on this topic from the BOE or central administration. Neither contacted me Monday evening/Tuesday morning to note that they identified a solution to address my concerns. I understand there is a high level of sensitivity surrounding this topic, but common courtesy would suggest that they would have informed me that a solution was identified. Strong and proven leadership tackles difficult issues head-on and without delay to demonstrate a commitment to transparency.]
Question: Why did it take so long and require extraordinary measures by a concerned parent for the BOE and central administration to address a valid concern?
Answer: Plainedge hopes that the problem goes away and chooses to deny rather than take responsibility for any failure.
If you attend BOE meetings, they will claim that they are very transparent about our school district’s business; however, a recent Newsday article would seemingly counter such an assertion. It showed that Plainedge UFSD, which is a small district, had an unusually high number of legal settlements related to staff misconduct over the past decade. Newsday identified seven (7) legal settlements for Plainedge.1 A sample comparison of surrounding districts are as follows:
- Massapequa – 3
- Levittown – 5
- Hicksville – 1
- Freeport – 4
- Seaford – 8
- Farmingdale – 3
- Wantagh – none identified, not reported, or zero
- Bethpage – 1
- Bellmore/Merrick – 1
- Syosset – 1
This is just one example, among others, of Plainedge’s lack of transparency and accountability to the taxpaying voter. Stay tuned for a future video explaining how I reached this conclusion.
In summary, if you are tired of the “lies of omission,” a BOE and central administration that appears to be missing-in-action when dealing with difficult and sensitive matters, the lack of focus on the issues that affect our children most (e.g., focused on Plainedge Hall of Fame with sponsored social media ads using taxpayer funded school AV resources to produce), please consider casting your vote for Joe Beyrouty on May 16th at the Plainedge High School gym from 6am – 9pm. My solemn promise to you is that I will do everything in my power to bring about much needed and positive change. My focus will be doing the best for all of the children in Plainedge, supporting our teachers, and ushering in a new era of fiscal responsibility and transparency.
Kids First. Always.
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1 – “Long Island teacher misconduct: More than 100 educators resigned after allegations,” Newsday.com, Jim Baumbach and Joie Tyrrell, Updated March 30, 2023 10:12 am.