The good news in the Yonkers Public Schools is that 8,300 devices, includng 5146 laptops and 2916 chromebooks–have been given out to students learning remotely three days per week who do not have the financial resources to buy one.
The bad news is that three are 27,000 students in the Yonkers Public Schools. A good guess would be that half of those students have a laptop or learning device or can buy one.
That leaves 14,000 students, and 8,300 devices have been handed out, leaving about 5,000 YPS students without a device. The “guess” that we just made is the best that we can do, because there is no accurate data from YPS, except that “There is no waitlist for devices, as of this date…and “When available, families with multiple children received additional devices.”
Those are the written words of YPS Superintendent Dr. Edwin Quezada, in response to two letters from attorney Michael Sussman. Sussman, is more than an attorney in Yonkers, but more of a legendary figure and advocate, based on his success in helping desegregate the Yonkers Public Schools, most recently portrayed in the HBO miniseries “Show Me a Hero.”
The second part of Quezada’s letter that we pulled out above “When available, families with multiple children received additional devices,” continues to be the part of concern for many education advocated and families in Yonkers.
In our Jan. 29 issue, one parent advocate said, ” if there are 3 or 4 students in a household, the oldest child will use the device, the 2nd oldest child will use a cell phone and any other children do not get to go to school online for that day.”
The next piece of data required to get a better idea of how many YPS students are without an at home learning device is how many mutli-student families are there? That number would determine how many students are without a device each at home learning day.
Sussman responded to Quezada’s letter with a 3rd letter of his own.
Michael Sussman addresses this topic in his third letter to Dr. Quezada and the Board of Education. “There is no question that more than 27000 students are “enrolled” in your school district. How many are daily partaking in education is an open question, one directly related to the efficacy of the virtual education being offered. So, for us, the critical issues are how many students still [a] are unaccounted for and/ or [b] lack access to technology sufficient to access education. Carefully reviewing your letter, I find no answers.
“We agree that about 8,300 electronic devices have been distributed to students. How many students needed devices and still need devices? You claim that there is “no waitlist for devices.” Is the community to interpret this a representation that no students are now in need of functional devices or, put another way, as an affirmative representation that all who did need devices have now had them.
“Your fourth bullet under that section is illuminating to me: “school staff reach out to every family whose children are not engaged in remote instruction to ascertain why and try to resolve the issue.” How many students are “not engaged?” When did this initial outreach from staff members occur? What kind of follow-up contact has been attempted with these families throughout the virtual school year? Direct answers are in order and the community needs direct answers to these questions:
“How many students still lack computers and are thereby not engaged in remote learning? On an average school day, how many students are not engaged in remote learning or attending school in Yonkers?
“I would strongly suggest the employ of designated community outreach workers assigned to each school building and made responsible for making direct contact with its parents. Obviously, bi-lingual staffing is requisite to maximize meaningful dialogue,” writes Sussman, who followed up the letter with a press conference on Feb. 4.
At that press conference, Sussman identified dismal test scores in 2018 and 2019 before the pandemic, and and large drop in performance for black and latino students on the same test scores in comparison to white students.
Sussman’s point was that YPS student performance was bad before COVID. Now, with YPS students facing additional challenges, and some students without a device, the need for a device for every learner was critical.
Sussman said that at this point, he does not plan on filing a lawsuit, but wants the community of parents, students and educators to call for the Board of Educaiton to address the “inequities in learing,” and estimated that 3,000 students were still without devices.
Chistine Peters of Yonkers Parents Seeking Solutions, YPSS, said, “there is a shared responsibility within the community and the school district to come together and make sure that all students have the capabilities to participate in hybrid learning. I hope that the district is open to listening to all of the community stakeholders who came out today.”
When some asked how much money he was making in legal fees from this case, Sussman said —not a dime, and also added that some of the other ‘Big 5’ school districts in New York State were also having troubles with student remote learning and providing devices to “every learner”.
Rev. Frank and Evelyn Coleman, Yonkers NAACP, and community leader and social activist in Yonkers since the deseg case, Gail Baxter, participated in the meeting.
Dr. Quezada brought up a reasonable request in his response letter, asking that those who need a device to come forward to the school district and explain that they have 2, 3 or 4 children attending YPS and that they need more than one device. The Superintendent also asked Sussman, and Yonkers Parents Seeking Solutions, YPSS, to come forward with specific information on parents and students who need a device.
We would also ask that anyone who needs a device comes forward, and if necessary, contact us in confidence if necessary, or contact you councilmember to discuss. Or contact YPSS at ypseekingsolutions@gmail.com All relevant elected officials have been contacted and are aware of this situation.
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