Patch sent the same questionnaire to all candidates running for school board this year. The following response — which has not been edited by Patch — is from Fred Usherson, who is seeking a seat on the Hewlett-Woodmere Board of Education in an at large election.
Tell us about yourself (age, town, profession, family, etc.)
I am a resident of Hewlett since October 1999. I am married and have two children. My daughter is 11 years old and is in 5th grade and graduating from Hewlett Elementary this June. My son is 9 years old and is in 4th grade at Hewlett Elementary. I am a Technology Teacher for NYC Department of Education. I have worked for the DOE full time since 1994. During that time, I also worked one year as an Assistant Principal.
Listed below are my college degrees and teaching and administrative certifications.
Education:
Specialist Diploma in School Administration and Supervision, Queens College 1996
MBA, Marketing & Corporate Finance & Investments, Adelphi University 1991
BA, Computer Science, Queens College 1984
CREDENTIALS:
New York State Certified School District Administrator
New York State Certified Teacher Electronic/Electro-Mechanical
New York State Certified Teacher Computer Technology
New York State Certified Teacher Business and Distributive Education
FCC Licensed General Class Amateur Radio Operator
What qualifies you to serve as a member of the school board?
The district has incorporated my prior campaign recommendations such as offering our children access to online databases such as the Discovery Education Website (www.discoveryeducation.com). In addition, the district also took my recommendation and has instituted a robotics program, which has been quite successful. I would like to see this program expanded to include Battlebot Robotics.
Why are you running for the school board?
As an elected official, I understand that I have a fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers in our district to minimize tax increases. As a parent, I want the best possible education and learning opportunities for our children. Currently, there are no serving school board members or other candidates this year seeking election or re-election with an education background. As an educator for over 18 years, I understand the challenges that exist in our schools today and how to improve learning by improving our staff.
Having also worked in industry for almost eight years, I know the value of incorporating technology in our schools, beyond just the computer, to offer our students enhanced vocational and life skills that they could apply in their future endeavors. Let’s return our school district to the great district that it once was — that everyone remembers. If elected, I know I can help improve it!
What is your opinion of the budget that has been presented to the community? What you have done something differently with it?
The irony with our elected school board members is that according to the New York State Department (http://www.p12.nysed.gov/mgtserv/admincomp/) in 2011 for example, our district spent $1,347,519 for our top four executive positions, yet our board members describe this as “fiscal responsibility” as we eliminated over the last few years dozens of school aides and teachers. I call this penny wise and pound foolish!
If elected, I would work with my fellow board members and try to further reduce administrative costs, by effective renegotiation of contracts with executive staff members, and look to further consolidate or eliminate administrative functions in the administrative building (WEC).
Aside from the budget, what do you think is the biggest issue facing the school district?
Is Woodmere Middle School the Five Towns Love Canal? This June, my daughter is graduating from elementary school in our district and will be starting Woodmere Middle School this fall. As a parent, I share the same thrills and exhilaration my daughter has about starting a new school, as I recall my youth when I was at her age. As any parent, I am concerned about my child’s safety and welfare and I am deeply concerned about the potential toxic hazards that may exist at Woodmere Middle School.
Discovered almost a decade ago is a chemical plume of tetrachloroethylene also known as PCE or PERC. Based on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA’s) report, there were two toxic plumes discovered in close proximity to Woodmere Middle School. The site was so toxic, that it was added to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) list as a Superfund site on August 23, 2004. (http://www.epa.gov/region02/superfund/npl/peninsulablvd/index.html) So what is a Superfund site? The EPA defines it as “the name given to the environmental program established to address abandoned hazardous waste sites.” (http://www.epa.gov/superfund/about.htm)
In those years our district contemplated building a new middle school next to Hewlett High School. In an effort to save money, the school board decided to keep the current location and renovate the current building by constructing a new gymnasium, new track and field, etc. One would think that in 2004, the district would be notified by the Federal Government of the potential problem, yet our board may have decided to put the health of our children and employees attending and working at Woodmere Middle School at risk. Imagine how the ground was dug up during the construction, potentially exposing everyone to the ground plume chemicals described by the EPA as traveling in a north-west direction. Even more concerning to me was a story reported in 2011 about Woodmere Middle School children building a pond on the school grounds. (http://fivetowns.patch.com/groups/schools/p/video-sixth-graders-build-pond-at-woodmere-middle-school)
While the school district did notify the public, and public hearings were held, and the EPA tested the soil and air and found them acceptable, it just comes down to a matter of who do you trust and believe. I say why put everyone’s health at risk when there is a potential for toxicity?!!
In 2011, the EPA said that after testing both the air and ground water at Woodmere Middle School that the site is safe. When I read this, I couldn’t help but think about comments made a few days after 9/11 by the EPA Chief, Christine Todd Whitman (former New Jersey Governor), saying the air was safe around Ground Zero. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxdttHY59b4) Imagine Ms. Todd-Whitman saying that to all the first responders today who are still alive and suffering from their medical problems due to exposure from the toxic air on 9/11.
I say when it comes to the health, safety, and welfare of our children and employees, cost savings should never be considered an option — but building a new facility or buying/renting another facility in a safe location a necessary expense! George Santayana was credited as saying "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." When you consider what the EPA said after 9/11, and what they are saying today about Woodmere Middle School, I think George got it right! Is Woodmere Middle School the Five Towns Love Canal? (http://www.epa.gov/region2/superfund/npl/lovecanal/)
Had I been sitting on that school board at that time, I would have voted against renovating the current facility where there is a potential of contamination from the toxic plumes located within close proximity to the school. If I am elected to the school board this year, I would recommend that a review of employee and student attendance records be conducted by technically approved persons to determine if attendance was affected by contamination or toxic conditions.
What is the school district’s greatest strength?
The greatest strength of our district is our teachers, coaches, and support staff, such as our school aides. For example, in recent years at Hewlett High School, we have seen the dedication of teachers and staff that helped some of our children achieve the semifinalist round in the Intel National Science Competition. I have also seen this staff dedication in our coaches and support staff. My children have gained tremendous knowledge from our district swim team coaches. With all their dedication and service to our children and district, these people described above truly are the greatest strength of our district.
Over the years, I have seen many good people both educators and schools aides get terminated by our district as they claim for lower enrollment. The school aides in the lower grades such as at Franklin Early Childhood Center and at Ogden and Hewlett Elementary schools have been instrumental in helping with the development of our children.
Sadly, by losing these good people, and programs, we as a district are losing our greatest strength. These people are the essential staff for our district. I would like to see technology programs in our district expanded, not reduced. If elected, I would work with my fellow board members to look for other alternative solutions to reduce expenses other than cutting the essential staff described above.
What is its greatest weakness?
Our school board keeps threatening to close the Discovery Program. They reversed their decision again this year after many angry parents objected. For the last few years, our school board has threatened to close the Discovery Program for our gifted children. Not only do I oppose this, I would recommend that our district expand the Discovery program to have a parallel Discovery II program for special education children with learning disabilities. Since our district has no school board members who are educators, I can see why our school board would consider closing the Discovery program. I would never vote to close this program.
Our School Board accepts performance mediocrity, and is denying our children in the elementary and middle school the resources to improve. The data proves it! This spring, supported by our school board, our superintendent sent an email to parents warning them that due to the new Common Core standards, the grades for the elementary and middle school test scores may be poor. Neglected in the email was that every school district throughout New York State is facing the same challenge. This year, researched and shown on my website, FRED4HW.COM, is that our district continues to underperform many of the elementary and middle schools of equivalent sized school districts throughout Nassau County. This could be improved by providing teachers with classroom resources, improved technology for students, such as Ipads, and free after school tutoring for our elementary and middle school children.
If you are elected, what is the one thing you’d like to see accomplished during your term?
Over the last two years, our district has wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars on 40% salary early retirement incentives for administrative staff — while most are already making more than $150,000 annually. Why are we paying administrators early retirement incentives? These people already have pensions and a huge salary. If you want them to leave, stop offering them raises!
In addition, in the last few years, our board approved $50,000 for parking lot lights at the administrative building (WEC) so district staff can to go to their car at night in a lighted parking lot. Finally, our district wasted tens of thousands of dollars and also on an educational consulting group called the Tri-State Consortium that did nothing to help us. Ironically, when I posed the question several years ago to our elected school board members about offering free after school tutoring for our children at the two elementary schools and the middle school, they refused. When you consider the ongoing poor performance of our schools, the huge amount of children attending the summer learning academy (summer school), and the numerous amount of tutoring services that are opening in our neighborhood, I wonder who are these elected board members really serving?
Where do you see public education on Long Island going in the future and what role do you hope to have in it?
Anyone who took an economics course knows that our economy has natural expansion and contraction business cycles. Our country has suffered a major economic contraction so severe that we haven’t seen since the Great Depression. Locally, we see large companies such as Northrop-Grumman announcing this past March that they would permanently move off Long Island to Melbourne Florida and other states.
In the last year, both Cornell and Hofstra University announced that they would be opening engineering schools in New York City and Long Island. I believe that Long Island is prime for a resurgence in small technology companies and Long Island could become the next Silicon Valley. I would like to see Hewlett-Woodmere become one of the leading school districts that could set the technological standard in STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) programs that other school districts would follow.
Would you like to add anything else?
I am running as an independent candidate for trustee for the Hewlett-Woodmere School District because in addition to having a comprehensive vision for improving the staffing and technology within the district, I am also running on a platform on improving instruction and fiscal responsibility. If elected, as an independent candidate, I offer our district both an independent voice and vote at board meetings on the issues that face our school board. I invite the district residents to visit my website at WWW.FRED4HW.COM
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