Today, many Latino parents, students and school staff met with the search firm who is tasked with helping us find the next school superintendent. We provided insight into our community and its needs. We also suggested the necessary traits in a new superintendent who will provide a better approach to leading our schools. Someone who will be a risk taker and who has a history of success in leading a school district, like New Rochelle, comprised of almost 75% students of color: 42% of them being Latino!
We suggested that a candidate be inclusive, eyes wide open, not afraid to communicate with parents, having the chutzpah to introduce initiatives that welcome parents to schools; that teach parents about school, specially immigrant parents. A superintendent who will not view Latino students as immigrants, but realize that the overwhelming majority of Latino students were actually born here, many in New Rochelle.
So what we share with the search firm, we would like for all of the community to see also. We would like to see what the parents who attended the meetings at the HS, Trinity, ALM and IYMS said. We want the school board to make public, in its totality, the document that the search firm has collected and to share it publicly on the school web next Thursday Feb 13th when the Search firm presents its findings. The community deserves to know. The School Board, through its North End leadership of Dee Polow and David Lacher, should have the cojones to say yes – we want to share.
Thanks,
Martin Sanchez