NEW ROCHELLE, NY — This article is Part 6 of 8 in a series on the June 23rd meeting of the New Rochelle Board of Education where administrators and board members discussed a plan to move the Alternative High School from St. Gabes High School to the Family Life Center at Bethesda Baptist Church. There were four subsequent board meetings – two in executive session and two in public session. This series is focused on what took place on June 23rd, an attempt to deceive the board and the public by cherry-picking or withholding information in order to “sell” Bethesda to a skeptical school board.

During the board meeting of June 23rd, Carl Thurnau presented photographs purporting to compare the interior and exterior St. Gabes and Bethesda. The photos appeared to be taken in such a way as to portray St. Gabes negatively and Bethesda positively and in many cases excludes matching photos from St. Gabes and excluded photos from the interior of St. Gabes when Bethesda did not have corresponding facilities such as a gymnasium.

Here are the photos as presented during the meeting:

Here are the photos in a side-by-side comparison:

Building Entrance

St. Gabes: photo is of side door not main entrance, doors are shot from a distance with dry asphalt in the foreground, does not indicate entrance is off the parking lot and so safer.

Bethesda: photo is of main entrance, doors are shot from mid-range with minimal foreground, does not indicate the entrance is off Lincoln Avenue, a primary road with heavy traffic throughout the day.

Example of a Classroom

St. Gabes: chairs stacked, desks piled on top of other desks, shades drawn.

Bethesda: tables and chairs set up for use, shades are open, partitions are open in one of the few brightly lit rooms, fails to show the most classrooms are below ground and have cellar windows.

Example of a Hallway

St. Gabes: one light on, classroom doors closed, bright light at the end of the hall way make the rest of the hallway appear dark.

Bethesda: one light on, classroom doors are open, hallway chosen that is off a brightly lit room, fails to show hallways off of classrooms that are below ground and have cellar windows.

Kitchen

St. Gabes: narrow shot with one garbage can in the foreground, another garbage can to the side, out-dated warming ovens that the District has refused for years to replace.

Bethesda: shot from the far end of the room to exaggerate the size of the room, shot from the side so light from window shines into the room, no garbage cans or other debris in the photo,

Cafeteria:

St. Gabes: tables but no chairs set up

Bethesda: tables and chairs set up, fails to mention the cafeteria is not a dedicated space but a multi-purpose room that is designated for breakfast, music, physical education, and lunch. Fails to mention that kitchen and multi-purpose room are on different floors so every meal and table setups for every student must be moved up and down between floors through the main lobby of the building. There are two kitchens, one on the second floor, one on the upper floor.

Example of a Bathroom

St. Gabes: shot from up against the bathroom stalls, shot facing towards the window so glare from light makes room look darker, garbage can in foreground.

Bethesda: shot at a distance from the bathroom stalls, shot with lights switched on, no windows, no sinks, no garbage cans.

Auditorium

St. Gabes: no photo of Auditorium at St. Gabes

Bethesda: photo of stage area of Banquet Hall.

Lobby

St. Gabes: no photo of Lobby.

Bethesda: photo of Lobby.

Gymnasium

St. Gabes: no photo of Gymnasium.

Bethesda: no Gymnasium at Bethesda.

Library

St. Gabes: no photo of Library.

Bethesda: no Library at Bethesda.

Office Space

St. Gabes: no photo of Office Space.

Bethesda: photo of Office Space.

Computer Lab

St. Gabes: no photo of Computer Lab.

Bethesda: no Computer Lab.

Weight Room

St. Gabes: no photo of Weight Room.

Bethesda: no Weight Room.

Science Lab

St. Gabes: no photo of Science Lab.

Bethesda: no Science Lab.

Music Room

St. Gabes: no photo of Music Room.

Bethesda: no Music Room.

Here are some of the photos from St. Gabes that Thurnau left out of his presentation.

St. Gabes Computer Room.

St. Gabes Classroom.

St. Gabes Gymnasium.

Thurnau went on to present a table of what he described as responses to “Frequently Asked Questions”. He did not say who asked the questions or how frequently but as there was no public engagement of any kind we know who did not ask any of the questions — the stakeholders directly impacted by the proposed move to Bethesda. The responses in the FAQ were designated as Improvement, Neutral, Trade-Off or N/A.

The designations themselves were flawed. The opposite of “improvement” would be “deteriorate” or “decline” or “degenerate” which does not capture the issue of whether the Campus School students and staff will be better off or worse off as the result of the move. “Trade-Off” is not the opposite of “improvement” and implies there are “pros and cons” to the issue when there may be no “pro” or no “con” on that issue. A “trade-off” could be “neutral” but it could be weighted more towards a “pro” or a “con”. The word choice of the designations make it impossible to accurately characterize whether a particular issue will result in a better or worse outcome. A better word choice would be Positive, Negative or Even or words along those lines.

Here are the FAQ Slides as presented:

Here is a breakdown of the items in the FAQ by Rating and an Accurate Rating:

Sinks

The need to add 3 sinks at Bethesda is marked as Neutral. Adding the sinks requires a building permit, which takes time and includes fees paid to CS Arch and the New Rochelle Building Bureau, there is a cost to buying and installing sinks and related plumbing. No such costs are required at St. Gabes.

Marked Neutral, Actually Negative

Certificates of Occupancy

The need to obtain an NYSED Certificate of Occupancy for Bethesda is marked as Improvement. Performing a final inspection and filing for a Certificate of Occupancy takes time and includes fees paid to CS Arch and the NYSED Facilities Office. No such costs are required at St. Gabes.

Marked Improvement, Actually Negative

SED Approval

The need to obtain NYSED Approval for Bethesda is marked as Improvement. Thurnau states paperwork has been filed but not acted upon. Mosehli said Thurnau spent the last six months of his life working on preparing to file this paperwork so there is significant time involved and fees paid to CS Arch and the NYSED Facilities Office. No such costs are required at St. Gabes.

Marked Improvement, Actually Negative

Security Cameras

The need to add six cameras at Bethesda is marked as Neutral. Adding the cameras takes time and includes fees paid to a security consultant and/or CS Arch, there is a cost to buying and installing cameras and related technology. No such costs are required at St. Gabes. The VRI (2013) and Guidepost Solutions (2018) security audits both say St. Gabes has 12 cameras so Bethesda will have half as many cameras as St. Gabes.

Marked Neutral, Actually Negative

Key FOB

That teachers will not have key fob access to Bethesda is marked as Neutral. Only administrators, custodians and security guards will have keys for Bethesda. The VRI (2013) and Guidepost Solutions (2018) both raised concerns that a limited number of people had keys at St. Gabes so that part-time workers or substitute teachers would not be able to turn locks on doors during lockdown/lockout events and fire drills. As neither schools have a key fob system this is neutral.

Marked Neutral, Actually Even

Security Staffing

That security staffing will remain the same is marked as Neutral. The same security guards at St Gabes would be transferred to Bethesda.

Marked Neutral, Actually Even

No Gymnasium

That there is no Gymnasium at Bethesda is marked as Improvement. There is no basis on which to claim that not having a gymnasium at Bethesda as is the case at St. Gabes could be considered an improvement so it is mystifying that Thurnau would make this claim. He offers that Bethesda can use the Remington Boys & Girls Club apparently unaware that it will be closed for two years starting January 2021, less than six months away. He offers that Bethesda can use Lincoln Park when the City has not agreed to allow that use and where there is opposition from Council Member Yadira Ramos-Herbert who represents District 3 which includes Lincoln Park. He offers that students can walk or be driven to New Rochelle High School. He offers that the multi-purpose room, already designated for breakfast, lunch, and music, can be used to teach dance and yoga and play ping pong and provide lessons in sports rules and ethics for Physical Education. Comparing all this to St. Gabes which has a gymnasium is absurd.

Marked Improvement, Actually Negative

Board of Education Site Visit

That the Board of Education toured Bethesda the day before is marked as Neutral. The Board did not tour St. Gabes. Whether the board did or did not visit either site has no bearing on the pros and cons of moving from St. Gabes to Bethesda.

Marked Neutral, Actually Even

Classroom Spaces

This item is broken down into multiple categories:

Smart Boards at front of the Class at Bethesda, same at St. Gabes

Marked Neutral, Actually Even

Folding partitions between some classrooms at Bethesda

Marked Neutral, Actually Negative

Data Drops Required at Bethesda

Marked Neutral, Actually Negative

Computer Lab v Chromebook

Marrero claims computer labs are passé without noting that every school in the District has a computer lab and that there are no plans to get rid of them — except for the Campus School. Marked Improvement, Actually Negative

Science Lab v Lab Cart

Thurnau said the use of lab carts is not uncommon elsewhere but fails to note it is unknown in the City School District of New Rochelle. No other school with a science lab has closed it down and replaced it with lab carts. To the contrary, major work was done at New Rochelle High School under the bond construction to update the Science Labs.

Marked Improvement, Actually Negative

Art Room can be used as Music Room

This is true for any room in any building that one room can be used for some other purpose. Marked Neutral, Actually Even

How students will travel from Bethesda to New Rochelle High School

Travel to New Rochelle High School is marked as Improvement. Why asking this question would be considered as in improvement makes no sense but the FAQ item is broken down into 3 parts: students will be supervised as they travel, the District is looking into transportation and New Rochelle High School can be reached from Bethesda in 23 minutes by walking for after-school activities reachable. As noted earlier, this distance between St. Gabes and Bethesda is minimal. Marked Improvement, Actually Even

Teacher Parking

That 30 parking spaces have been allocated at Bethesda is marked as Neutral. As noted above there are only 34 spaces in the parking lot, two handicapped spots plus a van accessible lane must be created, the current designated handicap parking spot is illegal and needs to be moved, the same spot is inaccessible because it is blocked by a metal gate when the parking lot is open, 10 spaces are marked as reserved spots for church employees or access ways into the church, 2 spots are taken by church vans and one is taken by a maintenance vehicle. Unless the entire parking lots is redesigned, relined and painted, at best there are 19 spaces available and likely less as the parking spots are small and need to be relined. The parking lot was recently re-paved and re-lined.

Marked Neutral, Actually Negative

Other

Security is Optimal

The claim that Bethesda security is optimal is not supported by any analysis by the District’s security consultants. There are trade-offs here which we will not describe for security reasons.

Marked Improvement, Actually Even

Clean and well-maintained space

That Bethesda is a clean and well-maintained space is marked as an improvement although there are no claims that St. Gabes is not clean and well-maintained.

Marked Improvement, Actually Even

Kitchen

Having a kitchen is marked as an improvement. It is an improvement but the kitchen on the second floor is not conveniently located in relation to the cafeteria. Having a Point-of-Sale cash register is described as an improvement but would entail students walking up and down stairs to buy meals then carry trays with meals downstairs to the multi-use room designated as a cafeteria at breakfast and lunch.

Marked Improvement, Actually Positive

Proximity to NRHS and City Hall

The proximity to New Rochelle High School is marked as Improvement when the proximity of both St. Gabes and Bethesda is about the same (3 minute difference by van).

Marked Improvement, Actually Even

The proximity to City Hall is marked as Improvement when it is entirely irrelevant.

Marked Improvement, Actually Even

No known heating issues

No known heating issues is marked as an improvement. The heating issues at St. Gabes were resolved over a year ago, according to the Archdiocese.

Marked Improvement, Actually Even

Capital Improvements

The estimated capital costs to ready Bethesda as the Campus School are $50,000.

Marked Trade-Off, Actually Negative.

What was the Process?

The process was, by unanimous consent of the board, extremely poor.

Marked N/A, Actually Negative

As we reported in March, the classrooms at Bethesda are a small fraction of the size of the classrooms at St. Gabes. The hallways are significantly more narrow at Bethesda than at St. Gabes. Teachers at Bethesda will not have their own desks in their classrooms and furniture purchased by the District will be shared with the the Church. There will be no in-classroom storage area for books or musical instruments. If Campus School is moved to Bethesda their students will become the only students in the District that do not attend a school with a gymnasium.

Moselhi claimed the District had until June 30th to inform St. Gabes they intended to move out. A representative of the Archdiocese had already offered to extend the deadline.

Feijoo said students could not go out for lunch and had no outside space without mentioning that since St. Gabes opened as the Campus School three decades ago up until November 2019 students were allowed to go out to lunch when Feijóo informed the students that they would be subject to Board Policy 5520: Closed Campus. Students organized a protest which was reported by News12. Only after she decided to close the campus did Feijóo meet with students to hear their concerns. Feijoo offered to provide picnic tables so students could eat lunch outside but picnic tables were never provided.

Much was made about Campus School students having the same food-service options as New Rochelle High School without any mention that there are other schools in the District which have their meals prepared at the high school kitchen and delivered to the school just like the Campus School. Students are not forced to eat whatever shows up – they are provided menu options and can order meals.

The Bethesda Banquet Hall was described by Thurnau as a location to hold musical presentations and theater presentations. The Campus School has never held any such events,; students interested in music or theater can participate in PAVE at New Rochelle High School. Campus School holds 2 to 4 assemblies a year for about 45 minutes each so the actual use of the Banquet Hall by the Campus School would be about 1.5 to 3 hours a year.

The proposed lease allows Bethesda to hold events in the Banquet Room during school hours. Bethesda can permit use which is not inconsistent with the Campus School’s use of the premises as a school building or which doesn’t unreasonably interfere with the district’s use of the premises.

Feijoo claimed that students were sitting for Regents Exams without doing the required lab work. Karen Tucker, a longtime teacher at the Campus School, stated that the claim was not true.

Table of Contents

New Rochelle BOE Discussion on Relocation of Campus School Part I: Acrimony and Blame Shifting

New Rochelle BOE Discussion on Relocation of Campus School Part II: Proximity

New Rochelle BOE Discussion on Relocation of Campus School Part III: AP Courses

New Rochelle BOE Discussion on Relocation of Campus School Part IV: Security at St. Gabes

New Rochelle BOE Discussion on Relocation of Campus School Part V: St. Gabes Building Condition

New Rochelle BOE Discussion on Relocation of Campus School Part VI: Phony Photos and Contrived FAQ

New Rochelle BOE Discussion on Relocation of Campus School Part VII: Recent Review of St. Gabes Building Condition

New Rochelle BOE Discussion on Relocation of Campus School Part XIII: Remaining Questions