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Parents call for ‘leadership’ in Fredonia Central Schools

OBSERVER photo by Natasha Matteliano Parents and residents shared their thoughts with the Fredonia Board of Education.

Parents and district residents who called for more in-person learning in Fredonia Central Schools were applauded by those in attendance at Tuesday’s district board meeting.

To open the meeting, the board allots an amount of time to hear comments from the audience. Then, later on, to close the meeting they allow the public time to comment again.

In the first public comment portion of the meeting, Andrew Ludwig, current principal of Northern Chautauqua Catholic School and former teacher and principal of Fredonia Middle School questioned why the board had on the agenda to approve a contract between the Leadership for Educational Achievement Foundation, Inc. and Fredonia for administrative coaching services for the 2020-21 school year for $23,100.

“As a taxpayer I have a real hard time understanding why our administrators need coaching for $23,100,” Ludwig said. “Most of our administrators make six-figure salaries and if they’re not doing a good job and they need coaching, it’s the superintendent’s job to help them improve on their performance.”

“So I don’t understand why in financially strapped times, the board is considering spending $23,100 on coaching services for our administrators. If our administrators need some professional development to continue their jobs, they should take that expense upon themselves.”

As is the normal procedure, his comments and questions were met with no answer or reply from the board. Later in the meeting, the board passed the resolution with no discussion.

When the time came for the last public portion of the meeting, other individuals offered their thoughts. Kara Trippi, taxpayer in Fredonia and mother of two — one 7-year-old and one 10-year-old, expressed her “disappointment in the lack of preparedness and planning of the district.”

“I believe that what has been presented to the board throughout this reopening,” she said, “has been a gross misrepresentation of the actuality of the situation. … My children are getting nowhere near what they would be on a regular day in-person.”

Trippi was under the impression in August, as were all other Fredonia parents, that students would be returning to at the very least a hybrid model, if not in-person five days a week. A week after they had been told that information, the administration announced a plan that did not include any of these ideas for the middle and high school. This left Trippi and other parents wondering why.

After endless calls to the administration of Fredonia, including principals and the superintendent that were met with bland responses, Trippi decided to move on to contacting school board members. She received replies from the board, including one from President Brain Aldrich. She said it stated, “The Board of Education’s role is not to create or approve a reentry plan, but to hold the superintendent accountable to the district.” She explained that this is exactly what her and all the parents want.

“I urge the Board of Education to start getting involved,” Trippi said. “Ask questions and demand answers. Start to hold the superintendent accountable.”

Trippi’s words to the board were met with applause from the group of parents and other residents in attendance.

Julie Mikula, who once taught math in the Fredonia Middle School and is a taxpayer and mother of a child in the Fredonia Schools, also commented on the way the school has handled this school year so far.

Mikula pleaded with the board to step into her shoes and imagine what it would be like to have to announce to their children that they will be allowed in school five days a week, and then a week later have to tell them that they will not be allowed in school after all. She asked the board to understand how frustrating it is to have teachers being pulled away from remote classes to teach the “in-person kids” and how disheartening it is to have been told that remote children have more instruction versus the hybrid plan, but after comparing her daughter’s material to a remote student’s, the hybrid student, her daughter, ended the week with 45 more minutes of instruction.

“I still don’t understand how, although Fredonia has one of the highest tax bases in the county, that we were the last out of 18 districts in Chautauqua County to have all of the elementary kids in school for a minimum of two days a week,” Mikula said. “Dunkirk and Fredonia are the only two schools in the entire county that have their high schools on complete remote. … I am asking you please to help provide my child with the opportunities that I helped to provide your children.”

Once again, applause came from the audience.

“I really feel for these parents. They’re here begging for something they should already have and then they’re asking, ‘Why is this happening?’ “ Ludwig said, addressing the board again. “You proved why this is happening when you approved that motion to pay $23,100 for administrative coaching because your leaders need coaching. There’s no leadership here — top to bottom.”

Ludwig went on to claim that interim Superintendent Dr. Colleen Taggerty worked only four days per week during the summer. “I hope she’s not getting paid for Thursdays. It’s your job to hold the administration accountable. Hold (Dr.) Taggerty accountable. She says she doesn’t want to make any major decisions for the next superintendent to walk into, meanwhile these families are struggling,” he said. “Why are we behind other districts? Because of a lack of leadership. You’re all in leadership positions. Step up and lead.”

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