The East Ramapo school board lost its legal challenge against state education officials after the board’s superintendent pick was rejected by the district’s state-appointed monitors.
Acting State Supreme Court Judge Amy Joyce in Albany on June 2 dismissed the school board’s action, called an Article 78, against New York State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa, state-appointed education monitor Shelley Jallow and state-appointed fiscal monitor Shawn Farr.
“Needless to say, the board is extremely disappointed in the monitors’ and the court’s decision,” East Ramapo board President Shimon Rose said during a June 2 school board meeting. “However the board understands its legal obligation and the urgent need to find a new leader.”
The troubled district has operated under an interim superintendent multiple times in recent years, including having two interims in a row in the last two academic years.
A spokesperson for NYSED expressed satisfaction with the judge’s ruling, and urged the board to work “expeditiously” to find a new superintendent.
“The challenges facing East Ramapo require steady, experienced leadership from day one,” NYSED spokesperson JP O’Hare said. “It is imperative that the district’s next superintendent possesses the demonstrated ability to navigate complex operational decisions, strengthen district systems, and advance the educational interests of all students and families in the community.”
Current interim Superintendent Ana Reluzco leaves June 30, so the district could have no superintendent in place by July 1, the start of the 2026-2027 academic year.
How board-monitors relationship unraveled
The board in April launched the unusual lawsuit after monitors rejected their choice for superintendent.
Board members expressed frustration that the monitors rejected a person without warning, even though the monitors were aware of the candidate’s background and credentials.
Board members said the monitors also failed to thoroughly explain why they rejected the candidate that the diverse board unanimously supported.
The monitors and Commissioner Rosa said proper procedures were followed.
Rosa and the monitors held a public meeting later that week at SUNY Rockland Community College to explain the state’s perspective.
Meanwhile, Rose announced at the June 2 meeting that the school board plans to interview two superintendent finalists next week.
Rose said the board members were hoping to have a superintendent announcement by its next meeting, June 16.
But, Rose said, the monitors declined to give “proper direction” when asked they were “agreeable with the two finalists.”
“This means again for the third time we could select and superintendent candidate and again have the monitors say no,” Rose said. “We don’t know.”
Rose said the board was working hard to fulfill its obligations. “We only wish the state and monitors would partner with us in our efforts.”
O’Hare said the state-appointed monitors had provided “clear, substantive, and ongoing feedback regarding the candidate selection and will continue to do so.”
Amid community tensions, monitors won extra powers
East Ramapo has long been caught in an unusual demographic situation: Rockland County’s biggest and most diverse district serves about 9,500 public school children; another 35,000 children who live within the district’s boundaries attend private schools, mostly yeshivas that serve a growing Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish community.
The nine-member board has a majority of members who are seen as favoring private-school needs.
Community pressure to keep school taxes low had led to years of program cuts that public-school advocates say had degraded education quality.
Public-school children in the district, the majority of whom are English language learners, struggle academically, with low test scores and graduation rates and high rates of chronic absenteeism. Most students are years behind grade level.
Public-school students and parents complain of overcrowded classrooms and short staffing. Building conditions remain poor, parents say, even after tens of millions of dollars of repairs were made possible by an influx of federal aid. Prior to those repairs, the district had turned off water fountains for years rather than remediate the presence of lead.
In 2016, the state Legislature voted to formally place monitors in East Ramapo. In 2021, the Legislature gave East Ramapo’s two-person fiscal and educational monitor team stronger powers.
That includes veto power over certain board decisions and approval of a superintendent hire.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Court rejects East Ramapo board’s lawsuit against its NY monitors
Reporting by Nancy Cutler, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Nancy Cutler, Rockland/Westchester Journal News | USA TODAY Network
