Members of Community District Education Council 22 (CEC 22) held their first meeting of the 2023-2024 school year at the District Office, located at 5619 Flatlands Avenue, on Tuesday, September 5th, which was also livestreamed to the public via Zoom.
At the meeting, members addressed a number of unprecedented issues facing students at the start of this school year. The group discussed the possibility of a school bus driver strike, which had the potential to completely upend transportation for many of the most vulnerable of students. They explored possible contingency plans that included MetroCards, prepaid cards and rideshare reimbursements, among others, but as Superintendent Julia Bove predicted, or rather hoped, the immediate threat of such a strike has passed as the Department of Education has entered into negotiations with ATU 1181, the union that represents drivers.
The group also discussed the potential impact the new wave of immigration might have upon already strained class sizes amid citywide teacher shortages and an increasing need for bilingual educators. The full financial and academic impact, of course, still remains to be seen and will likely not be evident for some time to come.
During her remarks, Superintendent Bove encouraged caregivers to complete the Family Income Inquiry Form as soon as possible to ensure that their children’s schools do not miss out on essential funding. In light of Attendance Awareness Month, the superintendent reminded families how important it is to make sure kids attend school every day, with the exception of illness, and that just 18 absences (10% of the school year) constitutes chronic absenteeism and is associated with low academic performance.
Bove was also happy to report that the District did exceptionally well on the most recent parent satisfaction survey, which had an outstanding rate of return and indicated a whopping 94-95% of overall satisfaction.
The next meeting of CEC 22 will be held on Tuesday, October 3rd at 6:30 p.m.
