Crisis at Hannah Caldwell and October Overview

Hannah Caldwell abruptly closes; test scores are in; realignment committees get to work; Board of Ed seeks applicants; why we need to care about East Orange's budget calamity ...

It’s been a wild month for the Township of Union School District and the Board of Education. In this newsletters, we’ll briefly outline the highlights and then do a deep dive into the crisis at Hannah Caldwell Elementary School. We’ll follow up throughout the next several weeks with in-depth views on the remaining topics and keep you informed about new developments.

In Short

• Crisis at Hannah Caldwell Elementary School (HCES): Following years of community concern about air quality and heat exposure at HCES, Superintendent Dr. Gerry Benaquista sent HCES parents, faculty, and staff an email at 7pm on Thursday evening indicating that, following concerning air quality tests performed after the start of the school year, the school would be closed, effective immediately, for at least two weeks for invasive testing, and likely longer for remediation. Students are expected to begin remote learning some time this week. There are no plans for in-person learning during the closure. See more below!

• Test scores are in: Reading proficiency scores remain at or below 50% and math proficiency scores remain at or below 38% across tested grade levels. See all the data here. 90 percent of 8th grade students and 78 percent of Geometry students FAILED the math proficiency exam.

  • The District announced a Parent Engagement Committee and ULearn, an interactive workshop series focused on curriculum.

• Upcoming election: Don’t forget to vote on November 5! Sol Atencio is an independent candidate for Board of Education whose campaign and platform are free from large political party interference. She’s a parent and an advocate in this district who has worked to improve access to Special Services and ensure that all students’ needs are met.

• Realignment Committees get to work: Committee leads shared plans to convert all elementary schools plus Kawameeh Middle School and Jefferson Elementary School into PK-6 schools. Burnett Middle School will serve as a 7-8 OR 7-9 school and Union High School will serve as a 9-12 OR 10-12 school. Despite multiple requests to open meetings to remote attendance, few have done so and some of those that have announced they will not continue with accessible attendance options. Links to join the Committees have unfortunately been closed and notes from meetings are not being made public. We will keep you up to date on Committee actions as best as possible!

• The Board of Education seeks applicants: Following Board Member Mary Lynn William’s abrupt resignation in September, the BOE to fill her position. Vacant board positions are filled via selection by the Board. Please consider applying! There is so much work to do to ensure the BOE and District remained focused on students in their decision-making.

  • We are Monitoring: Then BOE President and now Assistant Superintendent Marissa McKenzie, after voting to reduce the wait period between serving on the Board and holding a paid position in the District, similarly abruptly resigned her position without explanation last Spring. She subsequently accepted a highly paid position in the District. More on the implications of this action below in subsequent newsletters. We will be watching Board agendas for signs that Mary Lynn Williams is being offered a paid position in the District.

• Why East Orange matters to us: News broke this month of a massive budget shortfall and widespread layoffs in the East Orange School District following rampant budgetary mismanagement under the leadership of then East Orange School District Business Administrator and Township of Union BOE President Marissa McKenzie. The Township of Union District hired McKenzie to serve as the Assistant Superintendent of Business Operations, a position created for her candidacy, after her abrupt Board resignation this Spring.

Crisis at Hannah Caldwell Exposes Failure of District Leadership

The abrupt closure of Hannah Caldwell Elementary School (HCES) follows years of physical plant and leadership concerns at the school.

HCES serves over 700 pre-k through 4th grade students and houses approximately 100 faculty. Following realignment, it is set to serve pk-6th graders. HCES is home to the largest population of pre-k students in the district, comprising 8 pre-k 4 classrooms. The school has had 5 different Principals since 2020 - DiGiovanni, McLean, Rettino, Hoyt, Shaw. No principal has seen a full year of work and the students, faculty, and school community have struggled.

Among other concerns throughout this time, parents and faculty have complained about the building’s poor safety and suitability for learning. For example, in June, Dr. Benaquista was informed of a child suffering a heat-induced seizure after exposure to an un-airconditioned classroom on a blisteringly hot day. Additionally, faculty and parents claim to have complained about the impacts of poor indoor air quality, mold, and moisture over the course of many years.

On Tuesday morning, 10/9, parents and faculty noted a large white sheet at the end of the pre-k hallway. The community learned only then that water and backed-up sewage was seeping into or out of a closet and along the wall of the library. As a result, students and faculty in this part of the school were cut off from the rest of the school in a small hallway with possible mold. Impacted students included our community’s most vulnerable students with IEP's, many of whom are non-verbal.

On Wednesday, 10/10, Principal Shaw sent a an email with a Zoom meeting invite to a select group of families for Thursday 10/11. A handful of parents were able to attend, during which Mr. Shaw communicated the situation, a proposed solution for relocating the impacted classrooms, and a six-week timeline for remediation.

Then, on Monday, 10/14 around 6pm, Dr. Benaquista sent an email to the HCES families. The email, shown below, communicates a solution that was not discussed with parents during Mr. Shaw’s call. Children were hastily relocated to the gymnasium, a space that was wholly underprepared for their learning. The heat wasn't properly functioning over the preceding three-day weekend and the temperature was approximately 58 degrees when students began their learning there on Tuesday. Teachers were wearing jackets inside and students attempted to learn while trying to stay warm as the building staff worked to fix the heating issue. One parent reports contacting Benaquista, Shaw, Kim Conti, Joseph Seugling, any and all listed on the township website, and receiving a response only from Mr. Shaw. Parents brought their concerns to the Board of Ed meeting on that evening.

On Thursday evening, 10/24, at 7pm, faculty, staff and parents received an email, shown below, from Dr. Benaquista, communicating that effective immediately, the school would be closed for at least two weeks for invasive testing following troubling initial results by a firm brought in to study the situation. The Superintendent initially presented no options for in-person learning. Finally, three days following the closure email, Dr. Benaquista circulated an additional email with a plan to relocate students to gyms, libraries, and classrooms throughout the District’s remaining schools beginning Wednesday, October 30. The email states that while the relocation is temporary, the District does not know the timeline. No details have been provided about before or after care, or how the absorbing schools will modify their schedules to accomodate the extra students. While Dr. Benaquista promises to hold HCES parent meetings, the email does not provide a date or time for those meetings. It does, however, cryptically and frankly insultingly urge parents not to be swayed by rumors or speculation.

The enormous financial cost, stress, and disruption to HCES families and children, faculty across the District, and District taxpayers was wholly avoidable. Had the concerns of the school community been addressed and had infrastructure funds been spent wisely and in a timely manner, invasive testing and remediation could have been completed during the summer months or may not have been necessary at all.