PMHS senior questions leadership of Superintendent Champ
To the editor:
My name is Nathaniel Bloom and I am entering my senior year of high school at Pelham Memorial High School. Ever since reading Sunny Holcomb’s “Queries why ‘so many’ staff departures since Champ became superintendent” letter to the editor, I have become increasingly aware of Dr. Cheryl Champ’s failures as superintendent. Just last school year at least six administrators who all worked closely alongside our superintendent left the district in what seemed to be a mass exodus. What did they know that we do not?
I have grown frustrated with her extremely confusing and unclear plans for reopening. Many of us are still trying to piece together the plan since there had not been one email this summer that did not leave students and parents scratching their heads or texting their friends confused.
Champ sent out an email on Wednesday at around 7 p.m. officially postponing the start of the hybrid learning model until at least the following Monday. The decision to postpone was made public a mere 13 hours before students and teachers should have been walking in the doors ready to start off a new school year. This lead to panic for working parents who had not made plans for their children to be home and parents of children with special needs who had to explain that they would have to wait a few more days to see their friends and teachers back in person. Champ writes that the delay to start the hybrid model was because of “parties in the woods for the last two evenings,” she writes that without citing any actual evidence that Covid-19 was spread at all. This caused mass hysteria amongst parents in Pelham as well as each of the high school grades. Some furious parents decided to take to Facebook to call out Pelham students calling them “very special and super-bright,” threatening to shoot students with paintball guns, take photos of students and leak them, as well as students personally attacking one another via gradewide group chats.
Since the hybrid delay was only for two days, many students started to speculate that Champ is simply using the teens as a scapegoat for problems that she would rather deflect on others instead of taking head-on. In particular, the requests from teachers to be able to teach from their homes especially if an outbreak were to occur have been totally denied from the district. This was also speculated since Champ’s announcement came just four hours after the Pelham Teachers’ Association announced their Red for Ed protest.
Westchester County released that the Village of Pelham and Pelham Manor had zero active cases of Covid-19 as of Thursday, the lowest numbers have been since mid-March and the lowest numbers will ever get.
Champ’s failure to reopen the schools in a hybrid model and ultimately place blame on teenagers with no science to back her up is absolutely disheartening and certainly makes me rethink her time here in Pelham. Pelham needs a strong superintendent who will do what is best for teachers, students and the community. Champ leaving nearly 3,000 students at home with teachers who were unprepared for a first-day of distance learning is certainly far from that.
Nathaniel Bloom
119 Sixth Avenue
Joyce Carroll • Sep 17, 2020 at 11:01 am
My goodness…such anger towards a young man expressing his opinions. Is this really the message we want to show our teens how we care about them? I hope all your trashing does not reflect on your own children in these difficult times. I was appalled and embarrassed at Moms for saying they would camp out and shoot paint balls at the teens coming to party, another saying, they would bring the wine and have a party themselves…that would really teach our teens something. I understand the frustration for everyone, but don’t you think we could take another approach, maybe a more caring and kinder way of letting them know how hard it is for them too? For the parents of older teens, it’s impossible to know where your teen is at every minute. It’s obvious none of you have older children. As far as the subject of Dr. Champ. I always say, things happen for a reason…maybe Pelham was not ready yet. I was a little surprised to see Pelham opening and not following other surrounding towns and waiting until the end of the month. From what I hear, it’s all a little confusing and not running as smoothly as everyone thought it could be. To Nate Bloom, I commend you for having the courage to voice your opinion. I would like to think we would all want our children to do this. I happen to know this young man and his wonderful family…Nate Bloom will be an asset to this world and so will every other teen in our community if we don’t put blame on everything they do!
April Jenkins • Sep 12, 2020 at 11:31 am
Your initial reaction to Sunny Holcomb’s Letter to the Editor, which implied that the “mass exodus” of administrators leaving the district had something to do with Dr. Champ’s leadership, isn’t quite right. Didn’t at least two of the people who left retire after nearly twenty years? If so, I doubt that Dr. Champ had anything to do with their decision. Therefore, right from the start, that logic is flawed. Might I respectfully suggest that before one jumps to a conclusion and points the finger at others, it’s often best to take a good hard look at what is going on and ask: Am I blaming the right person?
Next, you question Dr. Champ’s choice to postpone the start of the hybrid learning model, but again I ask: Do you really want to blame the person who is put into a position where she is forced to make a last-minute decision about the health and safety of the children under her care when that decision is predicated on the unwise actions of others? Please look at cause and effect. Did Champ cause the potential health risk? Or did those who met clandestinely in the wood do that? Ask yourself: Am I blaming the right person?
Sadly, Mr. Bloom, there was evidence to support Dr. Champ’s decision — last minute though it may have been. Graffiti on the walls foolishly identified some of the culprits (in photos published in THE PELHAM EXAMINER, no less), cans and bottles littered the “woods” as proof that “misbehavior” (translation: illegal underage drinking) took place. And, in an act of unbridled ignorance, some of the students involved took photos and videos of themselves that documented how they ignored socially distancing, and attended the festivities unmasked. Perhaps when those students are identified — and they WILL be identified — their parents can pick up the tab for the additional cost of child-care that was inflicted upon so many members of the community that you complain about.
That said, is it the superintendent’s fault that nearly 100 students (as has been rumored) chose to selfishly endanger themselves and others causing the fall out you complain about? Perhaps there should be blame, and yes there should be consequences, but you are aiming these things in the wrong direction.
So who should bear responsibility for this? First, the students who participated. They know better, or they should. Whether they have learned anything else in school, it should be to consider how one’s actions have consequences that affect others. SHAME ON THEM!
Next, the students who may not have broken the rules, but who stood by and watched their friends act recklessly and said or did nothing. SHAME ON THEM!
Finally, the parents of these students who, in the midst of a pandemic, knowing that their children were within 48 hours of interacting within a building holding at least 500 people on a half-cohort day, never questioned why their children were going out, never questioned what they were doing, never questioned where they were going, never questioned who they were going out with. These would be the same parents who were so very vocal about the absolute NEED to get students back into a real classroom. SHAME ON THEM!
I have no doubt that your frustration and confusion are real. That’s true for many in the community. But it seems pointless to rail against the actions of those who need to make hard decisions, often at the eleventh hour, when those decisions are based on actions beyond their control. Instead, might we please … PLEASE … take some responsibility for the consequences we mete out on others when we choose to make irresponsible choices?
Van Snyder • Sep 12, 2020 at 10:14 am
Did this kid miss the word IRONY n his vocabulary lessons? He criticizes Champ for acting with no evidence. Then speculates on her motives while providing no evidence himself.
Every school district in the country had to deal with uncertainty over the entire summer. That’s our reality in 2020.
The party forced her hand. If there was a breakout and this party was known, there would have been myriad lawsuits. With this kids family at the front of the plaintiff line, no doubt.
Francesca Di Cristofano • Sep 11, 2020 at 11:40 pm
This sort of mentality is exactly what could make the second wave of COVID-19 much worse than the first. Although there may be 0 REPORTED coronavirus cases, that certainly doesn’t mean there are no infected people in Pelham. Between symptoms taking up to 14 days to develop, asymptomatic patients, and false negatives, there is really no telling whether it is safe for any sort of gatherings to occur. What is certain, though, is that 100+ person gatherings with no face masks or distancing should not be held under any circumstances until there is a vaccine or treatment. I recently got tested for COVID-19 and received my test results within 2 days. Dr. Champ’s postponement should have given every student the opportunity to get tested, had they been honest. It’s also important to note that she asked everyone who attended to quarantine for 14 days (again, assuming honesty). As someone already noted, this is a clear attempt to shift the blame. I understand the appeal of maintaining high school traditions, especially in these stressful times when it feels like everything is being taken away from you, and I do not think parents should be threatening students. But you need to be honest with yourselves: this was irresponsible. Period. Between causing parents to “get stressed” or ignoring the event, potentially sparking another outbreak in this town, I think the choice is crystal clear. There may be lives on the line. I (and many others) commend Dr. Champ for her decision.
Toby Marxuach-Gusciora • Sep 11, 2020 at 11:16 pm
Well written article. My sons are 36 and 37 and graduated a long time ago. I found the article made me question what is going on.I know some teachers applied to teach at home with medical reasons and were turned down.I felt that is definitely wrong. I am a semi retired teacher from NYC.
Nia Paltrow • Sep 11, 2020 at 7:28 pm
Sounds like a guilty conscience trying to deflect blame. Yawn.