By: Athena Dawson

The Hempstead school district has taken measures to maintain COVID-19 safety guidelines  and provide resources to students during the COVID-19 pandemic. As of 2019, 19.3% of residents live in poverty, causing outside challenges for some students continuing their education online. 

As the district was provided with reopening guidelines in the middle of March, the Board of Education (BOE) hosted virtual Zoom meetings to begin the process of creating a reopening plan for the school district. Hempstead schools are following a hybrid schedule allowing students to come into school certain days while maintaining social distancing. There is the option for students to stay fully remote. All students and teachers are required to wear a mask inside of the building unless they have a medical condition, and if that is the case, they are given a face shield.

 Hempstead’s union President, Nicole Brown, spoke on her experience as a member of the planning committee for reopening schools. Before the beginning of the school year, Ms. Brown and other union members, along with school administrators did a walk through of schools to check windows and other areas of schools for cleanliness. Brown also teaches at Jackson Annex school and described herself “first and foremost an educator.” She expressed concerns for students and teachers who are going to school in person.

“I am worried about their well being and their health because there are so many unknowns about the virus. So I am concerned about what could happen, as we see what happened in other school districts around the country. When schools reopen they have to suddenly close down because of an outbreak of coronavirus so I am praying that it does not happen in Hempstead, but it is a concern that all of us have,” she said.

Ms. Brown also voiced concerns about the cleanliness of Jackson Annex. She brought up the building has many portable classrooms with vents that had not been cleaned in years. She was assured that the cleanliness issue would be addressed. During a Sept. 10 BOE meeting, administrators brought up concerns about ventilation  and air ducts in Alverta B. Gray Schultz (ABGS) middle school. In November the principal of ABGS, Carey Gray, confirmed that the vents and ducts have been cleaned by an outside cleaning company.

Issuing Devices 

An issue that arose during the school year was access to laptops and learning devices for students in the school district that were transitioning to online learning.  Some teachers were concerned that students still do not have access to devices as the semester progresses. Devices have been distributed since April however, many students did not receive devices at the beginning of the school year.  According to the BOE, younger students (Prek- 2nd grade) are to be issued ipads, and third grade students and up are given laptops.  On Sept. 10 during a virtual  BOE meeting, Assistant Superintendent of Technology, Dr. Ahunna Akoma stated that between April and June 1,291 devices had been distributed, and 2,270 students actually needed devices. There were  devices that had not been picked up by students who requested them. There were enough Ipads for all students in Pre-k-2nd grade and distribution days were set to give them out . The 979 devices leftover were scheduled to be given to students grade 3-12 and there was a backorder of 3,000 devices that were to be delivered in September.

 In addition, families that have problems with devices could fill out a form to get help from a technology help desk.

Principal Gray has praised interim Superintendent Regina Armstrong for “leading the management of that and and really kind of advocating and lobbying for our district with the seat and the New York City Education Department for support.”

 On Oct. 27, the Public Relations representative for the school district, Nicole Epstein, stated “To date, the district had received all of its learning devices and would be distributed starting the end of that week.”  

               

  The outside of Hempstead Highschool. Photo credit, Athena Dawson

Since then, some students still did not receive devices. Principal Gray explained in a Nov. 12 interview that ABGS had distributed almost 500 devices to students and were planning on distributing a few hundred more in the coming weeks  Many students are tech savvy and have been connecting to class on their phones and even their gaming consoles to complete their work. For students that do not have access to WiFi the district is working on a plan to get internet access to them.

Access to Free Lunch

Many students in the school district rely on the free lunch program.  During the beginning of the pandemic, ABGS had partnered with Island Harvest food pantry to drop pallets off to the school and surrounding areas in the neighborhood every Friday to give to families in need. Community members were able to go to ABGS and pick up food for themselves and their families. Although that program with the food bank has ended, students, whether hybrid, in person, or fully remote, can come during breakfast and lunch hours to get food for the day. As Gray puts it, “You can’t learn if you’re not eating. The district has ensured that we have opportunities daily for students to get food if they need food.” 

  Gray expressed that, despite the obstacles students may face, they are still coming to school and teachers are continuing to teach despite concerns about COVID-19.  

“One thing that I want people to know, if it’s a misconception at all, is that we have, resilient, committed, and dedicated staff and students and families who kind of banded together, working together, especially now, to ensure that students have a quality, educational experience this year,” he said.

Mental Health Assistance

Mental health services for students is also an issue during the pandemic. Ms. Epstein wote in a statement that the district’s teen center has psychologists and social workers and interns to support students who are going through a crisis. The middle school and highschool have their own teen center that works with families, and to deal with the pandemic, the district brought Healthfirst to provide social emotional learning (S.E.L.) to high school students that need support.

On November 20th, the  superintendent  posted a letter stating the Hempstead school district stopped in person classes out of caution as the pandemic resurges. The district website has directions on the next steps for a remote schedule.