For some teachers at DeWitt Clinton High School, the last day of school means cleaning out desks until the fall semester. For other staffers, they had to clean their desks out permanently.
The Department of Education confirmed to the Norwood News that out of 116 staffers, 74 were let go, including 18 teachers. The DOE classified them as excessed, a term describing a staffer that “no longer has a position at the school.” June 26 was the last day of school, with teachers seen hauling boxes full of paperwork, stationery, and plants.
At the end of the previous academic year, school officials classified Clinton as a low-performing school and subject to restaffing procedures under the DOE’s Renewal School Program.
The program, created in 2014 by Mayor Bill de Blasio, requires personnel at low-performing schools, namely teachers, guidance counselors, social workers, and paraprofessionals, to reapply for their jobs. Final decisions are made by a committee comprised of the principal, union representatives, and education department officials.
“The process was pretty clear throughout,” said Claire Hagan, who has taught at the school for 22 years and was rehired after reapplying. “The union also helped prepare us with workshops about updating résumés and improving interview skills.”
Not all school personnel were interested in returning, however. The DOE identified 49 staffers who did not apply. Hagan noticed that some of her fellow teachers did not reapply. “I had no idea what to expect, but I’m glad that the teachers I love teaching with were rehired,” Hagan said.
For some schools identified as low-performing, the turnover rate can be significant and become disruptive to school administrators. For example, 74 percent of the teaching staff at Brooklyn’s Boys and Girls High School did not return in 2015. And 63 percent left at Automotive High School, also in Brooklyn.
Although there hasn’t been much to celebrate academically at Clinton in recent years, the school does have a long history of producing notable alumni. They include Spider-Man creator Stan Lee, fashion designer Ralph Lauren, former Congressman Charles Rangel, and author James Baldwin.
As recently as 1999, Clinton was named by U.S. News & World Report magazine as one of the top 100 high schools in the nation. By the next decade, however, the school received an overall grade of F as published by the DOE’s Progress Report for 2010-11 and continues to receive low marks. Early this year, a case was opened by the DOE’s Office of Special Investigations into accusations of grade manipulations by administrators at the school.
A representative from the United Federation of Teachers, the union representing public school teachers, did not return a message for comment.
Editor’s Note: The online version of this article has been updated to reflect the number of teachers no longer at the school.
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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.
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As a former teacher at this school before I was excesses in 2016 I can say without a doubt that mismanagement by inept administrators and the DOE were the root cause of DWC’s problems. Most administrators were trying to escape the from dealing with students on a day to t day bssis and lacked anything resembling experience to lead a school with a population of students like Clinton has.
As as teacher who chose not “reapply”, I concur with Mr. Golumba’s comments regarding the demise of DWC. The cynical policies of the DOE and their absurd assessments have led to the “failure” of Clinton. By overloading Clinton with many students who are nowhere near being prepared for high school, with students who have limited English, with students who have special needs, with students with severe behavior problems, and with students who are homeless, the DOE created a terrible situation. Despite all of these daunting challenges, the staff of DWC worked diligently, professionally, and compassionately year after year to try to make Clinton work. Much credit should be given to these teachers and staff members, many of whom did not reapply or were not chosen. The outrage that many teachers, guidance counselors, and para professionals felt at the dismissiveness of the DOE and the working conditions at Clinton led many to seek positions elsewhere, or in the case of most, become ATRs. Many of these are excellent educators and should have been treated with great respect and dignity. It is appalling that they were blamed for the failure of DWC.
Don’t forget the school safety officers that turn a blind eye to these students walking in with durags on their heads n their pants hanging off their butts…flirting with teenage girls…I was considering transferring my child to DWC n all I did was walk in the school and after 20mins I had seen enough I’m a retired correction officer I thought I was at work for those 20mins…I feel sorry for many of u educators the shit will always roll downhill they need to start from the top not the bottom
As as teacher who chose not “reapply”, I concur with Mr. Golumba’s comments regarding the demise of DWC. The cynical policies of the DOE and their absurd assessments have led to the “failure” of Clinton. By overloading Clinton with many students who are nowhere near being prepared for high school, with students who have limited English, with students who have special needs, with students with severe behavior problems, and with students who are homeless, the DOE created a terrible situation. Despite all of these daunting challenges, the staff of DWC worked diligently, professionally, and compassionately year after year to try to make Clinton work. Much credit should be given to these teachers and staff members, many of whom did not reapply or were not chosen. The outrage that many teachers, guidance counselors, and para professionals felt at the dismissiveness of the DOE and the working conditions at Clinton led many to seek positions elsewhere, or in the case of most, become ATRs. Many of these are excellent educators and should have been treated with great respect and dignity. It is appalling that they were blamed for the failure of DWC.