The following article is an extended version of the story that appears in our latest print edition.

 

Shanti Sledge was 24 when he took the courageous step to return to education after a seven-year absence, attempting, once more, to obtain his high school diploma, having dropped out of public school in his mid-teens. “I feel like the first time around, I wasn’t as motivated or felt like I really paid attention,” he said. “I was just all over the place. I had dropped out of high school and I went to Job Corps to pursue my trade, my career. I kind of went through my struggles in Job Corps, so I didn’t finish.”

 

Job Corps is a voluntary program administered by the U.S. Department of Labor that offers free education and vocational training to young men and women aged 16 to 24.

 

Sledge is one of 21 students who, last year, signed up to complete the High School Equivalency (HSE) program, a free program offered by the nonprofit, Mosholu Montefiore Community Center (MMCC), in Norwood. “I finally got into this program and I was just more serious with my life, and the things they offered, and the way they had the family groups and stuff, it helped me a lot in the sense that, if I felt like I was alone, they tried to help me where I didn’t feel like that so much,” he said.

 

Sledge’s story is emblematic of a host of former Bronx public school students, for whom traditional public school education has proven to be what one MMCC employee described as “absolute mayhem and chaos.” In order for students like Sledge to return to study at centers like MMCC and schedule a HSE test date, their historical Individualized Education Plans or IEP records need to be received by MMCC officials.

 

However, trying to obtain these essential records from the students’ former public schools has proven to be an extremely arduous, if not impossible, task for MMCC staff. Often times, they are dealing with “alternative schools.”

 

According to newyorkschools.com, alternative schools were created because poorer school districts didn’t have enough special education funding. The NYC Alternative High School District is designed, in theory, to help students who, without having these school services available, would more than likely not earn a diploma.

 

The schools’ success is contingent upon district officials creating successful partnerships, and the relationships they foster in producing tangible results. Drop-out prevention, counseling, as well as school-to-life initiatives are some of the recent measurable outcomes, and the schools aim, in theory, to make the transition from high school to college or a work environment possible.

However, MMCC officials describe an ongoing battle with the City’s Department of Education (DOE) where attempts to obtain the required paperwork from such alternative schools fail, and MMCC’s escalation to the DOE appears to fall on deaf ears, reportedly ending up in a bureaucratic black hole.

 

On Feb. 26, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that a new NYC schools chancellor would be taking over, effective March 15. Meisha Porter, will replace outgoing chancellor, Richard A. Carranza, alongside whom Porter has worked in the past. MMCC officials hope that the change at the helm may help bring an end to the bureaucratic nightmare that has required them to redirect so much of their time and energy away from the very students they are there to support.

 

Sophia Antonelli is an academic supervisor at MMCC and described the center’s experience of dealing with DOE. “We have gone up the ladder of school officials in one case, and we have reached the chancellor at four attempts and have not gotten a response in order to get proper IEP records for one of our participants,” she said. “In many cases, these are the things that are holding back their test dates. It’s this record-keeping that schools are giving us runarounds about, not giving answers, blatantly ignoring correspondence, pass-offs.”

 

Antonelli said even as MMCC start with a new cohort of 2021 students, they are still dealing with DOE issues from last December. “This is really a shame because these are supposed to be our supporters,” she said. “We kind of work simultaneously because we’re taking students that have been through this [public school/alternative] system, and we’re relying on them [DOE] to give the students what they need.”

 

She continued, “It’s not even about us. It’s about the student. As a City system that serves students, DYCD (Department of Youth & Community Development) and the DOE, you would think that we would have a stronger partnership.” She added, “The DOE has not serviced our  students while they were in their schools, I guess. That’s why a lot of them are here, and here we are at the same round robin game.”

 

Norwood News asked Antonelli if she believed it was simply a question of the DOE being perhaps under-resourced due to the additional pressures and obligations brought on by the pandemic, or if it’s a case of internal DOE mismanagement.

 

In response, she said former “participants” of the impacted schools have spoken about them not being run properly. “Another common theme I’m getting with [student] transcripts – if I do get them – Regents’ scores are not recorded, and that’s an issue,” she said.

 

Regents’ exams measure student achievement in high school-level courses in five areas: English language arts, a math, a science, social studies, and any additional Regents’ exam or another option approved by the State. “If I call the school, I’ve been told, ‘Well, they didn’t sit for the Regents’,” Antonelli said, adding that she then asks if there is not coding available to designate when a student has not sat the Regents. She said she’s been told that there is, but it is not always provided on the transcripts she receives.

 

“So, coding on report cards is amiss,” she said. “IEPs are being withheld for, I think, probably legal reasons at this point, or a personal vendetta against students, and their schools are being run like mayhem. There is no order. There’s no curriculum. There’s no teaching.”

 

For Antonelli, the problems are not just ad hoc. Society depends upon the success of such [second chance] programs. “Who are we to say you cannot get what you need because of other barriers?” she said. “It’s just one life here, one life there. When we combine all those lives together, we have a whole society. So, we’re speaking small picture, but if we think big, this is impacting not only us, but generations to come.”

 

Quanasia Sullins is the coordinator of workforce development at MMCC and said the issues with the DOE have been ongoing, even before COVID hit. “It is very much hard to meet and speak with the DOE officials sometimes. That’s been our biggest battle,” she said. “I wish I could say it was [the] pandemic. It’s not just the pandemic that we’re talking about.”

 

She added, “A lot of school officials have been very combative during this time with programs like us as we’re trying to advocate for these youth to get their high school diploma. I want to emphasize how combative they’ve been in handing off transcripts.”

 

Quanasia added that as of the beginning of March, MMCC has been in touch with the mayor’s office and said an employee is “trying to find a good representative at the DOE,” to help with the inquiry. We asked if MMCC had been in touch with any local elected officials to assist with the case, and she said that Antonelli has recently been in touch with Assemblyman José Rivera’s office and hasn’t received a reply to date. Rivera’s Assembly District 78 is close by, and covers Belmont, Little Italy, parts of Kingsbridge Heights, Fordham Manor, Fordham Heights, Bedford Park, and Jerome Park but does not encompass Norwood.

 

A special election will be held on March 23 to replace former local City Councilman Andrew Cohen who joined the Bronx Supreme Court as a judge at the beginning of the year. “Our students’ requests are still not fulfilled,” Sullins said. “It is our hope right now that a change at the helm of the DOE will prompt a greater dedication and actual fulfillment to the DOE mission of “equity and excellence for all.”

Norwood News reached out to the DOE for comment on what MMCC told us and while our request was acknowledged, we did not receive any further feedback to date. We also reached out to two of the schools mentioned by MMCC as being among the worst offenders, and did not receive an immediate response.

 

In announcing the appointment of the future schools chancellor on Feb. 26, the mayor said, “Meisha Porter is a homegrown New Yorker, who knows what it takes to give every kid the high-quality, public-school education they deserve.” According to the administration, Porter started her career as a youth organizer in the Highbridge section of the Bronx and joined the DOE as a teacher at the Bronx School of Law, Government and Justice, a school she helped conceive, and found.

 

She later spent three years as superintendent of School District 11, serving the Pelham Parkway, Eastchester, and Woodlawn sections of the Bronx. Her latest position was as Bronx executive superintendent, leading Community School Districts 7 to 12, and New Visions Affinity schools, covering the entire borough’s 361 schools and 235,448 students.

 

In June 2019, The New York Post reported that Porter attended what was described in the story as a lavish party, organized by subordinates at an apparent cost of $111 per head with 400 guests, including employees under her control. It was reported that some employees allegedly felt pressured to attend and that DOE’s Office of Ethics and Conflicts of Interest later received a complaint that the event may have violated the Chancellor’s regulations.

 

It was also reported that DOE officials defended the event, which allegedly cost around $45,000. When contacted as to the cost, Porter reportedly declined to comment, but when she was asked if she received a cash gift at the party, she reportedly told The New York Post, “I never received a gift.” The publication reported that DOE spokesman, Doug Cohen, allegedly said Porter did get a $500 gift card but called the ethics officer for advice and returned it.

 

Norwood News reached out to the DoE for comment on the story and asked if the responses provided at the time by the DOE and by Porter were accurate. A DOE representative said, “It is not accurate – it was a party to celebrate the Bronx, and their collective accomplishments. Nobody was forced to attend.”

 

The representative did not immediately answer the question as to whether the previous comments provided by the DOE and Porter were accurate or not. We have reached out, once again, for clarification and will update this story upon receipt of any further response from the DOE.

 

In a December 2019 article, the same publication reported on alleged attempts to quash the investigation of the event by administration officials. Norwood News has asked the DOE for a copy of the original complaint, as well as a copy of any response to it, and will update this story upon receipt of any feedback.

 

Meanwhile, City & State reported on March 1, 2021 that since becoming executive superintendent in the Bronx in 2018, Porter has overseen the greatest improvements in graduation rates of any borough over that time period, according to the City. Rates reportedly jumped up by 5.7 percentage points since 2018 – up to a 73 percent graduation rate – outpacing the citywide increase of 2.8 percentage points.

 

Back at MMCC, Sullins spoke passionately about the center’s objectives. “Our program [HSE] is an alternative, adult literacy workforce program, geared towards assisting Bronx residents with getting their high school diploma, and / or some type of certification to successfully enter the workforce,” she said.

 

“The funding came because, historically, the Bronx has the lowest literacy reading scores out of all five boroughs and that reading score, I kid you not, between the ages of 18 and 21, for Bronx residents, is reported at second grade reading level.”

 

Sullins said the program was born out of the need to combat this statistic, but also in recognition that some students just don’t do well in a typical educational structure. She said aside from the pandemic and the issues relating to remote learning, a lot of the students weren’t able to finish their high school diploma, “due to teachers, family issues, community issues, sometimes substance abuse, a lot of times behavioral issues that the typical educational structure is not meant to deal with.”

“The system has already failed these students. Our program services between the ages of 16 to 21 [with some exceptions]. To get their high school equivalency, we provide online and in person classes. It is a 20-week expedited program that will allow applicants to get their high school diploma in a timely manner, if they’re qualified for it,” she said.

 

Another free program offered by MMCC is the Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) for the 21 to 24 age-group who usually already have their high school diploma. “We found with the current workforce trends, transportation, especially during the time of COVID, has increased consistently,” she said, adding that that trend is reportedly set to continue.

 

Sullins said to get a CDL, 20 to 30 driving lessons are required, in addition to the necessary permit and license paperwork, all of which comes to a total of $8,600. She said even after students take the minimum number of lessons to sit their test, they are encouraged to take more, since the more they practice, the greater the overall safety of the general public on the roads.

 

When it comes to unemployment, even when rates fluctuate, one issue remains constant for Bronx residents, according to Sullins. “They don’t have the resources to get certifications to enter the workforce, or they’re not able to find places that will truly help them get their certification and enter the workforce permanently,” she said. “It goes back to why we received our funding, because not only does the Bronx have low reading scores, but we have a low employment level out of all five boroughs.”

 

MMCC aims to improve overall family employment, family wealth and family education in the Bronx. “It takes a community to build a community,” Sullins said. “Our ultimate goal here is to make sure that the students leave with more than which they came with.” She added that this may be a high school diploma with some customer service certifications or, for those with the diploma but minimum or no work experience, it could mean obtaining a commercial license and permanent employment.

 

MMCC also offers an advantage to cash-strapped students, which differentiates it from other centers. “These students are paid,” said Sullins. “For high school equivalency, those students are able to make anywhere between $150/week or $317/week.”

 

She continued, “We understand that our youth need money, but we also understand they need their education so, we have met them halfway. We are willing to pay these young people to invest in themselves.”

 

Meanwhile, eligible CDL students get paid anywhere between $200 and $350 per week provided they actually get the CDL and successfully enter the workforce. “These are certain incentives that we have,” Sullins said. “We will always try to meet our students because we get it. You’re living life during a pandemic which this generation and my generation, no other generation knows about.”

 

Meanwhile, Sledge awaits the necessary paperwork in order for his HSE test date to be scheduled, so that he can move forward into his preferred field of engineering. Asked if he would recommend the MMCC program to others, he said he would, adding that the daily contact with tutors was one of the things that stood out and the support provided by “Mr Sanders, Ms Sophia, Ms Cynthia, Mr Eddie, and Ms Q.”

 

“They helped me build my courage back up and made me realize that everything isn’t basically handed out to you, and sometimes you got to take some time to figure out what you want to do with yourself in life,” he said. “What I would say [to potential applicants] is – don’t give up on yourself. Even if you feel like you’re too old – just get back up and do it.”

 

For more information on the HSE or CDL programs, call Marlon Seymour on (973) 556-7843 or email advanceandearnintake@gmail.com.