Newburgh School District may fire administrators, put their salaries toward teacher support
Acting Superintendent Lisa Buon plans to fire multiple high-level administrators and put their salaries toward teacher support, sources told News 12, which may include the hiring of teaching assistants.
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Some Newburgh School District administrators just suddenly learned they might soon be out of a job as the acting superintendent plans to divert resources from the main office to classrooms, setting up another potential battle on a divided school board.
Acting Superintendent Lisa Buon plans to fire multiple high-level administrators and put their salaries toward teacher support, sources told News 12, which may include the hiring of teaching assistants.
The move may again set up a fight between the school board's five-member majority and four-member minority.
Newburgh Free Academy graduate Uriel Tapia, who now studies business at SUNY-Orange, said he remembers similar scenarios - just with different characters - which discouraged some students.
"It worries me, because they're children," Tapia said of the current students. "It's kind of scary, how, growing up like that, no one cares anymore."
The school board's two sides and their supporters have also been divided on other key votes: whether to commission a forensic audit after finding budget irregularities, and whether to suspend Superintendent Jackielyn Manning and appoint Buon as acting superintendent. The voting blocks stayed intact, leading to approvals of those items by a 5-4 vote.
SUNY-Orange student Charles Blunt hopes the two sides can move past their differences, honestly examine the district's finances, consider worsening test scores, and settle on a compromise.
"What communities need is to be more united," Blunt said. "Why we can't we all come and meet that goal together, I kind of feel like, 'What's the point in being a high school student if I can't get the help to help me succeed?"
The board will review Buon's planned firings at Tuesday's board meeting.
In a matter of weeks, though, everything could change.
If the minority can flip one seat in their favor in the May 20 election, much of Buon's reconfiguration plan could be reversed.
The board's decision earlier this year to appoint Buon acting superintendent could also be reversed.
Buon declined to comment for this story.
