In an effort to avoid potential conflicts of interest, the Great Neck School Board is considering a ban on the private tutoring of students by teachers from their school buildings – a measure which drew impassioned debate at Monday night’s board meeting.
The board introduced the policy, which would strengthen a current prohibition on teachers tutoring students from their classes, for its second reading. It will be subject to discussion at one more public meeting prior to any board decision.
Among the policy’s supporters was Bernard Kaplan, the principal of Great Neck North High School, who argued that private payments between families and educators can distort the student-teacher relationship.
“To have the ability of some parents to pay extra money to have extra access is frightening to me,” Kaplan said. “Every child should have the right [to extra help], not just the privileged… this district has been too slow to enact this policy.”
Many parents, however, disagreed. Keith Rabinowitz said tutoring by teachers had been instrumental in helping his child succeed in school.
“This would be a detriment to our students,” he said, adding that students may need an in-school “advocate” for their academic issues.
Other parents echoed similar sentiments. One mother said the benefits of tutoring to her daughter outweighed concerns over inequity in the tutoring system, and a Lakeville School parent said a same-school tutor “made a significant difference” for her son.
Teachers weighed in as well, expressing divided opinions on the merits of the policy change.
North Middle School teacher Sheila Scimone, speaking on behalf of the Great Neck Teacher’s Association, said the Association could not take a stance on the policy due to a lack of consensus among district educators.
Teachers who opposed the change, she said, viewed same-school tutoring as beneficial for their relationships with students.
“Teachers who tutor consider themselves part of the student’s support team,” Scimone said.
Other teachers, however, supported the ban as a way of shielding teachers from the perception of bias and making education more equitable.
“Some people feel that the ability to have a tutor gives a leg up to the advantaged over the disadvantaged,” she said.
Also expressing their opinions were the 19 student delegates who attended the meeting. Representatives from all the districts high schools and middle schools introduced themselves at the start of the meeting, describing personal ambitions ranging from pediatric anesthesiology to filmmaking.
Several student delegates expressed concern that outside tutors would use different teaching methods.
North Middle School sixth grader Neda Khayyam said that same-building tutors’ familiarity with the curriculum is useful to students.
“[Students] want a tutor who knows what they’re doing and can explain it the same way their teacher explains it,” she said.
Other students, including North Middle sixth grader Joshua Wigler, argued that preventing favoritism was an important goal.
Speakers offered alternative suggestions for addressing potential conflicts of interest, including maintaining a tutor registry and prohibiting teachers from tutoring younger students who could one day end up in their classes.
Great Neck Superintendent of Schools Thomas Dolan thanked the meeting’s attendees for the civil tenor of the discussion, and told speakers that the board would carefully consider all input.
Dolan also announced his recommendations for the staff of this year’s production of the Wizard of Oz at North Middle School – an issue which drew major outcry at September’s board meeting, when parents questioned the qualifications the previous year’s theater staff.
Dolan recommended the last year’s directors, North Middle School teachers Rebecca Masella and Joe O’Connor, to reprise their positions for the upcoming production.
He also announced the hiring of new professional staff to assist the theater department.
Arielle Cooperman, a director and vocal instructor with a masters degree in musical education from Hofstra University, was appointed the show’s musical director. Jessica Zivny, who has a master’s degree in educational theater from the City University of New York, will be the production’s choreographer, makeup coordinator and costume director.
