I’ve got a story coming out in tomorrow’s Journal News about three Mamaroneck school staffers that might get fired next year.
One of them is Jennifer Rosenzweig, a high school English teacher that over 465 people on Facebook are supporting.
The other two are former guidance counselors Elizabeth Denhoff and Haruko Hirose. The two were suspended from Hommocks Middle School in 2007 and reassigned to other jobs about a year later. Next year’s proposed school budget doesn’t name them specifically but their positions have not been included.
The two were suspended in 2007 for unspecified instances involving the harassment of co-workers. Denhoff was reassigned to working a desk job inside a district bus garage Hirose was working out of the office of student support services. Both women could not be reached for comment.
District spokeswoman Debbie Manetta confirmed Denhoff was terminated this year as the result of a discliplinary hearing against her. But she declined to comment on Hirose’s employment citing unspecified “legal reasons.” Manetta also declined to explain why she could talk about Denhoff’s employment and not Hirose’s.
Instead, she said a Freedom of Information request to find out if Hirose was still employed with the district despite being able to answer the question with a yes or no answer — something she could do for Denhoff. Freedom of Information requests are filed with the district’s clerk and most officials are off this week for spring break.
The three terminations are a part of the district’s plans to layoff 56 employees, according to it’s proposed budget for next school year.
1 Comment
I have been a teacher at MHS since 1983. Mrs. Rosenzweig’s situation has nothing to do with the budget cuts. She will have to be replaced if the Superintendent does not reverse the principal’s decision. Mrs. Rosenzweig and I have taught many of the same students at the high school. Juniors walk into my room after her class talking excitedly about the works they are studying in her course. She challenges them in a classroom environment that is warm and caring. I have observed Mrs. Rosenzweig’s classes, as have the members of her department, and we are unanimous in our admiration of her professional skills and teaching style. Mrs. Rosenzweig follows in the tradition of the great teachers that have graced the classrooms of MHS over the decades. She deserves tenure, and the children of the community deserve the opportunity to be her students.