Fifteen Shalhevet teachers and teaching assistants will not be back next year.
Shalhevet has hired five replacements. There may be a sixth.
Three teachers at Shalhevet have not been rehired for the new year because their classes are being consolidated. Five assistants are not getting rehired. Seven teachers are not getting rehired due to performance issues.
The Bureau of Jewish Education requires accredited Jewish schools to give notice to their teachers by May 15 about their status for the coming year.
Last year, Rabbi Meir Prengler received a late notice. He brought a lawsuit against the school and eventually settled it for about a month’s salary (another report said $40,000).
Shalhevet did a much better job this year in giving timely notice to its teachers.
There’s a full page ad on page two of this week’s Jewish Journal advertising Shalhevet’s Early Childhood Center which will offer care to kids down to two years of age. This should be a money-maker for the school.
Last year Shalhevet settled a claim by Rabbi Jawari for $80,000. He claimed that he had been fired from Shalhevet by Jerry Friedman (the founder and former head of the school) as retaliation for his telling the school board some negative things about the operation of the school.
There’s still a pending lawsuit against Shalhevet by a former art teacher.
Sculptor Simon Sananas says that over $100,000 worth of his sculptures at Shalhevet were destroyed in addition to the sculptures of many of his students who will not be able to get AP credit for the class.
I’m curious if Shalhevet’s new head of school, Rabbi Elchanan Weinbach, will follow in Jerry Friedman’s footsteps by hiring friends for multi-year contracts (Rabbi Tzabo, Sam Gomberg). It ticked people off that Jerry would spend money like that.
I hear Rabbi Weinbach was called to task a couple of weeks ago by a member of Shalhevet’s school board for making a three-year contract with a rabbi-friend who’s coming in from Montreal, Rabbi Feinerman (who’s highly qualified and would appear to be a responsible hire in any school). Rabbi Weinbach’s wife was going to teach first grade at Shalhevet but will be teaching elsewhere.
“That’s Shalhevet’s loss,” a Shalhevet teacher tells me, “because she’s an excellent teacher.”
Rabbi Elchanan Weinbach is not taking his scheduled pay raise for this year.
Jeff emails: “Is Ed Eiseman one of the poor performance firings? That would be a huge understatement if so. But he was a principal, not teacher. Also, are the two techies that were let go counted in this tally?”
Answer: All included in the count.
Read More