Dear Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter; Executive Superintendent Erika Tobia, Superintendent Harry Sherman and Bronx BCO Executive Director Nancy Saffer,

We were recently informed that our school has not been selected for the High Needs Social Worker Allocations grant. For several months now, our staff, teachers and parents have highly advocated on behalf of our need for more social workers. This past year has been extremely difficult for our students, many of whom have lost immediate family members due to COVID-19 or COVID related illnesses. From coping with the loss of family and community during the pandemic to some students testing positive for COVID-19 themselves, our students have had to endure many emotional challenges that they will still need to overcome in the upcoming school year and beyond. While in the past we had two guidance counselors, we have been unable to backfill one of the positions due to hiring restrictions. As a result, we have only had one guidance counselor on staff for the past three years, which hasn't been enough to sufficiently meet the needs of our students. Additionally, in previous occasions, when it has come to funding for our school and district, we have been the last district to receive funding for family workers to support students in temporary housing even though we have the largest number of students in temporary housing in the city.  As a result, much of this work has fallen on the shoulders of our teachers, who try to not only teach our students and help them make the necessary academic growth, but also fulfill the role of a counselor and social worker. 

Highbridge, specifically, has been tremendously impacted by COVID-19. In this past year the Highbridge and Concourse area have had 11,069 (per 100,000) case rate which is higher than the Bronx’s case rate of 10,705 and higher than New York City’s case rate of 9,436. Additionally, there have been 250 recorded deaths which represents one out of every 300 people in this neighborhood dying of COVID-19. This has resulted in unprecedented levels of emotional stress, grief and uncertainty for our students. 

As we transition into this upcoming school year, there will be many changes for our students. We will be transitioning back to fully in person learning and 390 students are returning to our building, many of whom we have not seen in person for over a year. As you can imagine this will be alot for our students and teachers. We ask that you please consider our concerns to bring a social worker into our building and help us address the inequities that we have seen in our district.

Sincerely, 

The Highbridge Community