Supporters of Syracuse City School District Superintendent Sharon Contreras made their voices heard at a Board of Education meeting on Wednesday night. Most in the crowd want Contreras’ contract extended.
One of the most controversial issues facing the school board seemed to be solved earlier this week. Centro and the school district reached a deal that would allow students living within 1.5 miles of a school to now take the bus. The cut off limit before that was two miles. But students in the audience said that is still not good enough. They described walking in the freezing cold along un-shoveled sidewalks in bad neighborhoods. One pregnant mother cried as she explained having to walk past drug dealers making early morning sales as she walked her children to school.
Despite the bus issues, the overwhelming majority of people in the audience are in favor of the job Contreras has been doing.
Sharon Owens, the mother of a 10th grader at Nottingham High School, said she supports Contreras because of all the behavioral and special education support her son received from the district over the years.
“It took the superintendent all those years to make sure that the staff did what they needed to do for my son," Owens said. "Board of Education, do what you need to do and vote to continue this contract so we can keep on to be about the business of children like my son.”
Supporters want the board to extend Contreras’ contract which ends in June 2016. Contreras has to make a request for an extension, which she has not done yet, before the board can vote on it.