Rally for suspended Hempstead schools chief rolls into board meeting
Supporter of suspended Hempstead schools Superintendent Regina Armstrong urged board trustees Wednesday night to reinstate her. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
Supporters of Hempstead's ousted school superintendent, Regina Armstrong, are vowing to redouble their efforts to return her to office following a series of protests on her behalf.
The Rev. Roger C. Williams, who represents a group of Baptist ministers pressing for Armstrong's reinstatement, told Newsday Thursday that he and his associates will be meeting with the suspended superintendent within a week to plan their next move. Williams also had a word of advice for Hempstead school board members searching for a permanent replacement in the district's leadership.
"The next step should be very clear: Call Miss Armstrong and ask her to return to her job," Williams said.
Supporters of Armstrong, who had served as superintendent since 2018, say her suspension earlier this month was not justified. On Wednesday afternoon, dozens of residents, clergy and others gathered in front of the district's middle school, demanding that she be brought back. Demonstrations continued into the evening at board meetings held in the same building.
"We want her [Armstrong] to return to her position immediately, and maybe some of those board members need to be dismissed themselves," said one clergyman, Phillip McDowell, moderator of the Eastern Baptist Association of New York, an organization that includes two churches in Hempstead.
Board president Victor Pratt, who had led the move for Armstrong's departure, declined at a board meeting Wednesday to discuss details of the job action, saying it was a personnel matter.
"Now, despite the change in leadership, maintaining a focus on students remains a top priority for the Hempstead school board," Pratt said.
On Sept. 5, a majority of Hempstead school board trustees voted to place Armstrong on administrative leave with pay, pending a review of her conduct as schools chief. The vote was 4-1, with trustee LaMont Johnson the only dissenter.
At Wednesday's meeting, Johnson read a statement calling for Armstrong's return to work and praising her role in helping to boost high school graduation rates in a district formerly plagued by dropouts.
"I don't think we should abandon the person who was captain of the ship when the water was rough," he said.
Pratt told reporters shortly after Armstrong's suspension that the action was taken due to policy disagreements between the board majority and superintendent. As an example, Pratt cited an incident when the Hempstead district allegedly allowed its high school building to be used for a regional administration of the SAT college-admissions exam without board approval.
Pratt emphasized the policy disputes he cited did not include any acts of criminal wrongdoing by Armstrong.
"This is not the result of anything criminal or scandalous," he told Newsday earlier this week.
Phone messages left for Armstrong on Wednesday and Thursday seeking her response to Pratt's remarks were not returned.
At the Wednesday board meeting, Pratt ruled audience members would not be allowed to discuss the suspension, drawing protests from some who had hoped to speak. Pratt referred to privacy rules surrounding personnel issues to justify his ruling.
A former superintendent, Susan Johnson, has been appointed to serve again in that position on an interim basis through Oct. 9. Johnson is to be paid $800 per day under an arrangement approved by the board's four-member majority.
Under a parallel agreement, Armstrong will continue to be paid full salary and benefits through the end of the school year in June. Her contract provides an annual salary of $310,000, with an additional $29,047 in benefits and other compensation, according to state records.
A district spokesperson, Sylvia King-Cohen, on Thursday confirmed earlier statements that Johnson's contract could be extended for another 30 days if board members are not able to find a permanent replacement.
Until her suspension, Armstrong had spent her entire career of more than 30 years in the Hempstead district, which currently enrolls 5,492 students. Another 3,351 students living in Hempstead attend public charter schools, which are independently run, according to district records.
In 2023, Armstrong saw the district's high school restored to good academic standing after languishing for decades on the state's needs-improvement list.
Despite improvements, Hempstead remains one of only two districts on Long Island that have been assigned state-appointed monitors to help with improvement efforts.
John Hildebrand is Newsday's senior education writer and has covered school news and policy issues affecting Long Island for more than 40 years.
