Newburgh student leaders tell divided school board to behave like adults, request transparency
Newburgh Free Academy's Student Council president said board members are putting more time and energy into personal disputes with one another than serious challenges facing students.
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Newburgh Free Academy's Student Council president is calling out a sharply divided school board, imploring its warring five-member majority and four-member minority to behave like adults.
She and other students say board members are putting more time and energy into personal disputes with one another than the serious challenges facing students.
The group challenged the board face-to-face Wednesday during another marathon school board meeting.
Among those who testified before the board was Newburgh Free Academy Student Council President Alexandria Crawford, who has been seeking more information about the district's finances, the cancellation of the football season and the suspension of some coaches.
In her testimony, Crawford hinted that personal disputes are distracting the board from serious issues affecting students and staff.
"We don't know what the issue is. We just want it to be addressed and ended, so we can enjoy the rest of our senior year in peace and with confidence knowing we're going to get out of here and be successful."
The five-member block has supported the suspension and investigation of Superintendent Jackielyn Manning-Campbell, and a forensic audit of the district's finances.
The other four have adamantly opposed those two decisions.
The exact reason for Manning-Campbell's suspension is unclear.
Her suspension came just after the board learned of a surprise surplus late last year, though a deficit was predicted in the 2024-2025 budget.
Since the 5-4 votes approving Manning-Campbell's suspension and the forensic audit, other unrelated votes and even votes simply on whether the board should enter executive session have ended up 5-4.
Crawford said the obvious passive aggression between the two camps is indirectly hurting education and directly hurting the school district's image.
"It doesn't give our district a good look," Crawford said, "and sometimes on social media we have to defend ourselves in the comments because they say, 'This district is stupid,' 'This district is unsafe,' 'I would never send my kid here.'"
Several taxpayers who are familiar with the division on the board told News 12 Wednesday they are fully behind the students and hope they follow up.
"I hope it shows the students that they can continue to win more and more as they do more of this," city resident Dino Nguyen said, "and bring more and more people together."
"They should get a coalition of children together and their voices will be heard better than just one person speaking out," John Lenge said. "The board should listen to them."
School board president Christine Bello declined comment Wednesday, but said the board will reach out to the NFA student council to discuss concerns brought up Tuesday night by Crawford and other students.
