East Ramapo: Former Rochester state monitor tapped as new academic monitor

Shelley Jallow, most recently the Rochester school district's state-appointed monitor, will fill the academic monitor position in East Ramapo starting July 1.

Jallow takes over for Mary Fox-Alter, who is leaving to become interim superintendent for the Ossining school district. Fox-Alter had been superintendent for the Pleasantville schools for more than a decade before retiring from that post in 2021. Fox-Alter was named East Ramapo academic monitor in 2022.

New York State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa, in announcing Jallow's appointment to East Ramapo, said she had a good working relationship with Bruce Singer, East Ramapo's fiscal monitor.

According to an SED spokesperson, Rosa has directed the East Ramapo school board to enter into an agreement with Jallow at its next board meeting, which is slated for July 6. Jallow's agreement would go from July 1 to June 30, 2025.

The switch comes amid growing fiscal, academic and infrastructure pressures on the district. The recent budget plan passed this June on a re-vote after the plan's tax-levy increase was dropped to zero.

District divided

East Ramapo first had a state-appointed monitor team installed about six years ago, as fiscal and social turmoil continued to embroil the diverse district. Via state legislation, East Ramapo's monitor team gained more power in 2021, including the ability to veto certain board decisions.

The district educates 10,500 public school children, with a growing number of kids who are recent immigrants joining the schools. East Ramapo also provides mandated services, such as transportation, for about 35,000 children who attend private schools, mostly yeshivas that serve a growing Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish population.

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The school board comprises six men who critics say champion concerns of the private-school community over public-school kids, and three women who have direct connections to the public schools.

The monitors recently issued a letter warning that East Ramapo faces up to a $44 million deficit in five years. Monitors pointed to repeated rejection by voters of even modest spending increases for degrading the district's fiscal position.

Meanwhile, the district has been cutting tens of millions from the budget over the past two years to compensate for the loss of federal COVID pandemic aid that's running out.

Meet Shelley Jallow

Jallow has served in administrative roles in several large East Coast districts. She was appointed Rochester monitor in May 2020. The state created a monitor for Rochester as a condition of a $35 million bailout 2019-20.

Before taking the Rochester position, Jallow worked for WestEd, a nonprofit educational research organization, as Senior Director of School Improvement in the Learning Innovations Program. WestEd does a lot of research for the New York State Education Department.

Jallow was an assistant superintendent for the Mount Vernon school district from 2007-11. She has also worked in districts in New York City, Connecticut, New Jersey.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: New York education chief names new East Ramapo academic monitor