Students, parents, graduates and a teacher or two implored the Syracuse school board early this evening to save fashion technology classes the district administration intends to cut next year. The testimonials made an impact. After 16 people made a case to the school board on behalf of Pamela Baldini-Dittmann and the series of fashion technology classes she teaches, Superintendent...
File photo. In 2008, Central Tech Vocational Center student Anellys Olivo, 16, left, works with fashion technology teacher Pam Baldini-Dittmann, middle, and cosmetology teacher Maxine Fletcher-Raymie, right. They were putting together a project related to Marie Antoinette. It was displayed at the Everson Museum.
Students, parents, graduates and a teacher or two implored the Syracuse school board early this evening to save fashion technology classes the district administration intends to cut next year.
The testimonials made an impact.
After 16 people made a case to the school board on behalf of Pamela Baldini-Dittmann and the series of fashion technology classes she teaches, Superintendent Daniel Lowengard said he would take another look at the issue and bring a recommendation to the board.
School board member Patricia Body asked him to look for a way to offer the classes part time, so juniors and seniors already in pipeline of the series of classes would not be left in the lurch. Board member Monique Wright-Williams suggested the district get rid of an administrative position to help cover the cost of the fashion classes.
Offering the class part time may be the answer, Lowengard said.
Only 13 students are already in the sequence and 9 new students enrolled to start the classes in September, he said. He said his administration decided to cut the classes because enrollment has been consistently low, which Baldini-Dittmann disputes.
The district has cut more than 200 jobs, including 128 teachers, to balance its budget and the fashion class enrollment just doesn’t support offering it full time, Lowengard said.
Those who addressed the board said Baldini-Dittmann is responsible year after year for getting students into some of the nation’s top fashion colleges.
Ke’Sean Lyons, who just graduated from Nottingham, said he never would have made it into SUNY’s Fashion Institute of Technology without Dittmann’s class and personal support. He said he was concerned about the students who wanted to take the classes and now could not.
Eternity Williams, another new Nottingham grad, said she was heading to Cazenovia College to study fashion because of Baldini-Dittmann.
“I never thought I was going to go to college,” Williams said.
At the same meeting, the board voted to cut 24 more jobs, on top of the 224 it already axed to balance the budget. The new cuts include 13 teaching assistants, five custodial workers, three police officers and three tradesmen.
The board also voted to formally adopt its 2010-11 budget, which totals $354.5 million. More cuts may be needed, Lowengard said.
Contact Maureen Nolan at 470-2185 or mnolan@syracuse.com.