At a Long Island City call center, Department of Education employees take phone calls from parents about their children's school bus routes. And when they call, it's usually because there's a problem.
"Sometimes things just aren't going to go the way we want them to go," Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza said. "But we want people on the other end of the phone that are going to treat our callers — our parents, our constituents — with respect."
The city has overhauled the Office of Pupil Transportation, which handles busing, following incidents, including a snowstorm last November that left some students stranded.
"We've also made tremendous movement in terms of the call center and how we're staffing the call centers, how we're training the people that are on those call centers, the management of the routes and how we're routing them," Carranza said. "How we're addressing issues is completely different than it was just a year ago."
Carranza dropped by the call center to say thanks to the employees, part of a day-long swing through similar sites, including information technology and pre-K enrollment call centers and even the school lunch test kitchen, where they're looking into new ways to prepare staples like broccoli and chicken.
"These are the unsung heroes, they do this every single day," the chancellor said.
In meeting with each group, Carranza returned to the same analogy: a football team.
"If we were talking football, the teachers and the principals, they're like the quarterback," the chancellor said to the call center employees. "But if it wasn't for you, blocking, tackling, and creating the pathway to get a touchdown, we wouldn't be able to do what we do."
At a pre-K outreach center in lower Manhattan, employees called parents to connect them with nearby open seats in pre-K and Head Start.
"I think parents are very appreciative of us meeting them where they're at," said Sean Torres, an Early Learn supervisor. "We tend to do a lot of shelter outreach, we go canvassing in NYCHA [New York City Housing Authority] facilities, we meet parents in their local communities."
And the staffers appreciated a chance to show the chancellor what they do, and hear a "thank you."
"I really feel very appreciated that he is here and seeing us, what we do on a day-to-day basis, and how it is important for us to enroll three-year-olds in school and four-year olds as well," said Jimmy Rivera, a Bronx community coordinator for Pre-K For All.
------
FURTHER EDUCATION READING
With Steelpan Drums and Music, a Brooklyn School Starts its Day Embracing Social-Emotional Learning
Cornell's Medical School Paying All Student Costs So No One Graduates with Debts
Report: Teachers at Maspeth High School Say 'No-Fail Policy' Behind Extraordinary Graduation Rates