Journeys of Hope Podcast - Episode Eighteen

In this episode of Journeys of Hope, host Rebecca Solomon sits down with Stephen Beovich, Superintendent of the Mount Pleasant Blythedale Union Free School District, to explore the powerful connection between education, health care, and hope. Stephen shares what inspires him about working with medically complex students, the importance of giving every child the opportunity to reach their full potential, and how collaboration between educators, medical professionals, families, and home school districts helps students thrive. He also shares an unforgettable story of a student who overcame tremendous challenges to earn a Regents Diploma and pursue a future in nursing. At its heart, this conversation is a reminder that hope means never giving up, and that with the right support, hope can become reality.

You can also listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.

Key Takeaways:

1. Medical complexity doesn't define a child's potential
2. Education can be an essential part of the healing journey
3. The right environment can transform what's possible

TRANSCRIPT

Rebecca Solomon (00:05)
Hello and welcome to Journeys of Hope, a podcast from Blythedale Children's Hospital, inspired by the strength, resilience, and unshakable spirit of medically fragile children. My name is Rebecca Solomon, and today I'm honored to welcome Stephen Beovich, superintendent of the Mount Pleasant Blythedale Union Free School District, where education, health care, and hope come together to help students thrive. Stephen, thank you so much for being with us today.

Stephen (00:32)
No problem. Thank you for having me.

Rebecca Solomon (00:34)
Absolutely.

you've spent your career serving students with diverse emotional, educational, and medical needs. What first drew you into this work and what continues to inspire you as a leader today?

Stephen (00:48)
what first drew me into the work was when I was in my master's program to become a teacher, the you learn a lot about the achievement gap. And then when you get into the field, you see that the achievement gap really is an an opportunity gap for for for certain students, especially special education students, that they're not receiving the same opportunities.

As as other general ed students, especially when they're in special education schools. So when I saw this and I saw this firsthand at my first district, Mount Pleasant Cottage, you wanna be the person that helps close close this gap. You wanna be the person that gives these students the opportunities that they deserve so they can be successful. So that's what really drew me into the work. And then what keeps me inspired every day, I mean.

That that's easy. Just walk around, you know, walk around Mount Pleasant Blythedale for 15 minutes and you'll be inspired. Just to see how hard these students work every day. They're we have students that come to school on ventilators and are still and are still working and are working hard and are answering questions that you know that sometimes you can't even answer, that I can't even answer. And you say it's it's amazing. And to see what they do every day that between their

you know, between their therapies and then and then working hard at their academics. I mean, if you can't be inspired by that, I don't know what can inspire you. Yeah. Yeah.

Rebecca Solomon (02:19)
I mean, it really is so inspiring just walking the

halls. How can you not want to do your job to the best of its ability, right? So you became

Stephen (02:24)
Yeah. Yeah. Yes, exactly.

Rebecca Solomon (02:27)
superintendent of Mount Pleasant Blythedale in 2024 after serving as deputy superintendent. What was your vision when you stepped into this role and what are your priorities for the future of MPB?

Stephen (02:39)
my vision really was to give the students every opportunity, every resource, and the encouragement so they could reach their maximum potential. And to kind of back up how how you how you get there is not not only was I deputy superintendent, but for a year and a half before that, I was the I was a business consultant for Mount Pleasant Blythedale. So I knew that basically two years before I started.

The state hadn't given a tuition rate increase to Mount Pleasant Blythedale in a long time. And then I knew as I was coming in, there was a new tuition rate coming, there was a lot more funding available. So I knew I was gonna have the opportunity

to provide more resources than that we had in the past. And we've been able to do that. We've since you know since we've gotten this funding, we've

We've added English as a second language teacher. We've added an art program. We added a special ed coach where this September we're adding a school psychologist. So we're we're really excited about about what's happening here. And yeah, my vision again is just to to keep giving the students every opportunity to fight to fight for them and to give them every opportunity to succeed here.

Rebecca Solomon (03:58)
Incredible and and you've really done that since you've been in this district. You've led in special

Stephen (04:01)
Good. Yeah.

Rebecca Solomon (04:03)
act schools really throughout your career now at Mount Pleasant Blythedale, which welcomes medically fragile students. What have those experiences taught you about what students need most in order to succeed?

Stephen (04:16)
Yeah. Now listen, after just talking about finances and how great it is to add resources and and to add personnel, the number one thing though for a student to be successful is to have a caring staff that wants to build community. If you have the right the right people, that's the number one I I think driver in student success. And you see it here. We have an incredible staff. We have we have about a sixty person staff who

I would say every person employed here, I've first hand seen how much they care about the students here. So I think over everything, all the resources, all the funding helps obviously, but if you have a staff that cares, that's the number one driver for the students to succeed.

Rebecca Solomon (05:02)
And so many of our staff members have been there for so long. So that retention and them wanting to be there and them sincerely wanting to help these students, it really shines through year after year.

Stephen (05:14)
Yeah, I mean, just as you say, we have teachers here who had Regents Prep on their own time. They didn't we we we would have loved to fund it. We didn't even know it was they they they were gonna do it until they they started. They were using their own time to do regents regents prep for our students and the results showed too. We have almost all of our students passed the the Regents exams th this past year and that's

Tests that are made for general ed students and our teachers really worked so hard to make sure our students were prepared. Our CSE team made sure our students had the right accommodations and they all worked past the hours that they you know that they're required to work because, you know, again, they care. And when you care, everything else falls into place.

Rebecca Solomon (06:04)
It's that dedication that really stands out with our teachers. Yeah, that's great.

Stephen (06:09)
Yeah, they

they are amazing. Incredible.

Rebecca Solomon (06:13)
And you are too. You've helped pass a few pieces of legislation in the past few years to help special act districts remain financially viable. Tell us about that.

Stephen (06:24)
Yeah, so when I became an administrator in a special act district, I believe it was two thousand fourteen,

You you saw how the the finances weren't really sustainable for for special act districts. We were at a time where you couldn't keep any reserve funds. So basically what that means is you need to spend every cent of funding you had, or at the by the by June thirtieth of each year.

Or else that those that funding would have been taken away and your tuition rate the next year would have actually been lowered because you couldn't because you didn't spend that money. So the first thing we we really advocated for and got through was to have a reserve fund. And God thank it w it was Shelly Shelley Mayer was a big driver on this, to to get this through where we not only have a reserve fund, they gave us years to catch up for where when

for the funds that w the funding that we weren't getting. So it's really put us in a place where we have a reserve fund now. God forbid, you know, there's some something happens in the district or there's a dip in our census, we could retain our staff. We're not worried about making payroll, which was in all nine special act districts, was a huge issue before before this was before this was passed. Another thing that we had pa passed was

Or even when the state approved growth rates, they we wouldn't get the tuition rates in a timely manner. So even if let's say we were supposed to get a four percent tuition growth rate in for the let's say the 2019-20 year, we wouldn't get that usually till the mar March or April of that school year. And so at that point, they would say, well, you're getting it retroactively.

You can't retroactively then fund positions that you weren't able to afford in September, so it was hurting the students. So through, you know, a lot of advocating we were able to get to get that passed where now we get our tuition rates on July first, which is which is great for students because we could add resources right away where we used to have to delay adding resources. And then the the last piece really is just dealing with again inequities. So

You know, whenever you see an inequity, you want to close that gap, right? So when we got had these reserve funds, just because of the wording, we weren't able to keep the interest that was earned on the reserve funds. We had to give it back to the state. Now, some of that money might not be significant, but as your reserve fund grows, your your amount of interest grows. And knowing that every community school is able to keep their interest and invest their reserve funds.

Our students deserve the same. So when you see an inequity, you advocate to to end it. And that's what we did successfully. And last year we had a bill that got through the legislation signed by Governor Hochul and that got through too. And right now, I know you didn't ask about the future, but we're still working on future pieces of legislation. We're working on trying to get an getting a a one-to-one nursing rate that's equitable because right now the

The rate that we receive for one-to-one nursing doesn't cover the cost for one-to-one nursing. So we are really looking to get that adjustment so we can get the students, we can get more students of services that that they need without causing a loss at the district, which we obviously will do if the if the student needs it, but again, it's another, it's another inequity. And we're also looking now that we got a reserve fund.

We're looking to also add a capital reserve fund, which every other public school district in the state has, so we could properly plan for projects. Because right now we have the fiscal reserve fund, like I mentioned, but that should be for when for when there's budget shortfalls, because the sense is falling and got other things going on. We shouldn't have to use all our reserves when we need when we need one project. So now we're working hard to be allowed to have a capital reserve fund.

Rebecca Solomon (10:35)
Hmm, wow. It's never ending. And it's a business. And you are overseeing this business and putting in so much work and effort to bring that equality to our our school and anyone involved in the school. And so thank you to you and to the legislators who've worked with you on this legislation. yeah, it really is never ending, but it's about it's about that balance and giving our students what they deserve.

Yeah, thanks.

Stephen (11:05)
Thank you.

Rebecca Solomon (11:06)
All right. So families often come to Mount Pleasant Blythedale during one of the most difficult seasons of their lives. How does the school help create a sense of hope from the moment a student arrives?

Stephen (11:20)
I

I think first and most important thing is respecting what the families are going through. So we have inpatients come in where their their child just had this this tragedy. And you know, being a father, I couldn't imagine what my mindset would be coming in when when this just happened to my child. So the first thing that we emphasize is when when a when a new family comes in, make sure in the beginning you're giving them some space. Right? 'Cause they're they're

their child's world, their world's just changed. So they get admitted on on June twenty-sixth. On June twenty-seventh, they're not ready to talk about school yet. So they need some time to to process. And we have a great we have a great guidance counselor who does our registration. Car her name's Carla. And when she she really is great at

You know, feeling out for when parents are ready. She'll just make an i in an introduction, maybe a week or two after the students admitted, and seeing where they're at and knowing and talking to the medical team, knowing that if the student's gonna need more time to until they are ready to come to school. And then as the time gets closer, when they are ready, just to to keep that communication, build the relationship, take them for a tour of the school so they feel comfortable.

'Cause a lot of parents they have to get they they have to get comfortable that the student's not gonna be their their child's not gonna be in a in a hospital room and and that takes that takes them trusting us because now they're trusting us with their child who's just been through a tragedy. So it's really building building the trust and then showing them that when their child's ready there is a piece of normalcy by going to school and that they can continue their education.

as their as their child is receiving the the rehab, the therapies they need, and that we're gonna get them ready to go back to their community school when they're ready.

Rebecca Solomon (13:20)
Yeah, and it really is so remarkable the whirlwind of emotions that not only a student but also the parents face in this journey. And when you put it beautifully, but when a family is first arriving and has the opportunity to go to the school, they aren't in the right place to even think about what tomorrow could be. And then oftentimes when they're leaving Mount Pleasant Blythedale they're going back to their community schools.

They they would look back on their experience and and admit, wow, we've come such a long way. And maybe they didn't see it at day one, but by the time they're done with you and your team, it's pretty remarkable, right? It's

Stephen (14:00)
Yeah, no, it's a ma th how my team what my team does to make them comfortable and to get them ready and to to really again give give them hope and give them that normalcy, it's they're amazing.

Rebecca Solomon (14:13)
Can

you share a story or maybe a kind of story you don't see often where a student exceeded expectations because they were given the right support and opportunities?

Stephen (14:23)
Yeah, so we we had a student last year, I I don't believe I could say his name, but he he came here a few years ago before I I think a year before I started here, and he was the the victim of gun of gun violence. he the a stray bullet had hit him and when he came came in he was really in you know in in bad shape and even as he recovered and became a day

a day hospital student, he had to to go back to get surgeries. his family life

wasn't ideal where he ended up in f in ended up in foster care. And last year he had a lot of you know there were some behavior issues with him because who wouldn't have behavior issues? You keep having to you you had this random act of violence by no fault of your own

You your whole world get turned upside down. You need to get these surgeries. And then you also end up in the ACS Children's Center and you don't have your family. So any anyone's head at that point, you know, you're not gonna you're not gonna be yourself. And even when he would have these behavior issues, we just kept telling them what we're gonna support him. I remember calling them in and said, You're not leaving here without a diploma. So, you know, we just and this was the whole staff, we all

saying you're not you're not leaving here without a diploma. And then the power family, he his uncle who I met at his graduation, all right, I'm gonna get emotional, but his uncle lives in Staten Island and really took him in, really made sure that he got to school every day. And and he left here with a Regents Diploma. Now he's in college. He has a four point and you know

He's a he's amazing and you know, between the medical staff and us no one gave up on him. I just hope we had a little peace in helping him and he wants to be a nurse now and come back and work at Blythedale and it's he's just an amazing kid.

Rebecca Solomon (16:30)
Incredible. Stephen, thank you for sharing that. I know it's very emotional and why wouldn't it be if this student didn't have Blythedale and didn't have Mount Pleasant Blythedale, you don't know what the outcome would have been. And thankfully for everyone at the hospital and the school and and his uncle and wow, it really it's

i it's nothing short of a miracle, but it it happened and it's a story that you're telling here on this podcast. So it it's just unbelievable.

Stephen (17:04)
Yeah, it's amazing and he's a he's an amazing kid. Yeah.

Rebecca Solomon (17:07)
Great. Yeah, that's

wonderful. Well, I hope he's able to get back into that healthcare industry and help someone else out

Stephen (17:13)
Yeah.

Rebecca Solomon (17:15)
and that that would be a really cool story to tell too someday.

Stephen (17:19)
Yes, definitely. Yeah.

Rebecca Solomon (17:21)
One of the unique aspects of Mount Pleasant Blythedale is the close connection between education and healthcare. That's not something you always see in a school district. How does that partnership help students continue growing academically while managing significant medical challenges?

Stephen (17:41)
it it helps tremendously. Like many other students in this situation who don't have a school like Blythedale are receiving bedside instruction for two or three hours a day. They don't have they don't have a school to go to. So the fact that a medical team and a school could work together at the same site really gives these students an opportunity that they wouldn't have in other places. And then with that partnership, we could always expand the opportunities.

Something that we're piloting this year is to see, you know, obviously our students, they can't be in school for six hours every day because of all the therapies they need. But what we're trying this year is to see if we could block off the lit the literacy time for the students so that they're not getting pulled for therapies just during literacy times. And we're starting with a small pilot for that, but that's a part that's because of a partnership. That wouldn't work if the medical team, if the education team aren't on the same page and aren't

working together. So those are the types of things that you're you know, that that you're not gonna get anywhere else because we are such a close partnership and we work so well together. We could really again expand our students' opportunities where they wouldn't get this these opportunities in other places.

Rebecca Solomon (18:56)
Yeah, and you know, so many times we talk about at the hospital level, how significant play is for these children, you know.

Stephen (19:03)
Yeah. Yeah.

Rebecca Solomon (19:04)
we have a whole department at the hospital that focuses on play. But

Stephen (19:06)
Yeah. Yeah.

Rebecca Solomon (19:09)
the same can be said about students at the school, I think, in many ways, how attending school while also getting the medical therapies and rehabilitation that a child needs also seems like it would be a significant part of that journey.

Stephen (19:25)
Yeah, I think it just it gives students normalcy. It gives them

Rebecca Solomon (19:29)
Mm-hmm.

Stephen (19:30)
that they're they they feel like they they are where they should be. They're doing the same thing that kids their own age are doing. And you know, when y you bring up play too, it's a it's funny that we always need to draw, you know, find that fine line where, you know, you always wanna push you know, as educator you always wanna push academics, right? But they're also kids and you know, and we wanna make sure that they're getting the full school experience so to give them

fun you know, to give them days that are fun, to give them assemblies that, you know, just like every other kid would have. It you know, at the end of this year, we had a block party for our elementary school. And they you know, you're walking around, there's a magician, there's an ice cream man, they're dancing in the hallways. So to give them when you say normalcy, it's not just, you know, pushing English and math. It's to make sure they're getting the experience that a kid in a in a community school would be getting.

Yeah.

Rebecca Solomon (20:22)
I love that. And

the school brings together teachers and therapists and medical professionals and families and homeschool districts. It really is

Stephen (20:29)
Yeah. Yeah.

Rebecca Solomon (20:31)
just an entire village that makes up this success.

Stephen (20:35)
Yeah.

Rebecca Solomon (20:37)
And what makes that collaborative model so powerful for students?

Stephen (20:43)
I would say especially at the back end, the the collaboration is so important because when you we have you know, our goal is to have students to to to have them rehab to have them get their therapies and then when they're ready to go back to their community schools. But then it's so important when they go back that they're getting the right supports, that the right accommodations are on their IEPs. And because you know, we work together so much that when when we have these transition meetings.

We have representatives from the hospital, from the school, making sure that the student is getting a a placement where they where they can succeed. So it's it it's really powerful to to make sure that not only are they succeeding while they're at Blythedale, but to transition them and to make sure that we're putting them into a successful spot when they leave here.

Rebecca Solomon (21:35)
Hmm.

Yeah, setting them up for success

Stephen (21:38)
Yeah.

Rebecca Solomon (21:39)
over and over again.

So for

parents who may be navigating complex medical and educational systems for the first time,

what advice would you give about becoming an effective advocate and partner in their child's education?

Stephen (21:54)
I'd say the f first thing I'll I'll take it the the partner part first is to communic to communicate with us, to make sure the school knows when student had a great day, is having a bad day, if there's something something we should know about that's you know, a part of us building community is that if the student needs more support, if they need to see the psychologist or the guidance counselor, or if it's just a day where maybe we shouldn't push them so hard because XYZ's happening.

So really communic being comfortable with communicating with me, with our principal Griselda, with their teachers, to always let us know so we could find way so we can support them when they need when they need additional support. And I'd say for a advocacy, you know, be at be at your students' IEP meetings, be at your child's IEP meetings, you know, learn the accommodations they need. If they if you think they they need more accommodations, tell us.

And learn while while you're here, because again, the goal is to transition to a larger school district. We're we're always available in a small small school district to communicate, to teach you, to let you know why we're doing something, to let you know the accommodations we believe your child needs. So so learn learn from us. You know, we're not shy. We'll talk to we'll talk to anyone. You know, we we give out you know the the the the

excuse me. The parents have my phone number, they have Griselda's phone number, they could communicate with our teachers. We're gonna have open houses. We call the parents four times a year. So ple whatever's on their mind, whatever they want to learn, just let us know and we'll support you and prepare you for the transition into the larger school district so you can advocate when you get there.

Rebecca Solomon (23:40)
That's great. That's really great advice. And yeah, I think that communication is so important. Communication is always so important, but how can you know what's going on with a student or the family if th they're not expressing that to you? I mean, you see what you see during the day, but certainly it's

Stephen (23:55)
Yeah.

Rebecca Solomon (23:57)
also up to the parents or the caregivers to really relay that information as well.

Stephen (24:03)
Yeah, and it just helps us support to support their child more. Like a as a dad, I do that to my my daughter's teacher. I hope they're not sick of us, but we you know, whenever

Rebecca Solomon (24:11)
Right.

Stephen (24:14)
there's something going on, we let them know. Just to make sure that if she my daughter does need extra support that she's getting it. Yeah. Yeah.

Rebecca Solomon (24:21)
Great. And to

piggyback off of that, as families prepare for a new school year at Mount Pleasant Blythedale, what are the most important things parents can do from both a medical and educational perspective to set their child up for success?

Stephen (24:37)
I would say from a medical perspective, from a non medical person, I would just say trust trust the team at Blythedale. you know, I've been here for two and a half years now and everyone on the medical side i is incredible and they all want the very best for your child. So

there might be times where they say the student could only right now they could only handle ha half a day and we're gonna build them up or whatever else. Again, I'm not a medical person, I don't wanna

talk like I am, speak like I am, but just trust the Blythedale team because they're they're amazing. And then and from from a school perspective,

I would say the best best thing is just know what's going on in your in your student's class. Ask them questions, read, you know, we send a lot we send a lot of stuff home and then we have a lot of events. Come come to the events and like I said before, don't be afraid

to ask questions. If you think there's something more that we could be doing for your child, let let us know. We always want to grow. We always want to like you said, we want your child to reach their maximum potential. And the more information you could give us, the more that you're involved It it helps us get your child to their potential.

Rebecca Solomon (25:51)
I love that. So Mount Pleasant Blythedale works closely with students' home school districts and

IEP teams.

Stephen (25:58)
Yeah. Yeah.

Rebecca Solomon (26:00)
How does that partnership work? I know you probably can share that in your sleep, but for someone who doesn't know, how does that

Stephen (26:06)
Yeah.

Rebecca Solomon (26:08)
partnership work and what can parents do to ensure everyone from the teachers and the therapists and medical providers and district personnel is aligned around their child's goals?

Stephen (26:19)
So I'd say when speaking about the home districts is when that transition is happening, make sure if there's any me any meetings that we're we're involved. And we you and we we usually find out about you know, are invited, you know, from the home school district. But if they don't, make sure we're involved because we're always we're we work very well with them and we're very strong advocates for what our students need. So we, you know, a as the from the parent perspective

know that we're gonna work with that home school district and to make sure that your child's in their least restrictive environment. Whatever wherever we think they could succeed at, whatever whatever accommodations we need, we're gonna advocate for them. And the school districts around here are in are incredible. all the Westchester schools, you know, that I I I know I know a lot of of the other well

I know a lot of people in the other Westchester schools, a lot of the other administrators, and they're all incredible. I might not be as familiar with the other counties, but as I'm working with them, they're all incredible too. And we just need to make sure that we all we're all in those meetings, that the right people are in the room and that we're gonna we're gonna transition your child successfully and we're gonna make sure we we're putting them on everyone. Everyone wants to put your child in the best spot to succeed, and we all make sure that we do that.

Rebecca Solomon (27:43)
It's really true. And you will see that once you step foot into the school and have that experience, like any of our families and children who

are going through the process. It's really great. Okay. I have one more question for you, but first I wanna open up the floor and ask you if there's

Stephen (27:51)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes, definitely. Okay.

Rebecca Solomon (28:00)
anything else that you would like to share.

Stephen (28:05)
you know, I want to thank the previous superintendent, Dr. Emily Hirsch, because when she decided to retire, she she had told me just she was trying to convince me to to apply for the job. Little did I know she made me a business consultant here. Half the reason was to try to convince me to to to come here when she was retiring, and she said, Come

Walk walk around with me for fifteen minutes in the school district, you won't wanna leave. And she was completely right. And for her to have the faith in me to take over for her, to advocate to for her to advocate for me to get this position, you know, I I can't thank her enough and she was an incredible leader here and I just, you know, can't thank her h her enough for putting the trust in me to be

to to be the superintendent because it was really you know, she really pushed hard for me to come. I know she pushed hard for the board to hire me and again I gotta thank the board too for putting their trust in me, but she really was a driver of me coming here and I can't thank her enough for for helping me get into this position.

Rebecca Solomon (29:18)
That's wonderful. And we are so happy to have you here. And and

Stephen (29:21)
Yeah.

Rebecca Solomon (29:21)
you know, that sets up a good little tease for an upcoming podcast because we have a full episode with Emily Hirsch. So we're gonna air that at a later date. But but that's great. I mean, her story's incredible. Just really the history of Mount Pleasant Blythedale is quite fascinating. And

Stephen (29:40)
Yeah,

yeah. It is when I mean when I was learning it and how how I don't know she talks about how how really a New York City teacher strike was the driver to to start this school district. And I think it was Bob Bob Stone, really the the the CEO at Blythedale, really really found a way, got this legislation p passed and got I think a one in a kind school. I couldn't find another public school in the nation that's associated with a children's hospital.

Rebecca Solomon (30:08)
To many more years. All right, last question.

Stephen (30:09)
Yes, exactly. Okay.

Rebecca Solomon (30:13)
How would you describe the meaning of hope?

Stephen (30:20)
Meaning of hope is n never giving up and knowing that that it's that it's inside of you. I mean, you walk around here, you see hope every day, and you see it, you know, from all levels. You see when a student's just been through a tragedy and then when they're walking out of here in a clap out. So I mean you just see hope here every day and you see it going from hope to reality. So it it really is if you want to know what hope is, just

Come to Blythedale there, yeah.

Rebecca Solomon (30:52)
Perfect. Thank you so much, Stephen. I appreciate it.

Stephen (30:56)
No problem. Thank you so much.

Rebecca Solomon (30:57)
Wonderful conversation and we hope anyone listening has enjoyed this conversation of journeys of hope. If you have any ideas for future topics, we'd love to hear from you. You can email us at podcast at blythedale.org. And don't forget to subscribe to our podcast and like and follow us on social media. Thank you so much. We'll see you next time.