Gov. Kathy Hochul visits students in Hempstead after school board cuts ties with superintendent

First grade students at Rhodes Academy in Hempstead had a special guest to wrap up their first week back at school amid a sudden shakeup that ousted the district's superintendent.

Students gathered around Gov. Kathy Hochul Friday as they learned what would happen if they gave a mouse a cookie.

Hochul also took the opportunity to talk about her back-to-basics reading program which will require all school districts to use evidence-based curriculum to improve reading proficiency rates.

"It's important to so many parents and teachers that we get away from that 20-year experiment where young people were not being taught the basics, were not graduating from high school with the foundational tools that they need to be able successful in college and beyond," Hochul said.

Hochul's visit comes just 24 hours after a sudden shakeup in the Hempstead Union Free School District.

The school board voted to cut ties with Superintendent Regina Armstrong, the district said.

In a letter to the staff and stakeholders, Board President Victor Pratt said, "This decision was not made lightly and comes after a comprehensive review of recent developments and their impact on our school district."

The district didn't specify what the recent developments were, but says they are not criminal in nature.

The letter says the board will appoint an interim superintendent and start the search for Armstrong's replacement.

Armstrong has been a part of the district for 33 years, as an educator, and as superintendent for the last five years.

She will be paid through the remainder of her contract which ends next year.

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