Teachers and parents express concerns to Board of Education

The last school board meeting, on November 18th, drew over 150 teachers and parents, and the next meeting, this Tuesday evening, may bring even more.  Most of those who attended last month came to protest the demands being placed on teachers by the District Improvement Plan (DIP). The DIP is a three year plan to improve the achievement of students in the Middletown Public Schools, it was approved by the State Board of Education on November 5th.

Teachers have expressed numerous frustrations about the DIP. First, they are upset at being asked to do a large amount of additional work without being given any extra time to do it. This includes meetings with new 'data teams' to evaluate student performance, and mandatory reviews of lesson plans. Second, many teachers view reviews of lesson plans by principals and the central office as equivalent to a vote of no confidence in the teachers. There is a feeling among many teachers that the central office administration is looking down at the teachers. Clearly, teachers are feeling great stress at the increased work load and insufficient time and respect.  

In recognition of the extra demands that they were placing on teachers, the Board voted last month to give elementary school teachers release time for professional development and collaborative planning.  Because there is  no money available to extend teacher's working hours, students will be dismissed at 1:05 on one Wednesday every month from January through May.  Information about these early dismissals was sent home with elementary school children last Friday.  

Another topic of concern at last month's Board meeting was overcrowding at Moody School, and the lack of resources that are being devoted to addressing the immense strain on the teachers and the students that the overcrowding causes.  As of December 1st, Moody has a total of 452 students, with 13 of the 22 different classrooms having 20 or more students; each of the four 4th grade and three 3rd grade classes has over 22 students (in comparison, Snow school has 357 students with no class of more than 18 students).  Moody's new principal, Yolande Eldridge, has been unable to secure additional staff, and in some cases has been unable to provide even some necessary supplies for teaching.   Joe Rosenblum, parent of both a kindergartner and a 4th grader at Moody, said to me, "Why does Moody School have new office furniture but one of the Kindergarten classrooms has no supplies?"

The next meeting of the Board of Education is on Tuesday, December 9th, 7:00 PM, at Middletown High School. Items on the agenda include the Enrollment Report, which projects enrollments in the Public Schools to 2018, a Transportation Report, and a report on Middletown High School construction. The Public Session, when any member of the public can speak for 5 minutes, is at the beginning of the meeting.  Teachers and parents are again expected to turn out in large numbers to express their concerns about the DIP and the stresses and strains on schools and teachers.