There has been a slew of open
teacher positions across the country, but it's become such an issue, the
district is planning on relocating more than 60 students to another school.
Parents say they are outraged with
how they say the district is handling the situation, with the lack of
communication and planning.
At an informational meeting
Wednesday, officials said because of teacher vacancies at Wilbur Cross School,
nearly 65 seventh- and eighth-grade students could be relocated to Thomas
Hooker School as soon as Monday.
In a heated discussion, parents say
they're concerned with the doubling of classroom sizes, the integration with
students who are already behind on their studies and the lack of teacher
resources.
"As a parent, I feel like this was sprung on and not
communicated effectively," said Shari Russell, a parent at Thomas
Hooker School.
Thomas Hooker
parents are concerned with the doubling of class sizes and lack of resources,
while Wilbur Cross parents are frustrated their students haven't received
proper education since the fall and this merge could come in the middle of the
school year.
At a special Board
of Education meeting Wednesday night, teachers explained the lack of time to
prepare for their new students.
"We don't have a classroom set up for these new
students, a plan for busing, no lockers set up, there no class schedules,"
one teacher said.
Thomas Hooker
teachers also say if the Board of Education doesn't listen
to their concerns, they could be facing the same teacher shortages as this
school.
"You don't see what goes on on the daily, if you want to
retain teachers, communicate with us, see what we need," a teacher said.
With so many
parents, teachers and students outraged at the meeting Wednesday night, the
Board of Education voted to table the decision to integrate the schools and
revisit it at a later day.