Parents, Staff Urge Middletown Education Board to Retain Teachers

A large number number of teachers, parents and staff implored the education board Tuesday night not to cut teacher positions at the last meeting of the 2012-2013 school year.

Superintendent of Schools Patricia Charles said enough savings were realized in the budget to restore six of the 10 positions eliminated at the elementary level. Two more cuts will be necessary at the middle and high schools, she said, to close a $800,000 Middletown school budget shortfall.

After crunching the numbers, two of three Bielefield Elementary School teacher positions announced last week as cut were salvaged. Many argued during public session, however, that Bielefield especially shouldn't lose instructors.

That's because it's the only school citywide that identified by the state last December as having a subgroup of students with a significant achievement gap.

"We are a proud school community and losing one teacher is like losing one of our family members," says Jim Hartzell Jr., a Bielefield parent and member of its governance council, who called the turnout Tuesday "incredible."

Governance councils allow parents, staff, students and community leaders to improve student achievement in the state’s lowest performing schools, according to the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education.

Charles was also impressed with those who spoke passionately for Middletown education. "They were very articulate and really, really strong," she said.

Charles said she is not yet certain which grades in the other schools will lose teachers. "It's hard to know because of the in-and-out migration of students and a number of changes," she said.

She hopes to restore all the teaching slots, including Bielefield's. Principal Jeff Fournier "is going to look at the numbers very carefully," Charles said, for potential savings in his school budget.

Brian Kaskel, also a Bielefield parent and member of the governance council, spoke during the meeting.

"I expressed my thanks for the work they have done in the last two weeks, leaving no stone unturned to put teachers back into the district. I especially thanked them for the perceived attention they are giving Bielefield," he said. "I implored them to start the process early next year to make sure this doesn't happen again."

Kaskel told board members there are many parents willing to advocate for education funding and suggested they partner with parents, the mayor, city council and citizens of Middletown to do so.

The school board also approved increasing the elementary school day by 15 minutes beginning in the fall, according to the Hartford Courant, moving the starting time from 9:05 a.m. to 8:50 a.m. for the 2013-14 school year.

The change will mean students in kindergarten through grade five city wide will be in classes for six hours and 35 minutes on weekdays.

Last December, a big change in state educational standards that target low-performing students has identified a portion of one city elementary’s population as having a significant achievement gap compared to the rest of the student body.

The Connecticut State Department of Education identified Bielefield as a focus school, those with the lowest-performing student subgroups across the state (black, Hispanic, English language learners, students eligible for free/reduced lunch, and students with disabilities).

Focus schools were identified using CMT/ CAPT 2011 data, according to the
state education board and Bielefield retains its classification for up to three years. Schools can exit if they exceed graduation rates or subgroup performance targets for two years in a row.

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• State Education Board Deems City Elementary Has Achievement Gap

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