The WSD school board meeting on Jan. 18 was practically a showcase for the differences between board members and both parents and teachers. One section of the meeting in particular raised many questions, even from board members themselves.
As deputy superintendent of students and schools, Dr. LaBrot went over the district’s progress on its CSIP, or Comprehensive School Improvement Plan, it was clear that there was some level of disconnect between what the board was seeing and what both teachers and parents were seeing.
The first of many differences between the school board and its teachers was their understanding of academic proficiency. Dr. LaBrot explained that the district had seen a 5.1-10% increase in reading and math, according to i-Ready data.
However, earlier in the meeting, Denise Mitchell, a second grade teacher at Heritage Primary, disagreed with the board’s evaluation of academic achievement. From her perspective, she saw students struggling to keep up and being moved on to the next grade level with little regard as to whether they were ready or not.
“The academic success of our students is alarming,” Mitchell said, “Last year, 66% of Heritage Primary students were at or above grade level last year.” Mitchell continued by sharing that this isn’t a new statistic, either, and that the pattern shows around 65% percent of students are on target every year, meaning that 35% of students are not where they should be academically.
Mrs. Mitchell had some supporters on the board, though. Director David Lewis continually questioned the board’s claims. At one point he asked, “How can we be green [meeting our goals], yet still face the challenges we are?”
Fellow board member Secretary Renee Henke responded by saying, “We’re talking about growth, not proficiency.”
Although that is a valid answer, many parents were not satisfied with it. Most people just want more transparency and to understand what the board is doing and why.
Director Lewis openly advocated for more transparency during the board meeting. He and Assistant Superintendent of Academic Services, Dr. Katie Brettschneider, were discussing a question Lewis had about PD Days and how much time was truly spent on academics.
Dr. Brettschneider offered to share data and information with him, and Lewis’ response was, “I think that’s important for not just me, but for the community, to be able to see and understand because that’s obviously an area that there’s a lot of discussion.”
Most parents present at the school board meeting had some sort of grievance with the board members about their lack of transparency.
One parent in particular, Christina McCormick, was very upset at the board’s behavior. Her second grade child had an alleged violent incident with her teacher. McCormick brought the issue to the school board and was told that an investigation would take place, only to later find out that no investigation had ever happened. There may have been a reason why the school board did not do a full investigation, but the lack of communication with both teachers and parents leaves everyone distrustful and raises tensions.
Overall, the general disconnect between the WSD school board, parents, and teachers is the source for so many issues in the district. It’s important to be able to trust the people who are in charge of either one’s future or their kids’ future, but from the public’s perspective, that’s not where the district is at right now. As the district continues to grow, this issue has the opportunity to either fade away or get much worse, and for the sake of all students, it would be best if the school board worked towards the latter.
