Let me be unambiguous: teachers, students, parents, and elected officials all want the same thing. We all want to return to school buildings in a safe way. We all understand that students benefit from building relationships with peers and teachers, and we also understand the mental health challenges that come from quarantine.
So how did we get here, with so much anger, frustration, and fear? Let’s track the events that brought us to where we are now. My hope is to clear up some misconceptions along the way.
In late July, teachers received a survey asking whether they would prefer to teach remotely. From this, the district should have been able to build a very good idea of their staffing situation for the fall. Keep this in mind when, later, the district blames staffing as the reason why their initial proposal fell apart.
During the summer months, the teachers developed a plan for a safe, phased return that included testing for staff and students, requirements for safe buildings, and a commitment to equity for all of our students. This plan was finished before the district’s. The district was unresponsive to questions and did not incorporate the plan, instead developing a plan entirely internally.
Next, your mayor lied to you. So many parents and students I’ve spoken with believed the mayor’s claim that the plan was developed in concert with the teachers. On the contrary, teachers were ignored.
We can call the district’s proposal a “plan” only in the most liberal use of the word. The initial proposal, which included a hybrid option and the Distance Learning Academy (DLA) did not even pretend to have details. Incredibly, in the survey parents filled out, the DLA option specifically stated that the details were still in development.
The district sent a survey to parents with the expectation that they commit to one option or another within four days. Parents were expected to commit to one of these options with no details and many unanswered questions. This put many families in an impossible position.
Similarly, teachers were required to fill out a survey which gave them options only between able and unable, with narrow caveats that excluded situations such as a teacher caring for an at-risk relative, but not living with them, or living in the same condominium, but not the same apartment. If teachers selected unable, they were informed that they had an additional three days to provide proof from a doctor.
The oft-repeated claim that 85% of parents chose hybrid for their high school students is a lovely example of a failure of data interpretation that I might very well use in my teaching going forward. Among the respondents to the parent survey are presumably three categories of people:
1) Those who did not need details or complete information to know that they would prefer hybrid regardless of the details, of which there were few for hybrid and none for the DLA.
2) Those who did not need details or complete information to know that they would prefer remote regardless of the details, of which there were few for hybrid and none for the DLA.
3) Those who felt that they did not have enough information to make an informed decision, but were forced by the district to make one anyway.
Among Category 3, I have spoken with parents and students that:
- Only chose hybrid because it guaranteed Newton teachers, whereas the DLA did not
- Only chose hybrid because the DLA had no details
- Only chose hybrid because they feared that if the district transitioned from a split model to entirely hybrid, their child would remain separated in the DLA
- Only chose hybrid because they believed that the district (teachers included) had evidence that it was safe
- Only chose hybrid because they did not understand that the distance learning that would take place in the fall is substantially different from the crisis-mode, no-preparation distance learning that took place in the spring
- Only chose one of the options because they mistakenly believed they had all the relevant information, but subsequently said, “If I had known X, I would’ve chosen differently.”
- Only chose hybrid because they believed that teachers supported the option
- Only chose hybrid because they wishfully just wanted everything to go back to normal
- Only chose hybrid because they believed that it would provide a greater degree of social interaction for students than it actually would (no labs, no small group discussions, etc – one day a week of socially distant time where the student is in the same room as other students, but that’s about it)
At the recent School Committee meetings, Newton was told that around 95% of teachers would need to be able to return in order to make their proposed DLA/Hybrid model work. If the district knew this before sending out the survey, it was deeply irresponsible to ask families to commit to one of two options without first ensuring they had the resources to offer those options. If the district did not know before sending out the survey, then, along with the depressing lack of detail in their proposals, this is yet another example of the district not performing due diligence.
Aside from the multiple problems with the district’s process and the horrible position they put teachers and families in, it would appear that METCO families were an afterthought. The initial proposals, as presented, were deeply inequitable; the School Committee proved this was the case in a recent meetings when they revealed that METCO families and BIPOC families disproportionately chose to enroll in DLA (which was not guaranteed to have Newton teachers, remember), creating a “separate but equal” educational institution.
For all Newton’s talk of anti-racism advocacy, this is what institutionalized, systemic racism looks like.
The district’s actions up until this point perfectly positioned them for their next step: blaming teachers for their failures.
Despite a petition by students with over 1,000 signatures, despite a barrage of questions begging for a plan for testing for the virus, and despite having the proposal’s inequities pointed out to them by their own School Committee members, none of these were the reasons presented to the community for the shift this week from the original proposal to the current proposal.
Instead, the reason given for the change was “staffing.”
This in and of itself is an admission of failure by the NPS administration; they admit that they put forward a proposal entirely predicated on staffing without first checking the staffing. However, the bigger problem lies in framing this as the teachers’ fault. It’s not hard to draw a line from this presentation to misinformed claims by members of the community such as:
“Teachers don’t want to work.”
“Teachers are essential employees; force them to go in.”
“Could you fire some teachers? Newton taxpayers are getting ignored.”
“100% union victory without a shot fired… Teachers will collect full pay and benefits from home for the foreseeable future.”
The claims by the School Committee and the NPS administration led to members of the Newton community to believe that teachers usurped their will because they simply don’t want to return to the buildings. This couldn’t be farther from the truth.
First, it was impossible for teachers to usurp anyone’s will because the NPS administration has ignored our input for months and continues to do so.
Second, teachers would never push for a proposal that would help to protect high school teachers and students while forsaking younger students alongside elementary, ELL, pre-K, and special educators.
Third, what these individuals have claimed is the “will of the community” is predicated on faulty data, thanks again to the lack of planning by NPS administration and the School Committee.
The School Committee approved the new plan, and here’s where we are today:
1) Citizens of Newton are furious because of the catastrophic handling of planning by the School Committee and NPS administration. Many, based on incomplete information, misinformation, or outright lies, have misdirected that anger toward teachers.
2) Teachers feel unheard, unvalued, and betrayed by our own superintendent. We’re forced to take time away from real work to write things like this to defend ourselves from incompetence by the School Committee and the NPS administration.
3) Students will suffer the results of a ramshackle plan made up at the 11th hour, worsening an already bad situation.
The School Committee and superintendent have sown division and uncertainty due to their failure to listen and plan ahead. Everyone understands that the pandemic is a challenging situation, but “listening to people who know stuff” and “not tossing an unfinished plan into the community a month before school starts” are not high bars to meet, and yet they have failed to meet them in spectacular fashion. The NPS administration has failed in their duty to serve our students, and the School Committee has failed in their duty to oversee the superintendent.
Here are the three biggest reasons why the current plan is still unsafe for students and teachers:
1) It lacks surveillance testing. Without surveillance testing, any infection will spread quickly and easily. Newton’s low (but rising for three months) COVID numbers are meaningless when one infected student can spread to countless others because of a lack of testing. You have been told that we cannot do this because it is too expensive. This is another lie. Surrounding districts, including Wellesley and Brookline, are doing this, and Newton has the opportunity to work with Wellesley Hospital to test all students and faculty at least once a week.
2) There is no independent HVAC review. Despite NPS insisting that the HVAC is safe, Newton teachers have worked in these buildings for years, and have good reason to be skeptical of this claim. After the failure of NPS administration on so many fronts, skepticism should not just be understandable, but shared by families. We would love to be proven wrong! But it is certainly better to be safe than dead.
3) With neither of these measures in place, elementary, ELL, pre-K, and special educators are expected to return to the buildings, unfairly risking their health and the health of their students while guaranteeing the safety of high school teachers and students.
Whether you are a parent, teacher, student, or simply a citizen of Newton, this should concern you.
You should be concerned at the appalling lack of communication, lack of transparency, and lack of planning by the superintendent and your elected officials.
You should be concerned that Newton is taking unnecessary risks to students’ and teachers’ health by choosing not to engage in surveillance testing or assure the functionality of the district’s ventilation.
You should be concerned that members of the School Committee nearly adjourned their meeting last night without approving their own plan, but believing they had, because they didn’t understand their own procedures.
You should be concerned that members of the School Committee have often treated the student representatives in a patronizing, disdainful way.
You should be concerned that your elected officials and the NPS administration have lied to you and avoided answering your questions in public forums.
You should be concerned that instead of doing their jobs, your elected officials and the NPS administration have cast the blame for this disaster on teachers, despite not listening to a word we said.
You should be concerned that your elected officials and the NPS administration never once mentioned to you the Newton Teacher Association’s comprehensive plan, which was ready and complete even before the district’s was.
You should be concerned that members of your community, despite boasting of progressive, anti-racist policies, endorsed a policy that would discriminate against METCO and BIPOC students.
You should be concerned that members of your community voiced concerns about METCO students bringing infection into the district, but somehow “forgot” that predominantly white Newton teachers commute in from over 100 other communities, and would seem far likelier to bring infection.
You should not be concerned that teachers will not do their very best job to ensure that your children will receive the best education possible, just like they always have.
Today is Friday, August 28, 2020, and we have been informed that Monday, August 31 is the first day back for teachers. Yet, as simply the latest in a long line of examples from this summer, we do not know what we are supposed to do on Monday or, in fact, any day next week. Like your students, we do not have our schedules – not for a lack of effort from our excellent schedulers, but because the NPS administration has forced these schedulers to do in two weeks what usually takes three months.
We teachers share your frustration and your anger, Newton. We need to work together to hold the public officials responsible for this debacle accountable, and we need to work together to make this radically different school year work. You deserve better.
The teachers are not the ones who have failed you – your public officials are.
~Ryan Normandin~
Mathematics & Physics
Newton South High School
All I can say is Yikes. My wife teaches in Needham, and while I am very concerned about their seemingly lax testing protocol, they survey’ed their teachers and identified a hybrid model that could work, they did extensive HVAC testing (her school is the oldest and was set for a rebuild in 2 years I think). While I also believe a hybrid model is potentially worse for public health than other models I can appreciate that focus due to space concerns and staffing, you would need a lot more of both for an all-in person option. The competence and communication coming from my wife’s admin team and the superintendent in Needham is striking. I am still very concerned for her health having to go in every day but Wednesday, but I have far more confidence in their plan than whatever the heck it is that Newton is doing. This truly is a failure across the board…They have had since June to get it figured out…it sounds like many seemed to believe our current president that it would “magically go away”…
Hi Ryan:
I know you have a tough job on the best of days. I respect the role of teachers in our society. My kids are better off when the best of you bring out the best in them. It doesn’t always happen, but that’s the challenge, right?
While I certainly don’t blame any individual teachers, I think your last phrase is incorrect in my view. *Everyone* has failed the kids. There is plenty of blame to go around. I don’t hold any party blameless.
Based on what I can see, the parties here continued the relationships and roles that were forged over decades of negotiations. This was a once in a lifetime crisis (hopefully…). The teacher unions and the school committee and the superintendent and the mayor needed to throw out the old playbook. Paul in a prior thread asked the mayor to own it. I ask ALL of the parties to own it. All I see is the same old infighting, the same old negotiations over need vs want.
And the residents of Newton aren’t blameless either. We could have replaced the older school buildings decades ago. We could have fired this superintendent years ago when he failed to show leadership on the bigger items in front of the Newton school system. We could have passed overrides to increase teacher salaries and improve special education funding. We did none of those things.
So I certainly don’t blame you individually, but you elected your leadership I presume just like the citizens of Newton did. Your leadership failed you just like ours failed us. If this was to be the end result, parents could have made better choices for their kids months ago. Private schools. Pods. Home schooling. All of those require money, but some parents could have cobbled together time and money just like we did in the spring. At the least we could have prepared our kids emotionally. Instead, we get last minute failure, and finger pointing. For shame. On all of you.
I got on this blog last spring, pointed out to everyone that the spring teaching was a disaster, and that other school systems had done it better and gotten better faster. It didn’t feel like from the responses that the school committee, administration or the teachers agreed with me. But there was one constant theme. Wait for the fall. It will be better in the fall. We will be prepared in the fall.
I understand there were no good choices here. But somehow, somehow, our collective leadership have managed to make choices that make things worse.
I look to other school districts who again are doing this better, with less acrimony and more partnership, and I again wonder, why can’t Newton lead?
Thank you, Ryan, for helping to illuminate the situation for the community. The only thing this elementary teacher would add is the following: while secondary teachers might not know their schedules, a whole lot of elementary teachers don’t know: a. what grades/s they will be teaching (I say GRADES because, and this is truly staggering, some elementary teachers will have TWO grades in the hybrid model, one in each cohort…let THAT sink in) b. What school building they will be in (yes, moving schools with ten days until school starts), or c. Wether they will be remote or hybrid. In my career I have both moved schools and changed grade levels and either of these is accomplished best with months to prepare. Months! And we have at best 10 work days.
Great post Fig.
@Ryan,
I know you posted this on your blog well before it was posted here. A couple of points I would take issue with.
You assert that members of the school committee nearly adjourned the meeting because they don’t understand their own procedures. I’m not going to use the inflammatory language of calling that a “lie”. I think you are wrong. At the end of a very long meeting they negotiated an amendment to the motion. They clearly understood under Roberts Rules that the amendment to the motion had to be voted on. Yes, they almost adjourned without voting on the motion and one member texted another alerting to the fact that the motion hadn’t been voted on. Why that member used text instead of a point of order is a question for another day. I saw a group of exhausted people working late into the night. You saw failure. I disagree.
Second, you pointed out that NTA submitted a request for information that NPS didn’t respond to. This morning I reviewed that request. Putting aside the information sought which is publicly and readily available, the request was extremely broad (any and all emails…) and burdensome. Frankly, it read like a litigation discovery request and not an actual good faith effort to obtain relevant data. But it did serve a purpose: it permitted your union President to complain that NPS didn’t respond to an overly broad request. Score 1 for Zilles, minus 10 for the students of Newton.
This isn’t a zero sum game. The biggest losers are the city’s children who NEED and are legally entitled to education. This includes children on IEP’s and 504 plans who are entitled to services in accordance with existing federal and state laws, not some relaxed standard that NTA wants.
Time grows short and our kids are waiting for the adults in the room to take charge. Finger pointing isn’t going to move then closer to the education they need and deserve
Agree with Fig and Lisap! At this point, as a parent of a HS junior I’m at the point of “I don’t care who’s to blame”. At this point I want a plan of how you are going to educate my kid. If it’s remote, then fine, give me a plan for how that is going to happen. 2 weeks until they start and parents still have no idea what the plans are for many things. The planned Q&A with parents need to be done effectively. I sent an e-mail to the South administration asking them to consider soliciting questions in writing before the meeting. Based on the Q&A that took place last week, getting >1000 question real time with no time to collate them and weed out repetitive question lead to a less than effective meeting.
Patrick – You state that parents don’t know what the plan is for the year. Neither do the teachers.
The NTA president and the negotiating team are not the Deciders. Fig – you give the NTA way more power than actually exists.
People claim the blame game is wrong. However, teachers tend to take the brunt of it. If kids take a hit on their education for some time-then who is to blame? A pandemic is disallowing the world from engaging in what was. For Newton Community members who are passionate supporters of the hybrid, I plead with you to ponder this question: Would you be willing to spend one month in a classroom, and engage with students? There are too many unknowns. For example, regular testing, building protocol, the complications that high need/high-risk students pose to staff and the environment, enforcing infractions promptly, classrooms that have windows that don’t open, poor ventilation that isn’t up to code, and on and one. Being back in 100-year-old buildings simply won’t end well. This being said it is a matter of when and not if.
Unlike many parents, last March when the lockdown began, I was impressed with how the NPS revamped the entire system in a few weeks and re-opened as an on-line operation. At the time I had full faith that once the city got the on-line system up and running, it would quickly and continuously improve as administrators, teachers, and parents figured out what worked and what didn’t.
I was sorely disappointed. I was frankly stunned that once they re-opened on-line the whole system seemed to throw in the towel on the remainder of the school year. I saw no real effort on the part of NPS to continue to actively educate our children.
Despite my disappointment, I kept trying to remind myself that these were indeed unique times with unique challenges. Over those same months though I saw all kinds of other organizations, businesses, and individuals also dealing with these unique times. Unlike NPS, I saw many of these other organizations and businesses steadily, imperfectly, and with great determination figure out how to accomplish their core missions within this strange and very different world we were living in. By the end of April it was clear that the Newton schools were done for the year. They had essentially given up on any further adjustments or improvements. For the rest of the year there would be no real education going on other than what self-motivated students could do for themselves.
As Fig said, all hopes were now pinned on September. In September things would be different.
By May, I would have thought two things would have been absolutely clear to NPS administration.
1. No matter what the course of the virus, there would inevitably be some need for on-line learning in September – maybe a little, maybe a lot. Under the best case scenario, even if the schools went back full time in Sept there would need to be an on-line fallback plan for any of the nearly inevitable Covid outbreaks.
2. The quickly cobbled together on-line program from March was a failure in terms of the NPS meeting its mission – educating children. Whatever on-line system would be used in September would have to do better – much better.
Being by nature an optimist and maybe more than a little bit naive I took it on faith that at an absolute minimum, we would have a minimally acceptable plan of how students could be taught their normal curriculum via an on-line system starting in September.
Of course, we were all hoping that if things went well, we’d be able to get our kids back in to the classroom by September. That was no doubt going to present all kinds of new challenges but unlike in March, rather than days there would be months to put these plans together.
So here we are now with schools about to open and virtually everything that I have seen and heard over the last few weeks from the Newton Schools gives me absolutely no hope that we have well conceived plans ready to go to educate our children this year. Mostly I see chaos, hand waving, and finger pointing
As I said, I’m by nature an optimist and I still cling to a shred of hope that maybe I’ve got this all wrong. Maybe this is a lot of noise. Maybe the schools are ready to go and this is all workable. Maybe my child will actually be taught something in her final year of high school, but I don’t think so.
I’ve got a very bad feeling
I’m not sure why anyone thought September would be better. That’s when us older folks all start getting out “normal” flu shots, as people spend more time cloistered indoors, kids go back to school ( and bring back everything from a cold to the flu to head lice)- Dr Fauci even told of his concern for the fall a long time ago.
So, to not see that in class teaching would be a big problem – well, it’s again the common sense that is lacking, or perhaps wishful thinking.
Cases are going to rise in the fall. And we’ll have the “regular” flu mixed in.
Jane, I don’t give the NTA power it doesn’t have. I’m just saying they had a role to play in all of this.
Needham, Natick, Wellesley, all Hybrid now.
All of the participants have effectively run out the clock. This isn’t orderly. This isn’t calm. This isn’t clear. This is decision by committee and non-cooperation among parties that should have figured out over the past 6 months how to work together. I know multiple parents who would have pulled their kids a month ago if they thought this was the end result of all of the planning.
It gives me no hope that the parties will have figured out how to teach remotely. It gives me no hope that they will have figured out special education, 504s, and IEPs. When my kids have horrible online classroom experiences this year, who do I blame then? (besides myself, for moving to Newton?)
Jerry, as well as being a teacher I have two kids at South. I have total faith in educators. Remote learning is going to look very different than the spring. I would encourage you to watch the recording of the NTA community meeting and check out what teachers have been learning, doing, and getting ready for students. I think your optimism will not be disappointed!
While teachers are certified K-5, there is a big difference between first grade and fifth grade. Moving grades requires planning (more than two weeks worth of planning). If you normally teach fifth grade, with kids who read, write and are nearly in middle school, and then are re-assigned to first grade, you have a lot of planning to do. You don’t want a teacher two weeks ahead of the kids. In addition, the fifth grade teacher has spent loads of her own money for fifth grade level items.
Dr. Fleishman knows that switching grades is difficult under normal circumstances. Our leadership has allowed this leader to wait for the last minute for everything. Newton has squandered two months of planning opportunities.
We are in a once in a lifetime pandemic, but Dr. Fleishman hasn’t lived up to being an excellent and robust leader.
@Fig- Hi, the plan on the table for Wellesley is to open remote on 9/16 and move to hybrid 10/1. Parents do not have faith this will happen. No MOA/MOU has been signed. We are not far behind Newton with many disappointed parents. I am extremely upset that given the current numbers we are struggling with getting these kids back to school.
It was really illuminating to read Ryan’s perspective on all these issues. As an outsider to the process, I feel like we are living through the old Japanese movie Roshomon, where everybody watching a certain set of events has a different interpretation of what happened. It’s very helpful to share those perspectives here and more broadly, understand why they are different, and then move on with concerted action that unites the community.
The one thing I might ask Ryan to reconsider is whether what he described as “institutionalized, systemic racism” was that or something else. As I watched the School Committee meetings, I saw great concern for the interests of both the student body as a whole and also specific groups of students. I saw the members trying to reconcile conflicting information and difficult logistical problems. I saw some differences of opinion among the committee members, but I saw those differences presented openly and directly in a thoughtful and reasoned discussion. I have trouble believing that the initial 7-2 vote to approve, which included two non-white committee members, represented acceptance of or support of institutionalized, systemic racism.
At every juncture, NPS, when given the opportunity, elects to give the kids as little education as possible. I predict we will see this again when we compare our schedules to other districts. I can’t see how anyone can think this year is going to be good. Compared to our peers, our students learned less in the spring. Classes will start with remediation. This will take time. Much time will be spent connecting with students virtually (as if this is substitute for in-person). Much time, as the superintendent tells us, will be spent in every class (yes, the word “every” is correct) teaching anti-racism. Let’s see how much ELA, math, and science kids get.
On top of this, to add insult to injury, at the high school level, we are told there will be no exams and grades will only be A’s or B’s. No matter how good our teachers are, are kids are being set up for failure.
@ Jeffrey Pontiff
While I’m really glad to see you not blaming teachers for this insanity, I think this is a bit of hyperbole. Compared with most other districts, Newton did much the same as others last spring. DESE said to review only, so we did. Then they said to teach the main concepts left in the curriculum, so we did. There were so many other districts that didn’t even have technology available for kids and were just reviewing only the entire time. I have friends in Brookline and Wellesley and Belmont and we were right with them. I personally finished all of my curriculum with all of my classes, and even without testing, I’d say 90% of my students completed the work to a level that is satisfactory enough to me to show understanding.
Those other 10% were tough- some were struggling emotionally, some were unable to do it all given their home life- the kids on the fringes: METCO, special ed, and some that just struggled with the new setting, etc- they were pushed more to the fringe- and that’s who needs the most right now. The way we do that is to focus on social justice and social emotional wellbeing of our kids. That will eat into the curriculum time. However, we will have much more teaching time now. I can also tell you that it was not that hard for me as a teacher to look at the curriculum and decide what can be cut out and not really impact kids learning in future courses. The high standards in Newton allow us to do that because we often teach much more than is required or needed. (I’m speaking from a high school level, for reference. Obviously I want them to see more if possible, but it’s not the end of the world if this year they don’t.)
I agree that I also don’t love the idea of not giving tests (although I haven’t heard that’s the definite plan), but it’s not that hard to see kids understanding in other ways. I don’t love the idea of having A,B, pass, or no grade (although again, I’m not even sure that’s the definite plan). I think we should have high standards and consistency and was the biggest fail of the spring remote learning.
I’m not saying your concerns aren’t valid, but just that this year is going to be different, and maybe kids will learn a bit less, but not enough to hurt them; not enough to impact the rest of their education and their lives; not enough to raise the alarm. The hardest part is going to be keeping them motivated. One thing we’ve been talking about it keeping it positive with the kids- presenting the learning experience in a positive light- because they absorb everything we tell them and our attitudes bleed into their attitudes. If we all keep it together and work together, I think we can hopefully turn this awful planning into a good experience for the kids.
I was def Category #3.
This is a colossal failure of leadership, by David Fleishman who purposefully excluded all the key stakeholders including the SC!
HE put together the plan without the key stakeholders (the teachers) and the SC! Look at the first meeting — every SC member said ” I just received this plan for the first time a few hours ago, I don’t know what is in it or the answer to your question etc.” SC Meeting #2, Tamika complained that she just received the “Plan” at the start of the 4pm meeting and had not read it or reviewed it at all. This was not some final stage tweaks, this was behind closed doors, careless, callous, inept planning. Shocking.
The student reps of the SC meeting were clearly poo-pahed during the first meeting, and not allowed to ask questions at all during the second meeting revealing the new plan. They were told to come back after the break to do so at 7pm, but I did not see them at all or hear from them again.
A disabled student called in during Fiasco Meeting #2 to accurately categorize the DLA plan as discriminatory, as it meant an inferior plan for kids with disabilities. The DOE has very clear rules that kids with disabilities cannot be segregated from non-disabled kids whenever possible. I know bc I have cited and successfully used these rules for my daughter with food allergies. This was a lawsuit in the making for sure.
IF there had been a clearly defined, well thought out remote option with teachers teaching, a lot of families with kids with health issues would have chosen it gladly instead of being forced into an inferior plan bc their children are disabled or have serious health issues.
I am ashamed of my leadership and the only thing that is keeping me in this city right now are the amazing parents and students I heard speak so eloquently during the public comment and online, and of course, our amazing teachers, whom cannot be replaced so easily as David Fleishman truthfully admitted. At the HS level esp, they are specialists and can’t just find 30 of them two weeks before school starts, which is what we needed to support 1500 kids at each school in socially distanced classrooms.
Fleishman et al need to admit they are wrong and start working with the teachers in a respectful, professional manner or he should step down if he is not up for the job.
Please Newton come up with a plan to open the high schools this year. The students need in person learning and socialization. Stop blaming and start planning. The SC does not plan on meeting until November-Newton can do better. Aren’t the schools supposed to be good here?
Just have a plan to open the high schools.