In-Person Teachers Watch Online School Board

Several dozen city teachers, parents, and public-school advocates were able to hear each other clap and cheer — live, in person, in the same room, together — during an in-person watch party for a Board of Education that has been meeting online only for the past three years.

The New Haven Federation of Teachers (NHFT) held that Board of Education meeting watch party Monday night at the union’s 267 Chapel St. headquarters. 

Roughly 30 New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) teachers, parents, and community members showed up in person to watch the video-streamed school board meeting, which was held online via Zoom. 

“These are things that only happen when you’re with humans, because they just happen organically,” Wexler Grant teacher Ashley Stockton said about being able to catch up with colleagues, share reading recommendations, and talk about family and work life with fellow educators. ​“Human development doesn’t stop when you’re seventeen years old. A huge part of New Haven that was joyful was taken away and never restored” when Board of Ed meetings went online only.

Teachers union President Leslie Blatteau agreed. ​“There’s more to Board of Ed meetings than just the agenda.”

The Board of Education has been meeting online only for the past three years since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020. In recent months, teachers and paraprofessional union leaders, educators, community members, and mayoral challenger candidates have stepped up their criticism of the Board of Education for meeting only via Zoom even as other government bodies, like the Board of Alders, have long since returned to in-person meetings.

Monday’s teacher-union-hosted watch party follows Board of Education President Yesenia Rivera’s announcement last October that school board meetings would remain on Zoom for a third year because the virtual platform makes the meetings more easily accessible to a wider range of the public — at least, for those with stable internet connections. 

Rivera’s stance was met with frustration from community members and at least one fellow school board member, Darnell Goldson — who attended Monday’s teachers union-hosted party in person — who have pushed for Board of Education meetings to be hybrid, so that members of the public can both watch online and reconnect in person after so many years of not sharing the same physical space. (Click here to read a previous Independent article about why some community members would like to have an in-person meeting option.) 

On Monday, several dozen public-education educators met at the union’s headquarters on Chapel Street in Fair Haven at around 5 p.m. in advance of the school board meeting’s 5:30 p.m. start time.Teachers union president Leslie Blatteau worked with her executive board members to organize the community watch party in direct response to the community’s year-long push to return meetings in-person. 

Blatteau confirmed that the union plans to continue hosting in-person watch parties until the school agrees to offer hybrid options for the meetings. 

To show just how possible it is to attend in-person hybrid meetings, Board of Education member Darnell Goldson attended the Monday watch party while also streaming into the meeting virtually. 

In between different agenda items, Goldson joined the community in the viewing room to listen in on school board presentations over pizza, popcorn, and refreshments. 

While union leaders and NHPS Head Librarian Kim Rogers worked through technical difficulties for the meeting’s first 10 minutes, NHFT Education Justice Organizer Megan Fountain presented the in-person attendees with several upcoming events involving education advocacy and a new NHFT survey aimed at collecting input from the community members about school resources. Click here to take that survey. 

After setting up the meeting broadcast, the union team then worked on increasing the sound of the broadcast, which was only coming from a single computer’s speakers. Less than a minute later Rogers returned to the viewing room with an extra set of speakers. 

The group clapped and cheered after the set up was completed. 

As community members walked in and out throughout the three-hour watch party, teachers, parents, and other attendees mingled, having small side chats and catching up on years’ worth of conversations since attending the last in-person Board of Education meeting before the start of the pandemic.

Democratic mayoral candidates Shafiq Abdussabur and Liam Brennan attended the Monday watch party along with Downtown/East Rock Alder and Board of Alders Education Committee Chair Eli Sabin. Also in attendance was paraprofessionals union President Hyclis Williams.

Sub Troubles

During the meeting’s public comment portion, a community member and part time substitute teacher named Abe Benghiat spoke up about substitute teacher conditions. Benghiat, who was not present at the Chapel Street watch party, spoke up remotely via Zoom.

Benghiat shared that for the past two years he’s worked part time as a substitute teacher for NHPS, working in a total of 16 times at seven different schools. 

“I’ve seen many great things in terms of students and faculty and I have seen horrendous things including kids threatening to beat me up, academic malpractice, attendance of less than 50 percent in many classes, fights in the classroom, lack of administrative caring,” he said. ​“I am continuously appalled by the state of our school system.” 

Benghiat pleaded for improvements to the substitute teacher experience in schools. From his experience as a returning sub, he said, when he is assigned a school and class, all he is given is instructions on how to take attendance. ​“That’s it. Nothing else. This has been consistent across all seven schools I have worked at,” he said. 

He said he is typically not informed about the basic sub responsibilities like hallway pass policies, how to call the main office or nurse, the recess policy, or how to get help in an emergency situation. He said as a sub he also rarely gets teacher plans for the day and therefore only acts as a ​“babysitter” for the students. 

He suggested solutions like creating a staff guide for subs to increase student instruction and substitute retention. He added that he’s developed and shared a guide template with the district in the past but has not gotten a response. 

He also requested that it be mandatory for teachers to leave subs with work plans for students. On several occasions Benghiat said his only option was to ask the students what they should be working on. 

He added that with subs making $100 a day they are being paid less than the state minimum wage. ​“As a citizen of New Haven I can confidently say if this school system reflects our future, I’m horrified about what is to come.” 

Benghiat expressed willingness to help in addressing the concerns he mentioned. 

After Benghiat’s testimony, Blatteau announced aloud to the group of community members that the teachers union has been asking the district to re-negotiate the substitute contract but their requests to meet have not yet been agreed to. 

"Our Schools, Our Voice"

As the Monday meeting continued the viewing room remained mostly quiet with the lights turned down as folks ate and watched along with the group. An occasional round of applause and whispered side conversations were heard as the school went through the agenda. 

Posters reading ​“listen to our teachers” and ​“our schools, our voice” surrounded the group on the viewing room walls. 

In a separate room, families with kids were invited to allow their kids to enjoy pizza and juice boxes while reading or doing arts and crafts. 

After two virtual presentations to the school by principals Shawn True and Nicole Brown, the Monday watch party attendees whistled and cheered in excitement while hearing about their schools’ accomplishments so far this school year. 

During the superintendent’s report, a draft of the district’s 2023 – 24 budget was presented by Chief Financial Officer Linda Hannans. When Hannans highlighted the expected raises for teachers, the group cheered again. When Hannans also mentioned that the district is currently negotiating a new paraprofessional contract that is expected to see a wage increase, the group clapped and cheered in support. 

After the Monday watch party several community members stayed to converse. 

Instead of going to a study group for her Access to Law School Program Monday evening, Arden Santana attended the Monday watch party in support of her friends who are educators. 

“People aren’t just missing human connection, they need it,” she said. ​“Meeting in person is key to maintaining morale and comradery.” 

At the conclusion of the gathering, Liam Brennan said, ​“In any reasonable system you should meet with the people you work for and with.” 

ESUMS history teacher Kirsten Hopes-McFadden said she missed in-person meeting a lot and argued that school board meetings are most effective in-person. ​“They need to see us,” she said. 

Despite Hopes-McFadden and other community members working hours before the meeting, she added that ​“as tired as I am, I’m willing to show up for district.” 

Para union president Hyclis Williams defined New Haven as a ​“community that comes together.” 

After the Monday meeting, Goldson said he enjoyed hearing in-person what the community is satisfied and dissatisfied about. He said he plans to attend future watch parties until the school offers hybrid viewings, so long as technology allows at the headquarters. 

Wexler Grant teacher Ashley Stockton said she had fun on Monday sitting in between two of her former teaching colleagues and catching up on their kids’ lives and the books they’ve each been reading. 

She added that the watch party allowed for teachers like herself to support paraprofessionals and other school staff face to face.

Stockton has attended school meetings while they were in person since 2006. She said it was nice to lean over to friends she hasn’t seen in forever to check in throughout the meeting. 

On Monday while sitting between two other NHPS teachers, Stockton said she was able to provide them with reading suggestions for their kids who are the same ages as her children and suggest her friends read The Other Side of Prospect.

Blatteau said relationship building is the first step necessary for NHPS to fight for fair legislation at the state level. 

Supt. Search Process Frustrations

The second testimony shared at the meeting’s public comment portion was by NHPS parent Teresa Johnson. She said the next steps for the district’s superintendent search process – which includes a presentation by the candidates in a closed session to the Board of Education on Tuesday, as well as interviews with the candidates by stakeholders and Board of Education members during the week of March 27 — are not truly inclusive of the community.

She reported that community members were given only one time in the morning to participate in the interviews, which overlaps with the hour she has to drop her kids off to school. 

“Although we may be available because we could probably get the time off of work or push our schedules back, we can’t push back the time that our children have to go to school,” she said. 

She said the information provided to stakeholders said they must be available for all three morning options presented. It also did not disclose the location. 

“The important logistics were not given, which makes it very hard for people to give a commitment or even participate in those meetings,” she added. ​“It led me to question if you really wanted participation from the community.”