Parents: No Teacher = Big Problem

(Updated) Nathan Hale School is missing a certified second-grade teacher — bringing eight parents to ring the alarm bell at the Board of Education about their students falling further and further behind thanks to the staffing shortage.

For the second school board meeting in a row, Nathan Hale parents spoke up about the instability the school’s vacant second-grade teacher position has brought. They did so at Monday’s online-only Board of Education meeting, as well as at a school board meeting hosted at John C. Daniels school in the Hill earlier this month.

“This was an unfortunate confluence of events,” city school district spokesperson Justin Harmon told the Independent about this situation at Nathan Hale. ​“When the original teacher left, the class was assigned another certified teacher. Unfortunately, the second teacher subsequently went out on leave. We are trying to find a permanent replacement. Though we have fewer vacancies than in recent years, every one of them matters.”

Update: On Tuesday, Nathan Hale Principal Tara Cass clarified that the school filled the second-grade teacher vacancy in September. That teacher, however, has been out on sick leave since late January. 

Kathy Gonzalez, a parent of three students at the K‑8 Townsend Avenue public school, said that her second grader is in one of two second-grade classrooms at the Morris Cove school. One of those classrooms has a certified teacher, while one does not.

She accused the city’s public school district of not upholding its core educational values for the children in the second-grade classroom without a certified head teacher. These students, she said, are not being provided with equitable opportunities for college, careers, and life based on the education they’re missing out on at this formative age.

Gonzalez said that, at the start of the year last fall, she and other parents were notified that the second-grade classroom assigned to her student had a vacancy.

From having three recesses a day to watching tv and movies at school, Gonzalez said her child and the others in the class are falling behind academically and socially as a result. ​“The kids considered it chaos,” she told the board.

Gonzalez recalled attending the school’s second marking period parent teacher conference and hearing from a long-term substitute teacher that, due to the lack of consistent certified instruction offered to the students, their winter assessment showed they are falling behind academically.

Since then the second-grade class has returned to having inconsistent substitutes. ​“We’re not sure when she’ll be back. We’re not sure if she’ll be back, but for the past two weeks our kids have had substitutes again and again and again,” she said.

While parents have been raising concerns about the vacancy since the start of the year, Gonzalez reported that only in recent weeks has her child’s class had a math tutor period to receive support in math, once a day. 

“Kids themselves are reported as being unhappy, unsupported, and they’re feeling unsafe,” she concluded.

Fellow Nathan Hale parent Keniel McLennon added that the vacancy has impacted not just students’ academics: He said he also sees the lack of support and stability in the classroom negatively affecting students’ confidence and social skills. 

“Truly I’m really surprised in regards to how the lack of vacancies that are filled in the beginning of the year have tickled down to the point where it is now on the students and reflective of their poor test taking,” he said.

He called for the school board to support Nathan Hale’s administration in hiring a second-grade teacher before the impacts on the children are even more costly. 

Kim Steele, a grandmother of a Nathan Hale second grader, also testified at Monday’s board meeting that this month was the first time her grandchild was sent home with a homework packet all school year. She was also notified by the school that her grandchild would likely need to be put in summer school to catch up due to this year’s lack of learning. She described the situation as insulting, unacceptable, and astounding because ​“you can see the slide.”

Paul Gonzalez testified Monday that his daughter Sofia’s confidence has been impacted by the lack of stability and support by an adult during the school day at Nathan Hale. He said while she is currently on grade level academically, he worries about ​“how much more could she have learned” and how much more confidence she could’ve gained with a stable certified teacher. He said that his child has also reported that during the school day the class is typically disregulated and rowdy.

The handful of parents all agreed that they and their students are frustrated, overwhelmed, and lost. Others noted that their students in the class also have Individualized Education Programs (IEP) making it even harder for some to learn with the lack of a certified teacher. 

They pleaded for the district to get creative to support the students impacted by staff vacancies ​“before it’s too late.”

Corrected: This story has been corrected to reflect that there was a second-grade teacher vacancy at Nathan Hale at the start of this school year. That vacancy was filled by a new teacher in September, and that teacher has been out on sick leave since late January.