Saratoga Springs School District Administration, and board leadership caught in a cover up?
Previously, we covered the increase in violent and anti-social behavior by students at Saratoga Springs City School district and the administrations unwillingness to take action on the issue.
District leadership, including several board members have claimed that the alleged problem is either not happening or overblown.
Today, a source provided Moving Saratoga Forward with a copy of an email sent by Saratoga Springs Teacher Union President Tim McGuiggan to educators in the district.
“This week SSTA leadership met with District leadership to discuss student behavior and discipline within our buildings.
This issue is affecting every building and needs to be a top priority.
There have been several disturbing incidents in the past week alone that have prompted us to take this beyond the building level and make this a top priority for the entire district.
Several of the topics we focused on were:
Difficulty of navigating the RTI and CSE referral process when dealing with behaviors
Disrespectful and volatile incidents directed by teachers by students
A lack of administrative support when students are referred for discipline
Inability of teachers to view dispositions or discipline records of students
It was clear coming out of this meeting that student behavior will need to be a focus for us if we with to gain any progress
Next week I will be delivering a letter to all eight building Principals notifying them that this issue needs to be at the forefront and that we understand our role but we need their support
I will ask them to work with us to address student behavior and re-establish the behavioral expectations that foster a good academic learning environment.
We will also continue to make this a top priority in our advocacy with the district administration.
We can not address this as teachers or administrators alone. This needs to be a joint effort that does not result in finger pointing or playing the blame game.
We need to be able to hold each other accountable without fear of repercussions and with a clear purpose to support each other.
Together we also need to push the district to provide us with the resources, training and support to be successful.
Much more to come.”
What can we learn from Union President, McGuggian's letter?
The violence and anti-social behavior is severe enough to cause the union to go above building leadership and make it an issue for the entire district
The student behavior is not limited to just one school. It's a problem in all 8 district buildings.
McGuggian confirms the district has had many disturbing incidents including several in the past week.
District leadership, who we assume includes, Superintendent Patton, Board President Emeka, VP John Brueggeman had a meeting with McGuggian to discuss the situation.
The lack of disciplinary support from district administration is a major problem.
Why is the district trying to cover up the story?
Given Union President McGuggian's meeting with District Leadership, we are left perplexed as to why Superintendent Patton, Principle Tsao and board members, Emeka, Brueggeman, Lahtakia, Krackler and Ellis would deny that the district has a major problem on its hands?
We would assume that a well functioning board member would have their pulse on very serious issues impacting students and faculty.
This unfortunate reality leads us to the conclusion that the district is attempting to keep the problem hidden from the public.
Leading us to have more questions....
Is the district reporting all incidents of violence and other serious anti-social behavior as required by state law?
Are board members, Emeka, Brueggemann, Lahtakia etc. attempting to withhold this information from the public because there is an election right around the corner?
One can only speculate about their potential motivation. But the letter reliably tells us that the worst rumors about the district are likely very true.
Comments