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By Dr. Rebecca Hamman
Hey Stamford District Leaders and Board of Education (BOE) majority members…the high school students feel like no one cares. You are not listening to them, their parents or teachers. This is their strong reply… #notinmybestinterest. Where is your common sense when thinking you can dictate what is best for their learning?
In refusing to collaborate with any stakeholders and forcing the new flexible schedule, the Stamford Public School (SPS) officials posted this on Channel 12 prior to spring break: The role of the school district leaders is to act in the best interests of all students, and the superintendent and her leadership team believe that the flexible schedule is the best tool to support the academic goals of all students in our heterogeneous learning community.
Although this schedule failed three years ago, no hard data has been shared by central office to promote it this time around (2022-present). Transparency and accountability is lax about costs and achievement results—except there is a 14% freshman failure rate. Attendance, credit recovery, 90-min. course & SRBI/MTSS tier data, secondary school teacher-exit interviews, and after-graduation statistics (2- & 4-year) have also been conveniently overlooked. With little data, our top district leaders—although qualified, some even with doctorates—are setting up our high school students for failure.
Why are these district officials not held accountable? Why is there so much force behind the schedule and no collaboration? Although all three minority BOE members have denounced this schedule, six majority BOE members control the votes and believe this cram-it-jam-it semester schedule will work—just ask the former superintendent from Bridgeport what happened when it was tried amongst other initiatives—she was fired. With an army of 10,000 SPS students, parents and educators, including two ‘coerced’ principals, there is major tension building. Also jumping into this fight is a contingency of 40,000 CEA (Connecticut Education Association) members. These numbers add up to votes, and people won’t forget this when they go to the ballot box. This issue is #intheirbestinterest, too.
It’s obvious this schedule is not about learning or excellence. Instead, it is about cost cutting, otherwise central office leaders would continue with this year’s A/B schedule. They are being pressed by the majority BOE to sponsor budget needs for the mayor’s re-election. Sadly, we have a city run by a one-party-rule BOE and top-level educational bureaucrats. Our SPS students want to excel, not fail.
All this can be ended quickly. This statement is embedded in BOE employee contracts: The Board has the sole and unquestioned right, responsibility and prerogative to direct the operation of the public schools in the City of Stamford in all its aspects.
The BOE supervises the superintendent. If this schedule has created so much anger, why are we allowing this over and over in Stamford? As community members we need to listen to our kids and not get caught up in political whims—students are #inourbestinterest.
Dr. Rebecca Hamman currently serves as a member of the Stamford Board of Education. Her comments are her own, and do not represent the official views of the Board of Education or its committees.
