Substitute teachers to fill in for an absent teacher are a basic function for schools as are regular and special teachers, heat, light and security. It seems administrators don't provide them in Melrose High School. I know they often don't in the elementary schools - instead they take a paraprofessional that's needed in another class and have her babysit. They don't try to teach the curriculum.
Followed the blog link from another post and saw these lame excuses:
"It’s a huge number to adjust the financial line item."
Hello??? It’s not difficult. They make a new budget every year. They increase the superintendent's salary every year, all the teachers salaries, etc. They have enough money to hire two attorneys to cover their ass but have no money to teach students when teachers are sick. They have enough money for a permanent PR guy, paid breakfasts for the superintendent and overnight junkets for the elementary principals disguised as ‘memberships’ to professional organizations. Gross.
"Lexington has full time subs and we could hire permanent subs but there is a cost to that."
Duh! of course there's a cost. Everything has a cost. When something costs you need costs money you're supposed to budget money to cover it. Funding substitutes is a fundamental priority but the district doesn't care enough to provide them. Instead of all the feel-good crap they waste money on they should fund substitutes first. The superintendent isn’t doing her job if there aren’t substitutes. She apparently believes our Melrose students aren't as deserving as Lexington students.
"When trying to do day by day, it’s hard."
That's your excuse? It's hard??? No, it's not. Melrose should simply reduce the overpaid and obviously incompetent administrators' pay by 10%. There would be hundreds of thousands more dollars available to pay salaries to competent subs who would be prepared to teach the children.
The district is required to teach the children for 180 days. When students lose ten or twenty days due to absent teachers, the district isn't following the law. Our children aren't being educated to the levels they should be.
I am a parent who volunteers at the Lincoln School. What I am learning and hearing is the teachers have so many meetings outside the classroom. This adds to the students not getting the 6 hours of learning in the day. The SC learned of this problem a few years ago and never addressed the matter along with subs.
Teachers leave the classroom for IEP meetings. Learning ends for one or two hours while the teacher is in the meeting. A teacher may have four or five SPED students. Each SPED student has three or four meetings a year. All those hours for IEP meetings and the principal doesn't do anything for the children when the teacher is gone.
The kids do not get a full day of teaching. The teachers are taken out of the class more than just for IEP meetings. That statement is not true they only leave the class 4 times a year for IEP meetings.
I'm always worried that all children's needs are being met. Are there lesson plans, is there notifications of special needs children, is there, a schedule for the class room and the children that are removed for services. What about their compensation? That's a HUGE issue. If they are there they obviously care but don't rely on the compensation, they just need to get the tools to make sure ALL children get their education needs met. It's concerning all around.
Some are retired teachers, and others are well educated people that truly care about the children. It's just concerning.
Not enough help in the system due to the pay. Many staff will tell teachers to open doors to the teacher in the other classroom. I would assume the business managers job is smooth due to not paying for so many teachers that have left. CT is not hiring teachers to fill these positions and relying on staff until June. Worked in the HS for a long time and so relaxed not to be in MHS.