Crowd Sounds Off Over Middle School Schedule

More than 60 parents and teachers packed the Groton Board of Education meeting Monday, then took turns saying the middle school schedule that was changed Oct. 20 still doesn’t work.

Board member Chaz Zezulka said he’s never seen such a crowd in his 30 years in public office.

“I publicly apologize for any decisions that I made that adversely affected the learning process,” he said. Zezulka visited Groton middle schools last week and said he'd try to fix it.

“But we are you. And you are us. And we cannot do it alone,” he said.

Superintendent Paul Kadri also apologized. He said he drafted the schedule to allow teachers more time to collaborate without taking away instructional time. He said he realized after the school year started that , but had to wait for a natural break to change it. That break occurred Oct. 20.

“It’s one of those things I regret having opened up with an error," Kadri said. "As Chaz (Zezulka) says, ‘I’ve apologized before, I will keep apologizing.’ It was an error of effort.”

Under the new schedule, each student takes seven, 52-minute classes, with 30 minutes for lunch. Afternoons have at least one block for extra help, enrichment or electives like world language, computer science or band. The schedule rotates every six days.

Teachers said children are confused and are being moved in the middle of projects so the work they’ve done isn't finished and won’t be graded. They said some students are isolated, and teachers are being told to offer enrichment classes with no curriculum.

Stacy Noreika, said she doesn’t understand the schedule as a parent.

“That’s a big problem on Oct. 20 to have kids not know where they’re going. For six weeks that work that they did, I guess it doesn’t matter,” she said.

Neil Solar, a math teacher at Cutler Middle School, said students are being homogenously grouped during math, then stay this way throughout the day, so special education and lower math ability students are isolated from their peers.

He said people tell him it’s illegal, though he doesn’t know if it is.

“It does seem immoral,” he said.

Kadri said the schedule allows for children to be mixed in all classes except math, music, physical education, health and art, so this is not due to the structure of the schedule.

He urged teachers to talk to their principals.

Solar said teachers are also being told to teach enrichment classes that have no parameters. Classes are supposed to have a curriculum, yet the board of education allows this, he said.

“They don’t even follow their own policies. And you wonder why people are upset?” he said.

Susan Ljungberg, a teacher at West Side Middle School, said sixth graders at the school start lunch before 11 a.m., then have packed afternoons. She said children still arrive at class late, and students aren’t ready for their upcoming choral and band performances because they haven’t had time to rehearse.

She said students who have been moved to other classes approach her and ask, ‘Don’t you want me to finish my project?’

She said she replies, ‘I’m hoping that you’re coming back. I’m not sure. We’ll do our best.’”

She said some staff believe the curriculum is being compromised.

“You can probably tell by my voice, we’ve just about had it,” she said.

Linda Lew Roca, a math teacher at West Side, said students travel with the same group and wonder why they don't see anyone else. She added that the school has a media specialist who is teaching a class so children can’t stop in and check out a book.

Kristin Sullivan said she doesn’t understand, as a parent, why the schedule wasn’t piloted first. She said teachers are frustrated and her child now has a new language teacher.

“I think a lot of us have been very patient with this, but we’re two months into the school year and we’re still no better off,” she said.

Town Councilor Bruce Flax said the schedule change was bothersome to his son, who attends Cutler.

“I would just like to see better communication between the Board of (Education), the principal and the students,” he said.