[ad_1]
KERNERSVILLE, N.C. (WGHP) — Students at East Forsyth High School walked out on Friday morning in protest of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools’ reduction-in–force plan.
Video of the walkout shows a large group of students, several of whom are holding signs and chanting in protest.
The school district provided the following statement regarding the protest:
“Students were provided a brief, supervised time to express their thoughts with permission from school administration and then returned to class.”
“Save our teachers. No teachers, no education,” chanted Julianna Patrick, an EFHS student.
She may not seem shy, but Patrick said she was hesitant to participate out of fear for retaliation. However, her determination to stand up for her teachers helped her overcome that fear.
“Miss Nolan and all of our other incredible staff on this campus that help kids every single day and change lives every single day so I had to do something,” she said.
Patrick said her favorite Earth and environmental teacher, Miss Nolan, is on the chopping block.
“The way that she taught us and the way that she cared for us, I had to reciprocate it back to her,” Patrick said.
With the uncertainties, students say navigating through the school days have been challenging.
“Nervous and scared because some of the teachers they have, they are their favorites … Once they’re gone, … they don’t know what they’re going to do,” said Peyton Whitaker, an EFHS student.
In times of anger, confusion and fear, Whitaker said the walkout brought them together.
“When you are in a big group like that, you feel like you are a part of something more than just one person at the school,” he said.
On Tuesday night, education officials voted 6-3 to cut 344 jobs.
The jobs cut and projected savings are listed below:
- 36 Assistant Principal positions ($2,797,694.88)
- 9 Assistant Principal positions from trade-ins ($750,648.03)
- 11 Central Administration positions ($1,104,325.40)
- 6 District-Based Licensed Staff ($445,846.62)
- 33 District-Based Non-Instructional Support Positions ($1,662,677.41)
- 52 School-Based Non-Instructional Support positions ($433,500)
- 37.75 Testing Coordinator positions ($1,336,500.72)
- 61.9 Exceptional Children Teacher ($3,081,725.32)
- 97 Exceptional Children Teacher Assistants ($3,307,036.16)
WS/FCS employees who will lose their positions or be demoted will be notified starting Aug. 22 through Aug. 28.
The reaction is still strong coming from parents, teachers and the community, particularly as it pertains to the cuts on exceptional children teachers and assistants.
A mother, who did not want to be identified, said her heart was broken as she tried to explain to her son, who is an exceptional student, that some of his teachers won’t be at school anymore.
“I tried to give my child information without a lot of emotion in it, but he put that emotion in immediately and said, ‘Well, I wouldn’t be as smart as I am without the EC teachers, and I wouldn’t be able to learn in the way my brain needs to,’” the mother said.
According to the WS/FCS, the reason why EC is seeing the most cuts is that EC has more staff than it is funded by the state, and with the cuts, they will still be meeting the state’s DPI standards.
For instance, the current teacher-to-student ratio for teacher assistants is one to four. The state’s requirement is one to twelve. After the cuts, it will be one to eight. This means one teacher assistant can teach up to eight students.
According to the school district, the cuts from EC alone will save them about $6.3 million.
Parents aren’t the only ones worried. Teachers like Rachel Neagle, an EC teacher in the district, said those concerns are playing out in their daily lives.
“You see these kids every day, and you go in … That’s why you’re there and to know that you can be taken from them at any point and know that they are not going to get the support they need legally,” Neagle said.
When FOX8 brought these concerned voices to the school district, they responded in a statement, saying: “WS/FCS is committed to making sure all students with disabilities receive a free appropriate public education. Every student’s individualized education program will still be followed as written.”
[ad_2]
Hojung Ryu
Source link