With less than two weeks left in the school year, four English teachers in the West Bend School District have unexpectedly resigned.
Rumors started to circulate Thursday that the teachers from West Bend's East and West High Schools had been fired. The school district has since released a statement saying they resigned but not before one student voiced her displeasure on Facebook saying:
We can't afford to lose any teachers, seen [sic] as no teachers want to work here. These were good teachers, and now that they are gone the students have to pay the price. How are they supposed to review for their last exam? How can we test a students knowledge of the entire school year when a sub who doesn't know the curriculum steps in the place of a teacher who has personally taught the course all year long. but it doesn't matter right? Because next year there will be new administrators.
The girl also created an online petition to give to the school board which received over 500 signatures in less than 24 hours.
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The West Bend School District did not respond to multiple requests for interviews but released the following statement online from Superintendent Erik Olson and West Bend High School’s Principal Tracey Conners:
Good afternoon parents and community members,
We wanted to advise you about a change in District staffing at the high schools which may have a short-term impact on the remaining few days of your child’s school year. Effective today, four of our teachers elected to resign from their positions at West Bend East and West High Schools.
While we understand that the timing of these resignations is not ideal, the District accepted them due to the specific circumstances leading up to the resignations. Please know that while we wish to be as transparent as possible, due to confidentiality laws and out of respect for the privacy of the educators involved, we are unable to provide further details about the specifics of their resignations. We can say factually, however, that these resignations were in no way related to any opinions expressed about curriculum.
Additionally, your child may have noticed an increased police presence during their school day today. While no specific threat was identified in advance, we were made aware of social media conversations which indicated there was the potential for disruption at some point during the school day. Thus, the decision was made, in conjunction with the West Bend Police Department, to increase officer visibility throughout the day as a precaution.
We want to reiterate that our primary focus continues to be the instruction of your children, and ensuring that they are prepared for the upcoming final exams, and the end of the school year. We will not lose sight of that focus.
Lastly, out of regard for the four educators involved, we encourage you to respect their privacy moving forward.
