Kent teachers offended by Region One video

KENT — A small group of teachers representing the Kent Center School faculty attended the Sept. 8 meeting of the Board of Education to protest what they felt was an insult directed at the faculty on the first day of school.

All teachers in the Region One School District meet at Housatonic Valley Regional High School for a day of workshops and orientations, before the official return of students to the seven regional campuses. 

This year, the day-long orientation included the screening of a video produced by the six-member Region One Board of Education (which oversees regional school matters and is primarily responsible for the regional high school).

The teacher group was led by Michelle Mott, president of the Kent Education Association (a faculty group). She read aloud the group’s letter to the Kent Board of Education and then handed a copy of it to Board of Education Chairman Allan Priaulx.

The teachers said that, “The tone of the presentation was quite offensive and left us feeling concerned about the Region One Board’s complete misunderstanding of our dedicated efforts to provide a solid and well-rounded education for each of our students.”

What offended the teachers was that, “In this video, the board members presented their concerns about the quality of education our students are currently receiving. The members stated their belief that we are not committed to helping each student reach his/her full potential.  In addition, we were told that we have not made a concerted effort to recognize that all children can learn.”

After hearing the concerns of the teachers, board member Rob Ober turned to his fellow board members, to Kent Region One representative Jonathan Moore and Region One Assistant Superintendent Pam Vogel, and said, “The right thing to do is apologize. Just say you’re sorry. Don’t defend this, so it goes on and on. Just say you’re sorry. This is about an issue at the high school, not at Kent Center School. Apologize.”

‘Not all children can learn’

Vogel said that the comments made in the video are not about the high school or the elementary school specifically. She said it was presented to the teachers to let them know about a program called The Lighthouse Project that the regional board is using to help figure out why enrollment is decreasing at all the regional schools. 

However, she added, as part of the Lighthouse Project a survey was handed out to teachers at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, many of whom said they feel that there are students who can’t be taught and can’t learn.

“The video is about a survey done at the high school but I wouldn’t say those issues don’t also exist elsewhere,” she said.

Moore also spoke up about the video and said that he wrote the script. He passed out copies to the other board members. 

It quotes a Region One board member named John as saying, “We recognize that there is some apathy toward students in that maybe some believe that not all children can learn.”

John Sanders is the Region One representative from Cornwall. 

Declining enrollment

According to the transcript, the video opens with Region One Board Chairman Andrea Downs of Falls Village welcoming the teachers back to school and saying, “In the past year, the board has wrestled with the conundrum of declining enrollment and the resulting increase in per student costs.”

The transcript quotes Moore as saying, “Through the Lighthouse Project, the board has identified various signs of impediments to success: A negative community perception of Housatonic; inconsistent instruction that affects students when they get to and are at Housatonic; a lack of belief in the ability of all students to learn; and our general lack of direction.”

The video ends with Downs  wishing the teachers “a great school year.”

Speaking on behalf of the teachers, Mott said that Kent teachers do in fact take pride in their work and believe that all students can learn; they feel their job is to motivate and encourage all the youngsters in the elementary school.

She added that, “It was the tone of the video that upset us.”And to show the video on the first day of the new school year, in their opinion, was not a good way to encourage the faculty to do their best work.

Priaulx asked Moore to express to the Region One board the feelings of the Kent faculty and Board of Education. [For the Region One response, turn to Page A7.]

“The message is clear,” he said.

The six towns of the Region One Board of Education are Salisbury, Sharon, Kent, Cornwall, North Canaan and Falls Village. Each has its own elementary school; all six share the regional high school. In the last decade, enrollment has generally been declining at all seven schools.