4/16/13 - Barnegat Township School District

it is great when it comes to teaching them the higher education because I deal with a child inLacey and we are higher when it comes to our education. What we are teaching our kids is moreadvanced than they are there, which is great. These teachers are doing a great thing and theseaides are helping them do that. So while they are teaching and you have kids that are acting outwho is looking out for that? You have the aides, the staff members, the janitors, the cafeteriaworkers, security guards. They are all looking out for these kids in different ways you don’trealize and when you are taking that away from them how is that good?We say we have a no tolerance for bullying but the teachers cannot keep an eye on the bullyingand those students that need extra help who are not classified but need a little bit extra attentionthat the aide is giving them at that moment in time. There are children out there that need thatand you are taking that away. The kids are not going to learn enough. We will go from the highend in teaching. I have a daughter in all honors classes and those students are not going to behonors any more. Why? Because the teachers are not going to be able to give them the sameeducation because they are going to have to watch these other aspects that these aides weredoing. Are we really going to pull away from our education to not help out in other areas? Howcan you say we are doing this for our kids, I am not a great speaker, but I can only think aboutsomebody who saw issues with bullying and children that had a hard time and I have to tell youif it wasn’t for my daughter’s teacher this year she may still be in a rough class because sheneeded that extra help this year. All the teachers and aides helped her she went from a “C” backup to a “B” student because they had that extra time. You are taking that away so that “C”student has to stay a “C” student and can’t excel? How can you do that to them? I don’tunderstand the money aspect of it and that is for you guys to figure out but isn’t there otherways? Can’t we take from the top people who are getting paid the high salaries and bring itdown and live the little salaried people in place? It is hard to look at that. Please think about thatbefore you cut anybody; think of every aspect of it and not just the dollar line. Thank you.Stacy Seegert: I am currently a fifth grade teacher and was just RIF’d for the fifth time in sixyears. I was hired sixth years ago as an elementary school teacher and I made the choice to standup here today because I have been RIF’d for the fifth time in six years and to allow my life to bedismantled over and over, year after year, I had to allow it to finally have a voice. I have doneeverything this district has asked me to do and I go beyond every single day as a teacher and aco-worker. I ask you to find one parent complaint in six years. I ask you to view one poorevaluation. I challenge you to speak to one child who will not have positive stories to tell of me.I have been moved around through three different grade levels in six years and I have alwaysaccepted with no complaints. I have been sent back to Step 1 and my three maternity yearsdiscounted. I still accepted without complaint and now six years later I am finally up for mytenure in September and I am RIF’d again. How is this justified? I have been told it is notpersonal. This is very personal to me and in fact it is as personal as it gets. This is my life, myfamily’s life, my career, my livelihood that has been tossed around for six years. Every singleparent I have ever had in my classroom knows, I assure you without a doubt, the effectiveteacher that I am for their children. I can only leave here tonight asking myself, why? Or betteryet, how is it possible that the men and women making these decisions do not know the same.Thank you for your time.Barnegat Township Board of Education Meeting MinutesApril 16, 2013 Page 23