One of the district’s three Program Improvement schools is being
treated unfairly, receiving less support from the Morgan Hill
Unified School District, losing experienced teachers and adding one
more combination class, according to at least 21 of the 35 Burnett
Elementary School staff members.
Morgan Hill – One of the district’s three Program Improvement schools is being treated unfairly, receiving less support from the Morgan Hill Unified School District, losing experienced teachers and adding one more combination class, according to at least 21 of the 35 Burnett Elementary School staff members.
Although staff says Burnett’s state test scores have suffered in years past due to a large population of English learners, they were spurred to write a letter to board members and attend a board meeting last Tuesday because one more combination class with students from two different grade levels has been created and another experienced teacher was transferred out of the school.
Last year, Burnett had 542 students enrolled. A total of 172 of them were listed as English learners, according to California Department of Education data. More than 47 percent of the student population is Hispanic, with a large portion of migrant students.
Schools designated as “Program Improvement” have not met federally mandated requirements under the “No Child Left Behind” law for two years in a row. According to provisions of the law, those schools are required to receive additional help from their districts.
Teachers say children in combination classes can’t get as much special attention as they need. In these classes, the teacher is divided between the grade levels trying to ensure students in both of the grades understand the state standards for that grade level.
The change this year will create two third-grade classrooms of 20 students each, which meet the state’s class-size reduction standards for grades K-3, plus one third fourth-grade combination of 33 students and one fourth-grade class of 33, the district’s maximum.
Last year the school created one fourth- and fifth-grade combination class and one fifth- and sixth-grade combination class.
“When you have students who are already below grade level, or who are struggling to learn English, this becomes even more of an issue,” said Burnett teacher Ellen Miller. “These are the wrong kids to be shuffling around.”
Echoing Burnett teachers’ concerns is Morgan Hill school trustee Don Moody who said Burnett is not the only school affected.
Jackson Elementary School has also been affected as it had to create combination classes and move teachers around, Moody said. Many of the other elementaries did, also, he said. He has asked that the issue be put on the agenda for a future meeting.
Miller, who has been at Burnett for 21 years, said the school was “such a wonderful little neighborhood school.” She said the school has had a “nice mixture” of cultures, but that has been declining in recent years. When a new housing development was built off of Tilton Avenue close to the school, Miller said, the staff was hopeful the influx of new students would help “build back the community” of the school.
Unfortunately, Miller and fellow teachers Lynn Briones and Janet Fruit said, there were many students from the development who came and later left, enrolling at the Charter School of Morgan Hill or other district elementary schools.
While the flight from Burnett by these students is not caused by district policy, the teachers agreed, the school’s dwindling population and combination classes, plus the low test scores that come as a result of struggling students, likely contributed to the current state of the campus.
“Teacher morale is in the dumpster,” Miller said. “We care about our school and we care about our kids, we don’t like to see this happening to them.”
District officials were unreachable for comment due to meetings, according to Superintendent Alan Nishino’s secretary Julie Zintsmaster.
The letter, signed by 21 staff members at Burnett and read to board members last week during the public-comment section of the meeting, said:
“For the past few years, we at Burnett have had teachers involuntarily transferred to other schools, we have shuffled and sent students to other schools, and we have been forced to combine classes and grade levels in order to maximize the number of students in classes. We lose students because of our ‘Program Improvement’ status, but then offer combination classes (where students lose instructional time) to our remaining families. This continues year after year at our school, because our district administration knows that our Burnett families will not or cannot complain.” The teachers surrounded teacher Nettie Letts as she finished the letter, first referring to Nishino’s frequent public references to his upbringing as a struggling Asian American student, saying he’s now betraying the very kind of student he says he was by sacrificing Burnett students to preserve test scores at other elementary schools.
The letter also stated the staff who signed feel board members aren’t concerned.
“Our school board also seems to be indifferent to this matter as none of their children attend a Program Improvement School. It’s unfortunate that many of our non-English speaking parents are not able to voice their concerns. Therefore, we as a staff here at Burnett Elementary have taken it upon ourselves to inform the parents and community about the intentions of the school district administration and school board,” the letter continued.
Teacher Katie Johnson Colon, who attended elementary and middle schools in the district and is a Live Oak High graduate, said she believes the situation can be reversed for the benefit of the Burnett students. She told board members that creating another combination class and transferring an experienced teacher, they were jeopardizing the 10-point rise in test scores the school achieved last year.
“You have the ability to take a proactive role without undermining the administration’s role in this situation. Ladies and gentlemen of the board, as I have stated earlier, I am sure that you are aware that Burnett School absorbed a similar mid-September disruption to our staff and students just last year. Would it not be more equitable, if not down right fair, to alleviate this most difficult and awkward circumstance by other means? I know this might affect someone else, but we have already suffered this inequity just last year. Given the success we have seen in our test scores and the potential detrimental effect it may have on our students’ quality of education and their scores, is it possible.
