Teachers accuse LSC of ‘bait and switch’ with new schedules

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TEACHERS ACCUSE LSC OF ‘BAIT AND SWITCH’ WITH NEW SCHEDULES

More than 50 Lafayette teachers – still steaming over unpaid hours added to their current contract to help the district solve transportation issues, followed by unexpected changes to next year’s schedules announced just as they were finishing this school year – packed a school board work session Tuesday night, demanding better from LSC leaders.

Carrying signs as they marched together to the Hiatt Administration Center, teachers asked why their recommendations for new start/dismissal times were passed over in favor of a plan that added even more time to their school days. At one point, teachers compared the school board and administration’s actions to what they called a lack of respect they’d grown accustomed to from lawmakers at the Statehouse.

“We’re frustrated, and we feel so abandoned by you,” Amber Ma, a kindergarten teacher at Glen Acres Elementary, told school board members during a public comment portion at the tail end of Tuesday’s meeting.

(Photo: Dave Bangert)

“When we are not respected, our morale falls to the floor, and it’s not good for anyone,” Ma said. “Please, understand that we are not here to cause a problem, but we feel that we are being treated unfairly.”

LSC Superintendent Les Huddle said he wasn’t surprised by the teachers’ frustrations.