Natalya Lahtakia and John Brueggemann both deny the rise in violent and anti-social behavior in the district despite concerns from students, teachers and parents.
One of the most disturbing things about the Saratoga Springs Board of Education candidate forum, which took place last night, was that there are some School Board Trustees that continue to side with the Administration over Parents and Teachers.
Both John Brueggemann and Natalya Lahtakia are running for re-election to the Saratoga Springs Board of Education. We previously reported that parents, teachers and students were deeply concerned about the rise in violent and other anti-social behavior on campus.
Unfortunately it is becoming increasingly clear, that the administration is attempting to manipulate parents and teachers to believe that the problem doesn't exist. Case in point, at the April 28th Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Mike Patton gave a presentation which detailed the number of violent and other anti-social events on campus during the last 9 years in an effort to alleviate stakeholder concerns that there has been an precipitous increase in this type of negative behavior.
The problem with the presentation was that Mike's data didn't include information from this school year. Instead he focused on data from the previous two school years. The issue with that approach is that in the 19-20' school year students were learning at home from March through year end in June. In 20-21' school year students were engaged in hybrid learning, meaning they were only in the school building 2 or 3 days per week.
To provide numbers in this way without the context necessary to understand them is a blatant attempt at manipulation.
What is most troubling about this problem is that Lahtakia and Brueggemann continue to side with the Administration over the Parents and Teachers.
I will remind our readers that the teachers union wrote the following letter to its members just a couple of weeks ago. Read the full letter here:
“This week SSTA leadership met with District leadership to discuss student behavior and discipline within our buildings.
This issue is affecting every building and needs to be a top priority.
There have been several disturbing incidents in the past week alone that have prompted us to take this beyond the building level and make this a top priority for the entire district.
Several of the topics we focused on were:
Difficulty of navigating the RTI and CSE referral process when dealing with behaviors
Disrespectful and volatile incidents directed by teachers by students
A lack of administrative support when students are referred for discipline
Our readers might also remember that two students spoke about the rise in bullying, vaping, violence and other general anti-social behavior, begging the school board to take action.
Its becoming increasingly clear that the choice in this election boils down to a single question.
Do you believe and support students, parents and teachers or do you stand with the administration?
Clearly, Trustees Natalya Lahtakia and John Brueggemann have made their choice.
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