Trio has no interest in building up WBCSD

On July 5, WBCSD Superintendent Branden Durst proposed his own budget that would essentially cut the teacher salary raise by 6.5%. He claimed this was to ensure we could fund co-curriculars, my guess is he thought this would get our community majority off of his back.

At this point, we are down 23 teachers in our school district. Back in the fall, a four-day school week was passed in order to recruit and retain teachers.

How are we expected as a district to recruit or retain teachers if we are cutting salaries? How are teachers expected to be motivated and successful if they are getting paid less than any other district, can't afford housing, and aren't supported by their board and administration?

Durst, and trustees Keith Rutledge and Susan Brown have expressed concern over our test scores, specifically reading. Reading instruction is very difficult and requires a lot of materials, time, and effort. The board proved last September a solid curriculum isn't a priority. How can we improve these scores if we do not have enough teachers? How could one teacher give enough attention to students when their class size will inevitably be too large for solid instruction?

All of these points prove to me that these people have no interest in improving our district, rather than tearing it down.

Mr. Durst's frustration last night also showed me he was not expecting the WBCSD parents and teachers to be so involved.

We want to be represented and we are not. And the thing about Spartans is we do not give up.

WHITNEY URMANN

Laclede