RSSAsk and Ye Shall Receive – “Vallas Summer School Plan” Makes Surprise Appearance
Jun 19
Bridgeport, Paul Vallas Bridgeport, Paul Vallas 7 Comments
(Bridgeport) – With the last full day of the school year over, and six hours after Bridgeport; What if they had Summer School and nobody was told was posted here at Wait, What?, Bridgeport’s Superintendents Office issued a press release entitled “Bridgeport Public Schools announces Summer School Programs.”
With Vallas like finesse, the statement goes on to read “we are pleased to publicly announce all of the program offerings that students will be participating in this summer.”
Strangely, the lead paragraph is dated “April 23, 2012,” indicating that the information was actually ready to go out two months ago and simply not released on time, or in the rush to get the document out yesterday, they cut and pasted a new document from last year’s memo, a memo that actually did go out on time, two months earlier than this year’s announcement.
Of even greater concern for the parents and teachers of Bridgeport’s students, is the fact that the press release is full of false and misleading statements.
Faced with criticism that the Vallas operation is great at making big promises but can’t seem to properly implement anything, the document starts by claiming that “approximately 5,000 students in Bridgeport will have access to a wide variety of summer programs.” Those programs are valued at $1.1 million.
The superintendent’s office then writes, “principals have sent letters notifying the parents of all students identified for intervention programs, and individual enrichment programs have already reached out to inform students of the opportunities that are available.”
Perhaps the Vallas administration is claiming that letters rushed to the post office yesterday count, but none of the parents contacted since the 4:05 p.m. memo was sent out say that they’ve be given any information about where and when children are supposed to show up for summer school classes.
The Connecticut Post also reports that “Participation is in question, because parents just began receiving notices about the programs last week…Also, a decision was made to eliminate transportation in order to expand the number of seats provided.”
Considering that access to safe, secure and timely transportation is a vital element for any successful public education program, it seems particularly odd that the Vallas approach would be to brag about adding “slots,” while failing to provide parents with the information they need in a timely manner and canceling the very transportation that parents need in order to juggle summer school with all the other demands on daily life.
You can find the CT Post story here: http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Bridgeport-expands-summer-school-offerings-3642948.php#ixzz1yFA1PEUv
