Teachers protest ‘erosion of discipline’

By Audrey Russo, Rob Polansky, Sharon Johnson

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    NEW BRITAIN, Connecticut (WFSB) — While students in New Britain are on their way to class Thursday morning, teachers at the city’s high school staged a protest before the first bell rings.

The educators said they are trying to raise awareness about what they call an erosion of discipline in the district.

“We’ve been on a downward spiral for many, many years, with the uptick from being out of school but also the lack of supervision, the lack of rules, the lack of enforcement of rules that are already on the books,” said Susan Humanick, AFT 871 union vice president and English teacher at New Britain High School. “We’ve seen a rapid, rapid decline in student behavior.”

Humanick said the decline has resulted in guns, knives and bullets at the school.

“It’s no secret that to the community that this is going on,” she said. “I think we need to take a stand for the safety and wellbeing of all students in our community and all staff members.”

Humanick said the teachers feel scared, unsupported and under siege.

The Board of Education of the Consolidated School District of New Britain did call for a special meeting on Feb. 24 at 6 p.m.

“The purpose of this meeting is to review the performance of the superintendent and discuss her contract and a potential buyout,” the board wrote in a letter to Town Clerk Mark Bernacki on Wednesday. “In the wake of the recent events, the community has made it clear they are concerned about safety in our schools, and action needs to be taken to ensure the safety of our students and staff.”

Superintendent Nancy Sarra and assistant superintendent Michael Foran issued a statement on Thursday.

“CSDNB remains committed to ensuring the safety and security of all students and staff. We are on the side of safety as well. Through our ESSSER funding, we have added multiple staff members at New Britain High School, and all other schools, to ensure the safety of all New Britain staff and students. We have been working closely with the police department through ongoing communication to ensure there is extra police presence at our buildings. The instances that happened last week occurred off school property. As stated in our earlier comments, it is a community wide problem. CSDNB continues to be willing to work with teachers, staff, students, board of education members and city leaders to find community solutions and ensure safety for all.”

Sarra is due to retire on June 30, 2022.

The teachers in the local union said they want the district to implement more safety and security policies at New Britain High School.

After a rocky start to the school year and other instances of violence, they said they do not have a productive place for students to learn.

New Britain’s teachers union said it will demand more action be taken by the district to protect staff and students.

“We’ve been in lockdown three times in the past two weeks and the teachers, the students, the staff want change. we want a more secure building with better safety procedures,” said New Britain Federation of Teachers President Steve Gray.

After COVID-19 lockdowns and remote learning, teachers returned for in-person learning this year to find an increase in fighting and vandalism in the building.

Last week, the school was forced into lockdown after a 16-year old was shot within walking distance of the campus.

Students said they were scared too, being forced to comfort each other when they should have been learning.

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