OBSERVER Photo by Natasha Matteliano Fredonia parents are still frustrated with the Board of Education and the “lack of leadership” within the district.

Parents in Fredonia are still struggling to get their children back in school and taxpayers are unhappy with recent decisions made by the school board.

At this week’s Board of Education meeting, many parents stood before the board for the same reason: to get their children back in school, full-time.

Much like the last meeting, most of the same parents spoke up about their concerns for the education and well-being of their children, including Andrew Ludwig, Julie Mikula and a new speaker, Kelly Schrantz. Many questioned why Fredonia has not figured out how to get students back in school yet.

At the meeting, the board passed resolutions to hire five new employees, including a superintendent, a physical education teacher, and three support staff members. Seven others were also hired as substitutes.

The board also passed a resolution to approve the purchase of six thermal temperature-taking cameras for almost $12,000.

Mikula, a parent and former teacher from Fredonia, spoke about various things, but focused her approach to the board on the use of their current teachers.

“The problems that I have been fighting endlessly do not have to do with COVID-19. Yes, it is an added layer of stress to everything that has been going on,” Mikula said. “These things don’t have to do with the pandemic. They have to do with poor leadership and lack of planning.”

According to Mikula, who said this information was gathered by talking with elementary school Principal Mark Drollinger, there are five full-time teachers teaching 69 students from grades one through five, one teacher for each grade level. The first-grade teacher has 16 remote students; second grade has 18; third has nine; fourth has 20; and fifth grade has just six students.

She went on to suggest that, like in Westfield, teacher assistants may be able to help in teaching these remote learners.

She also recommended that the children be clumped up into larger groups, combining grade levels, so the school does not have a full-time teacher working with only five children a day. Mikula also added that, even with these low numbers, the remote students are not getting enough contact time per day from the teachers, according to their contracts.

“Contractually, each teacher is required to have 200 minutes of contact time, per student. I’m curious as to if all of those remote learners are receiving 200 minutes of Zoom per day. I’m guessing no. My daughter receives nowhere near that contact time per day.” Mikula said. “As a matter of fact, Mr. Drollinger conveyed to me earlier that his remote learners get 120 minutes a day. … These teachers are certified to teach elementary school. One level of nine kids, 120 minutes a day does not make a full-time teacher.”

The Fredonia Central School District is one of the few — if only — districts in the county that has not brought students back into the school in some form. Mikula is encouraging the school to strengthen their leadership skills and to use the staff that they already have.

“When speaking about budget, resources, bringing kids back to school because we need more teaching staff, no, we don’t,” Mikula said. “We’re not using the teaching staff that we have. The teaching staff that we have is not all working full time. Why, as a taxpayer, would I want to encourage hiring more staff and my taxes being raised, when we’re not utilizing the staff that we have.”

Ludwig and Schrantz also spoke, with Ludwig focusing more on the $12,000 of taxpayer money being used than the education this meeting, saying that this is an exorbitant amount of money when there are touchless thermometers for sale at Ollie’s for $40. Schrantz, a teacher at Cassadaga and parent of Fredonia children, encouraged the board to work harder on getting the children back into school.

“They’re missing out on day to day encouragement from peers, they’re missing out on the flow of different conversations and open discussions within the classroom, and I can tell you that being a teacher of a hybrid plan, it’s harder to teach remote and get things the way they need to be to keep our students from falling into depression,” Schrantz said. “Education has always been way more than just the curriculum. That’s why we got into teaching in the first place, to make a difference in the lives of children.”