Sure enough, although students, parents and educators pleaded with the Stamford Board of Education (BOE) to not implement the flexible 4×4/AB schedule, the BOE did it anyway.
Now the district is in a hot mess…
Student & Teacher Loss
Approximately 900 students withdrew before the school year started, much more than initially projected. Teacher turnover, too, continues to be steady—30% of Stamford Public School’s (SPS) full-time staff have left the district over four years. Untenured teachers leave as quickly as they arrive. Why?
Equity No More
The flexible schedule has totally removed equity from SPS. Families, who can afford to address learning gaps, hire tutors. Poorer families have no options. Inequities flourish—students can miss mathematics for one full year (two semesters). Students on the A/B schedule have four periods every other day (8 in total) while the 4×4 students have 4 periods daily, five days a week—stress is extremely high. Central office and the BOE knew this would happen but refused to listen. No wonder they don’t want to assess Policy 5000.1 Equity and Diversity.
Teaching & Learning Concerns
Professional development is not effective when forced under the guise of collaboration. The high school curriculum has been cut to fit the hurried schedule, and the mid-year report is nothing but a facade. Middle school students are missing core subject learning. Special Education needs are still not being met consistently across the district (e.g., co-taught classes with no assigned co-teacher). Multi-Lingual Learners are not receiving adequate services. Subjective data (qualitative) is not helpful, nor does it address issues. Accurate numerical data (quantitative) is needed to make hard decisions. Knowing this, the taxpayers are smarter than the BOE and will continue to vote accordingly.
Administrative, Teacher & Paraprofessional Grievances
Lack of professional decorum and deep disdain for the workforce from top central office leaders as well as some BOE members have created a real hot mess—grievances have exploded. How is this going to be solved? Will a new superintendent be able to create trust despite six years of poor management and systemic supervision?
Lack of Transparency
Who is in charge? Who is holding administrators accountable? The out-going superintendent, the incoming BOE, or shadow leaders? Past majority-party presidents have used votes to sway actions the last 11 years. They have also tinkered with budgets as well as BOE committee chair positions to force decision-making. When will the bureaucrats understand that this is not working—achievement scores are stagnant, the culture is deeply broken, and deep-rooted families are leaving Stamford?
Fear and toxicity are now rampant throughout the district. How did this come about? Is the new BOE ready to seriously deal with these concerns or will mediocrity win again? Most importantly, what is the incoming BOE’s proposed plan?
Hope is always there, but without bipartisanship and listening, nothing will change. The shenanigans must stop. Stamford students and staff deserve real change, not just lip service. We have students, families and a workforce that are ready, willing, talented and dedicated. Will the new 2025-2026 BOE be fearless, work together and make the hard decisions that need to be made?
If this new BOE is ready, we can rebuild—we can be strong—we are Stamford. The student, family and educator army are fighters, and we will not bow to politics. Miracles can happen.
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Dr. Rebecca Hamman currently serves as a member of the Stamford Board of Education. She is a career educator (teacher & administrator) and has worked 11 years elementary and 15 years secondary. Her comments are her own, and do not represent the official views of the Board of Education or its committees.