The West Bend School District administration declined to comment Tuesday about the sudden and abrupt resignation of four English teachers last week, and won't explain why they chose to resign.
However, students and parents alike are concerned about the timing of the entire situation, regardless of reason.
"I think the kids were definitely not put first in this situation," said Barb Lundin, a concerned mother. "The kids really feel marginalized."
One student, Victoria Vickman, wanted to stand up for the teachers who were dismissed and started a petition in support of the teachers. Since it started, it has over 600 signatures. She plans on taking it to the school board to voice her concerns and hopes everyone will see that these are great teachers, she says.
"Some teachers come for a paycheck and some teachers come to teach," Vickman said. "The teachers who were let go really were good teachers. These teachers really made an impact on kids' lives and I know a lot of kids are sad about it."
While she had one of the teachers just for study hall, she says other students are struggling with the situation.
"There is a final paper they have to write which is 10 percent of their final grade," Vickman said. "Now they're saying, no teacher, no paper. They don't know what to write the paper on. They don't have a teacher to guide them."
In a statement released by the school district on Friday, it acknowledged the difficulty of the timing of this situation but said it, "...may have a short-term impact on the remaining few days of your child’s school year."
Lundin says she was told the classes would be covered by certified teachers but believes her son's education is suffering.
"I was told at the time when the teachers were dismissed, the teaching had already been done," Lundin said. "It was basically up to him from here on out. That's kind of how he feels. His English class is being run like a study hall these days. I think the timing of the decision was bad. It was irresponsible. If the teachers did anything short of murder, child abuse of any sort, I think they should have been left to complete the last seven or so days before school let out and help these kids through their finals."
Lundin knows it's only about two weeks these kids have to get through, but she feels the school is being dismissive of the students' education and she doesn't want this to impact his future when he's trying to get into college.
"If he happens to struggle, I suppose is not that big of a deal," Lundin said. "But this has kind of tainted him. We've told him for so long, grades are really important. All of a sudden this happens and he goes, you told me grades were important but doesn't the school think our studies are important? Here we are and we don't have any support."
The West Bend School District said they will have no further comment than their statement on Facebook.
TODAY'S TMJ-4 also connected with one of the four teachers who resigned. He declined an interview.
