ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — With radioactive testing resuming at Jana Elementary, parents are sounding off over the Hazelwood Board of Education's plan to split Jana Elementary students up.
Right now Jana students are learning at home but come Nov. 28, those students will report to one of five different schools in the area including Barrington Elementary, Brown Elementary, Coldwater Elementary, McCurdy Elementary, and Walker Elementary. The decision to do that still is not sitting well with some parents who spoke out at the Hazelwood School Board meeting Tuesday night.
They were hoping school leaders would reconsider the plan. It comes after a private meeting last week where Jana families learned about it. Parents have said they were never asked for their input.
"It's disappointing today to hear what we had to hear today. We thought we came to have the opportunity to join with you to work together to get solutions for Jana,” parent Jason Bell said.
"We fear discrimination in those other schools because we will be the problem makers. As much as folks may very well want to welcome us, we understand we will explode their classrooms. We will overtax our teachers and our students will be the cause of it,” PTA President Ashley Bernaugh added.
"We are all affected by this so I do want us to come together and try to get it resolved instead of all this fighting. I didn't come here for all of this. I don't want to fight. I just want to get it resolved,” parent Patrice Strickland said.
School leaders say they are sensitive to parents' requests to maintain a neighborhood feel for Jana Elementary. They also spoke Tuesday about increasing parental input and involvement in general. Some parents are asking how important is that goal when they don’t feel heard on this issue.