COLUMBIA, S.C. — Richland School District One is still facing backlash after reassigning teachers within the district mid-way through the school year, and complaints over the process had parents and teachers voicing concerns over larger issues at Richland One's school board meeting Tuesday night.
Richland One school board members walked into a packed house Tuesday night at the second board meeting of the month. Parents, teachers, and even some elected officials expressed their frustration and concern following the reassignments, which led to complaints about larger issues such as teacher retention and teacher certification in the district.
Hearing the amount of frustration around the matter was why State House Representative Heather Bauer spoke out at the meeting.
"It's unacceptable," Bauer said. "First, you need to know where you are to know where you are going, and it is clear they do not have the capability to do that."
Although there was an agenda set to cover during Tuesday meeting, it took the board roughly three hours to move past concerns over teacher reassignments from parents and teachers who came to voice their concern and frustration.
Scott Barber was one of those parents who spoke out at the meeting.
"We are asking for the district to plan better, to learn their lessons from the past and be more proactive," Barber said. "There is a pattern of behavior that the district has repeatedly shown that they are not transparent and have not thought things through."
How Richland One administrators handled the reassignment transition was a major concern for Meredith Jeffords, a teacher at Brennen Elementary, and her colleagues.
"Our school level administration did not address it at all because they were not involved," Jeffords explained. "So, surprisingly, our principal wasn't even aware of the transfers being made from her own school."
Bauer said something has to change.
"Whether that's a change in leadership or the way processes are handled, maybe it's a piece of legislation I file to help with that, but I think no amount of band-aids is going to fix it," Bauer said.
Although teachers are told they upon signing their contract that they are subject to reassignment, how the district handled the transition was the overall concern according for teachers and parents WLTX spoke with on Wednesday.
News 19 reached out to Richland One for comment. However, no one was available for comment.