Staffing issues prompt protests outside of DC school

WASHINGTON D.C., DC — For the second day in a row third grade students and parents protested outside of Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School's Northwest Campus.

Their growing frustration is over the loss of school teachers which they said has put students behind academically and socially. 

"We just can't afford another lost year for this age group of kids," parent Amy Tauzin said. 

The third grade class lost three out of their four teachers in the Spring. Mundo Verde hired long-term substitute teachers to replace them.  

The school's leadership recognized the concerns and frustrations in a statement, calling the mid-year staff resignations "disruptive." 

"Long-term substitutes are not what anyone wants for our students," the statement added. 

Parents of the outgoing third grade class said their students cannot handle another school year with staffing issues, particularly with an age group that started kindergarten during the pandemic. 

"They've never had a regular year of instruction or time with their teachers. What we have seen is that they have a lot of academic, social and emotional needs," Tauzin said. 

Students that were picketing outside the school said they felt like they had fallen behind with the absence of their permanent teachers. 

"It's really sad because it's not the same without them being here to teach us and stuff. With them here, we haven't been learning a lot of things," Selina, a third grader, said. 

Parents echoed their children's concerns regarding the amount of time spent on computers. 

"Since I lost a lot of my teachers, the substitutes are putting us on our computers and we are not really learning," Annabelle, a third grader at Mundo Verde, said. 

Families have outlined a series of demands that include a detailed plan about what is being done to assure that staffing issues do not disrupt the future fourth graders.

The Mundo Verde Leadership told WUSA9 in a statement, "Regarding the teacher turnover we have experienced in this grade, we continue to prioritize student learning through a temporary solution for this year and planning for next year."