Hundreds of parents and students filled the Allen East School Board meeting to voice their concerns and show support for district leadership. On March 7th Allen East students held a sit in saying they were protesting the actions of the schools' Superintendent, Mel Rentschler. Tuesday many of those students, their parents, and alumni told the board why they are upset with the school system. Other attendees spoke in support of the administration and their efforts to fulfill the needs of the school.
Your Hometown Stations was at that meeting and we have comments from those who spoke. "The focus is on power, personalities, and spending," said former teacher, Rebecca Crouse, "Dissension and divisiveness reign."
"There are supporters of the board, and we are here today and we do respect your decisions," said parent, Sara Pinks.
"These students should come first, these grades should come first," said parent, Kelly Painter, "My son shouldn't fail every class and me not be notified until I get an interim report."
"Last year when there was an election I saw one name on that ballot," said parent and alumnus, Kyle Miller, "And they're sitting there, nobody else sitting out there that came to complain put their name on the ballot."
Mel Rentschler tells us the board will continue to listen to and address all concerns. "We're glad people showed up and expressed their concerns with the school," said Rentschler, "We listen to them and we gave you an extensive list of things we've been working on the last two years, and there's a lot of work to be done, things don't just stop because the people are upset about things, there's a lot of great things happening at Allen East."
The School Board also handed out a list of positive initiatives the school is working on, including educational opportunities and safety for students.
