PERTH AMBOY — The district superintendent and president of the union representing teachers and other staff members offered differing views on the first day of school during Thursday’s Board of Education meeting, a sign that not everyone is on the same page.
“It was one of the smoothest openings I’ve experienced. There were very few issues for the beginning of school,” said Superintendent of Schools Janine Walker Caffrey, who visited schools on Thursday’s opening day. “There is a lot of transition. A lot of changes. We appreciate the flexibility of everyone. It was a very smooth day.”
She said hearing opening day referred to as “chaos” was disheartening.
But that is how opening day was described by Donna Chiera, president of Perth Amboy Federation/AFT, the union representing district teachers and other staff members.
“In some school buildings there was pure chaos, and staff came in and did what they had to do for the best interests of kids,” Chiera said.
One of the main issues involved scheduling, or in some cases an apparent lack of schedules for students.
Chiera and other union members said some high school students had schedules that didn’t match the academies where they were assigned. She also heard reports there were nearly 500 students at Shull Middle School who didn’t have schedules and had to stay in their homeroom all day. She said the schedules were never put into the district’s system.
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