Former teacher’s blog claims turmoil at local middle school

Keely Arthur by Keely Arthur

A blog written by a former Madison teacher is shedding light on the concerns of parents and staff at one local middle school.

The blog claims a large number of both staff and students are leaving Sherman Middle school in Madison because of the school principal. News 3 spoke with one parent who said the blog isn’t an exaggeration.

Middle school isn’t always the easiest of times, but parent Heather Banschbach claims Sherman Middle School problems go far beyond adolescence.

“It’s not uncommon to walk by a classroom where teachers are talking in whispers and tears are running down their face and there is obvious frustration,” Banschbach, who has one student at the school now and one starting there next fall, said. “Of course some of that could just be a specific child that day, but it happens so frequently that it’s hard to attribute to one student or one day.”

In a recently published blog gaining a lot of attention online, a former Sherman teacher shares she left because of the leadership, claiming principal Kristin Foreman’s apathetic approach led to unruly students and overworked teachers.

“From beginning to end it was all stuff that I experienced myself or had seen myself,” Banschbach said.

The Madison Metropolitan School district sent out its own statement.

After a blog claims turmoil inside Sherman Middle School. MMSD responds saying they are concerned by the shaming of a “principal of color” pic.twitter.com/PQGswz467f

— Keely Arthur (@news3keely) June 12, 2018

Writing in part, “Schools sometimes face transitions and challenges; however, the way we work through them defines us as a school community and district. We have grave concerns regarding the type of personal, public shaming of a principal, in this case a principal of color, that has taken place in recent days.”

The statement added that leaders welcome feedback from the school community about how to solve problems.

“It’s a very tough spot to be, because I don’t want to give up on this school but I also want what’s best for our kids,” she said.

News 3 asked Madison Metropolitan School District leaders for numbers including how many students have transferred and how many teachers have left. The district has not responded.

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