Springfield Parents To Rally Together For 'Change' At BOE Meeting

SPRINGFIELD, NJ — Springfield parents are being asked to wear light blue and attend the next Board of Education meeting on Nov. 6 in regards to bullying and looping.

Parents are being asked to wear the light blue as a sign of unity in support of #LimitLooping and #ZeroTolerancePolicy.

"The Springfield Board of Education has let a lot of the families in town down for years and years and we cannot just accept that anymore," according to a Facebook event titled "Time for a Change in our Springfield Schools" created by Ricarda Freydel. "The majority of Springfield residents are NOT happy with the current superintendent as well as specific board members."

Recent bullying and looping have come to light in the past couple months. For the past two months, n9-year-old Emma Spektor has stayed home from school as a result of what her mother Irinia says is due to bullying and her being "looped" or having the same class two years in a row.

• See Related: Springfield 4th Grader Won't Go To School Because Of Bullies, Mom's Plea For New Classroom Rejected
• See Related: Springfield Parent Asks Superintendent To Admit Mistake In Bullying Case: Letter

"Frustrated" parents have also joined together to start a movement called "Limit Looping" as a result of their own negative experiences with looping in the district.

Looping is a practice where a student repeats the next grade level with the same class and teacher as the year prior. The group feels looping can have benefits, but, at the same time, can hinder a child academically and also can cause hurtful consequences in cases of bullying.

• See Related: Students Shouldn't Have Same Class, Teacher Two Years In A Row, 'Frustrated' Parents Say

The movement has also created a petition that is gathering signatures to be eventually presented to the board. To sign the petition CLICK HERE.

The board meeting will be held on Nov. 6 at 7:30 p.m. at Jonathan Dayton High School's Instructional Media Center.

"At the board meetings, parents are often dismissed and bullied regularly by the superintendent himself, Mr. Davino, and the BOE members," Freydel wrote in the event. "The school board is supposed to represent OUR voice in our children's public education right here in Springfield. The usual suspects on the Board have been enabling Davino for years. They have failed us. Davino MUST go."

(Image via Limit Looping)

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