One Boerum Hill school is teaching kids about erosion — by slimming down its science program.
PS 261 lost one of its two science teachers over the summer and has not yet found a replacement, leaving a bunch of kindergartners, first graders, and fifth graders without a special science program, say parents who want the slot filled as soon as possible.
“We are all disappointed that [the former science teacher] has not been replaced yet,” said Lucinda Rosenfeld, the mother of a kindergartner and a second grader at the public elementary school.
The departure of a part-time teacher left just one full-time instructor, who is able to teach the extra class to only about half of the youngsters who had been taking it according to Rachel Porter, the vice president of the Parent Teacher Association.
Homeroom teachers are picking up the slack, but only enough to meet the requirements of the state’s core curriculum, Porter said.
“They are getting as much science as the core curriculum mandates,” Porter said, though she stopped short of saying kids were definitely learning less.
Porter said that a lack of resources are to blame.
Many parents were reluctant to speak on the record about the saga of the lost science teacher for fear it would hurt their school’s reputation. One parent, who asked to remain anonymous, said that friends from other countries cannot believe that the spot has remain unfilled for so long.
“My European friends and Asian friends are laughing at us for this,” the parent said. “I don’t know how, in this economy, it’s hard to find a part-time science teacher in New York City.”
The Department of Education and the principal of PS 261 did not return repeat requests for comment.
