BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) Walkouts and demonstrations are no stranger to the Nardin community this school year.
Students and parents held a march outside the Cleveland Avenue school Sunday night, following months of turmoil over leadership at the school.
For parent Jen Parks, whose daughter will graduate from Nardin in a couple of weeks, Sunday's gathering was different.
"We are at wit's end here, quite honestly. We have written hundred of letters, made hundreds of phone calls. We have pleaded and begged for transparency, for action and for answers. No one is giving us that," said Parks on WBEN Monday.
She said the march was the final straw to ask school leadership to respond to their pleas.
At issue, according to parents, is the work environment at Nardin under President Dr. Sandra Betters and Board chair Tish Van Dyke. A couple of dozen faculty and staff have left, key donors have withheld financial support for the school and a number of families are withholding deposits for next school year.
Attorney Lisa Coppola represents longtime High School teacher Marilou Bebak who was fired after 31 years with Nardin. "Ms. Bebak is a loyal, longtime teacher. She's gone to NASA and has done all sorts of interesting projects with her students. She has been respectfully outspoken since last year about concerns that she has about the workplace and about how her colleagues and herself were being treated."
Coppola said she and Bebak believe her termination was retaliatory for concerns that she repeatedly raised. "I can tell you that under New York State law, and under federal law, employees have the right to discuss among themselves and with supervisory staff, their concerns about how the workplace is being managed."
Does Bebak want her job back? "Of course she does," said Coppola. "She's devoted decades of her life to teaching young women about biology and about being citizens of the world."
Parent Jen Parks agrees that the core function of a school is its teachers. "When you start disrupting that that, it impacts students and families. The toxic work environment that Betters has created is the issue at hand," she said.
She noted that the Board of Trustees at Nardin has been aware of the issue for over a year, but nothing has been done.
In mid April, the Board urged everyone to wait for an independent assessment from outside counsel before reaching conclusions.
"We're still waiting for that report. There's no direction, no timeline, nothing," added Parks.
While in this holding pattern, Parks said families are in turmoil.
"We're wrapping up a school year. Kids are graduating. Others are planning to go to high school from 8th grade, and parents are holding their deposits. We want to know what does the future of the school look like? As a parent, whose daughter is graduating from the High School in a couple of weeks, it's
completely unacceptable," said Parks.
The situation could be coming to a head this week with a scheduled meeting of the board of trustees.
"We've heard there's a board meeting. We are praying that this comes to an end with Betters departure. We want to end the school year on a high note."
