Teachers and parents press Akron board over understaffed early‑learning classrooms and proposed site changes

Dozens of early‑learning teachers and parents told the Akron Public Schools Board at its March 10 meeting that rapid expansion and reconfiguration of the district’s Early Learning Program (ELP) has produced unsafe conditions, persistent staffing shortages and confusing, last‑minute placement decisions.

The speakers — who included classroom teachers, early‑intervention specialists and parents from CASE, Essex, KCLC, Stewart and other sites — described classrooms running short of paraprofessionals and substitutes, children being changed on bathroom floors and long stretches without adequate adult supervision. Kelly Lutz, an early‑childhood teacher at Helen Arnold CLC, said, “we continue to see children spending far too long in soiled diapers,” and told the board educators were “exhausted.”

Why it matters: Akron’s ELP expansion and the district’s plan to reconfigure sites — commentators said closing or shifting classrooms at Case and Essex — affects preschool access for families and placements for students with special needs. Parents and teachers said the changes were announced to staff and families with little notice; board members asked central office for specifics about staffing, available classrooms and how many slots will remain.

Teachers and parents gave multiple examples. Brooke Gray, an early‑intervention specialist, said the program “could have been a step forward,” but that the administration “rushed these changes with little to no foresight” and ignored staff concerns.…