Parents, staff tell St. Charles CUSD 303 board Fox Ridge Elementary is 'in a current state of crisis'

Multiple parents and volunteers urged the St. Charles CUSD 303 Board of Education on Oct. 14 to address a series of disruptive and, they say, unsafe incidents at Fox Ridge Elementary, saying frequent "reverse evacuations," physical incidents and limited staff support have harmed student learning and wellbeing.

At the meeting Carrie Anne Harry, a Fox Ridge parent, said that over the past month she has participated in meetings with district and school staff and that Fox Ridge has "found itself in a current state of crisis." Harry described repeated reverse evacuations that left "20 plus students who are sitting in the hallways" and said students were often moved into other classrooms without books or materials. She told the board, "This means that sometimes 3 to 4 times a day, 50 plus students are suffering by not getting proper instructional time," and added that, in her estimate, students were "potentially missing 300 minutes of academics per week." (Public speakers' comments were delivered during the meeting's public comment period.)

Parent Diane Faisick described scenes she said her child witnessed: "teachers' rocking chairs flipped over, the lunch cart knocked on his side, and lunches scattered across the floor." Faisick said…