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Teachers tell board technology gaps and lack of supports are hurting classrooms
Summary
Several district employees testified during public comment that classroom technology (smart boards, teacher computers, color printing) has been delayed or restricted and that inadequate tiered behavioral and social‑emotional supports are causing safety and instructional disruptions in early grades.
Several Antioch Unified teachers used the public comment period on Thursday to press the board for more classroom supports and to describe day‑to‑day safety and instruction challenges.
Amanda Freitas, a kindergarten teacher at Fremont Elementary, said site‑level requests for smart boards have not been fulfilled, district‑issued teacher computers are slow, and the district recently blocked use of teachers’ personal laptops in classrooms. "Our teacher computers are old. They run slow," she said. "I use my own personal computer because it runs a lot faster than what I get from the district, but I can no longer use that in my classroom." Freitas also urged more testing and intervention support for students with disabilities.
Amber Dagan, a first‑grade teacher at Fremont, echoed the technology concerns and described classroom safety incidents and insufficient tier‑2/3 behavioral interventions. "This school year has been one of the most rough. I've been punched in the chest twice by my student," she said, adding that the district’s reading intervention teacher is frequently pulled to substitute rather than providing interventions.
Why it matters: teachers’ reports describe operational barriers that affect classroom instruction and student safety. Trustees and staff responded during Q&A that technology purchases had been reclassified to capital outlay in some cases and that district teams are reviewing supports, but teachers at the mic said many day‑to‑day needs remained unmet.
Public memorial: longtime local music educator Sharon Vela urged the board to recognize the late Betty Lawrence and described Lawrence’s decades of service keeping strings programs alive in Antioch schools; trustees agreed to adjourn the meeting in her memory.
What’s next: teachers and trustees discussed inviting trustees to visit Fremont to see conditions firsthand and staff said they would continue to gather implementation details on technology deployments and special‑education supports.
