Central students tell board to keep longtime French teacher and oppose cuts to orchestra instruction

Students and student representatives spoke during open forum to urge the Davenport Community School District board not to reassign the school’s French teacher and to avoid staffing changes that would cut orchestra instruction.

Charlotte Duffus, a Central student, told the board she is asking the trustees to “reconsider” moving Madame Levra out of the French program because Levra “inspires so many different people” and makes students want to attend school. Eli Sudith, a Central sophomore, said students had been told the district plans to reassign the current French teacher and replace her with a teacher who “has a French endorsement but has not taught or used French for many years in the classroom,” which Sudith described as “a problem” for program quality and continuity. “Students at Central deserve the best teacher for the job,” Sudith said.

Student school board representative Carlen Peterson said the reassignment feels “not fair to the students or the teachers,” noting that Madame Levra is currently the school’s only French teacher and that swapping instructors would disrupt course continuity. Katherine Staly, a four‑year member of the Central orchestra, raised a separate but related staffing concern: she said orchestra enrollment has climbed to about 75 students and that a proposed schedule change would reduce the orchestra director’s time and remove a visiting director who provided individual 10‑minute lessons that students rely on to progress.

Why it matters: students told the board that losing a long‑standing, active language instructor or reducing dedicated fine‑arts instruction could reduce program quality and student engagement. The comments, which included specific claims about the district’s personnel plans and the instructional model for orchestra lessons, were presented during open forum; under Iowa open‑meeting law and the board’s stated rules, the board will not act on items that are not on the published agenda.

Board response and next steps: board members repeatedly thanked students for speaking and said their remarks were important to hear. President Klein Jerome and several directors acknowledged appreciation for the input but no motion or formal action on staffing was taken at the meeting. Superintendent Schneck (transcript spelling varies) and board members encouraged follow‑up outside of the open forum process and noted that agenda items require separate consideration.

The students’ objections remain unresolved in the meeting transcript; the board did not vote on or announce a change in assignments during the session. The district’s personnel recommendation process and any final assignment decisions were not described in detail on the record and were not included on the published agenda.