Deal Island parents not satisfied with closed meeting Tuesday night
DEAL ISLAND, Md. – Following a hot mic incident in which the Somerset County Superintendent of Schools suggested Deal Island Elementary should close, a meeting was held Tuesday night to hear concerns from parents.
However, the closed meeting left some with more questions than answers.
“I’d like to see changes be made and I’ll express that Somerset County has some issues, Deal Island is not one of those,” said Samantha Windsor, a Deal Island parent.
Windsor is one of the many Deal Island parents who attended Tuesday night’s meeting.
“I felt that the meeting was a way for us to hear her out, for us parents to get our concerns across,” she said. “I’m not 100% certain that that was met last night.”
During that meeting, Windsor said Superintendent Dr. Ava Tasker-Mitchell offered an apology for her comments, but not in the way she had hoped.
“Making excuses with your apology in my opinion is not an apology,” said Windsor. “What we wanted to hear, what everybody would want to hear, is a true heartfelt ‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said what I’ve said,’ and that I’m willing to do the work going forward.”
Another parent, Andrew Travers, said there was only a one hour window to express concerns Tuesday night.
“We were not given enough time to speak or ask these questions as we were cut off, we were timed,” said Travers.
In addition, Travers said there were sheriff’s deputies on hand during the meeting.
Travers is calling for the dismissal of both Dr. Tasker-Mitchell and Director of Schools Tracie Bartemy.
“The community just needs to understand the problem is just not Deal Island school, these two are making the decisions for all Somerset County schools, Somerset County schools to me are in shambles, other than Deal Island School,” he said.
Windsor said she would like to see more from Dr. Tasker-Mitchell moving forward.
“I’d like for her to stick to her word. Prove to us parents we can trust her,” said Windsor.
We reached out to the office of Dr. Ava Tasker-Mitchell Wednesday, but did not receive a response.
