Teachers at Independence High School told the Columbus City school board Wednesday that their school resources are being stretched thin by what an administrator said is an “unprecedented” influx of Haitian Creole-speaking students.
Teachers told the board and The Dispatch that the student population at Independence High School, located on Columbus’ southeast side, has increased from about 600 to nearly 900 students. They said the majority of new enrollments come from immigrant communities or disciplinary transfers of students from other schools.
Kelsey Gray, a teacher at Independence High School, said while the district has provided the school with some help with additional teachers, more help is needed. She said school officials at their breaking point last month sent mass emails to board members because they were “drowning and not getting help.”
“There have been a lot of district administrators in my classroom over the last few weeks, and I would love to stand here and say that they have been there to support, but it feels like they are there to intimidate and criticize,” says Gray. said.
Assistant Superintendent Kathryn Moser said at the meeting that the district has closed enrollment at Independence High School. She said she had the opportunity to visit with staff and hear first-hand about the challenges the school faces.
“Independence (High School) experienced an unprecedented influx of students, many of whom are Haitian Creole, and this is similar to what we are seeing in some other cities in Ohio,” Moser said.
Immigrants from Haiti in Ohio have become a flashpoint in the national discourse since September, after President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance spread baseless rumors that Haitian immigrants in the Dayton suburb of Springfield were eating dogs, cats and wild animals. Local officials have consistently refuted these rumors, which were partly the result of misinformation on social media.
Moser said Columbus Global Academy is full as of this week, and West High School may also need a reallocation of resources to accommodate the influx of new students. The district has already added administrative support to Independence High School, added three teachers and provided additional furniture and computers to the school.
Board President Christina Vera said the board supports the staff and students of Independence High School and thanked “everyone who wraps their arms around the school as it manages its growth.”
“We realize that this will also have consequences for other school buildings,” says Vera. “Growth is a good thing, but we have to be able to support that growth. … We obviously want to be able to talk about the strategies the district can use to support that growth.”
Independence High teachers: we need more help
During the public comment portion of the school board meeting, five Independence High School teachers spoke out about the situation at the school, saying they needed more resources to deal with the increased population of English Language Learners (ELL) and additional security to be able to manage a higher level. of disciplinary issues of disciplinary transfer students.
Courtney Bryant, an ELL teacher, said more English education resources are urgently needed for a school now working to educate “students who have never been educated before, who cannot read their own language, who have had to cross borders .”
“We all know what’s going on with the Haitian Creole population coming here, and the trauma they’re going through now is part of the political rhetoric,” Bryant said.
She said Independence High needed an additional math teacher and a bilingual teaching assistant who speaks Spanish or Haitian Creole.
“If I have 44-year-old students in a room, it’s just not fair to me — it’s not fair to them,” Bryant said.
Traci Johnson, another teacher at Independence High, said the district needed to do a better job of managing the “flanking” inequality caused at the school by the influx of new students.
“As a teacher who is feeling more burned out, the kind of burned out right before spring break and you need a vacation, I can’t help but feel slighted,” Johnson said. “This disparity represents a significant failure to meet the needs of our students.”
However, Teacher Gray commended Vera and board members Sarah Ingles and Jennifer Adair for taking the time to respond to each of the emails that 37 school employees sent to the board about the situation.
“Christina Vera is the only adult from the district who has come into my room in four years and really been there for the kids,” Gray said. “In my opinion, board chair Vera’s decisions are based on what is best for the students, because she truly cares about them, and I think she cares about the staff as well.”
Haitian migrants are a flashpoint in the 2024 elections
Republicans, including Senator Vance, now vice president-elect, made the growing Haitian population of Springfield, Ohio, a major issue in the presidential race. Vance helped spread the rumor on social media about eating domestic and wild animals, which was repeatedly refuted by local officials.
Trump raised the rumors, which initially surfaced on social media, during September’s presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris. Since then, there have been threats against Haitian immigrants in that city.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has previously said that the influx of immigrants into Springfield has posed challenges to the city, including a toll on its resources, but that the migrants have also contributed to the local community and economy.
Last year, the city of Columbus helped move more than 800 people into the Colonial Village apartment complex on Livingston Avenue, the majority of whom were Haitian immigrants who were part of an alleged human trafficking scheme, The Dispatch previously reported.
Cbehrens@dispatch.com
@Colebehr_report
This article originally appeared in The Columbus Dispatch: Influx of Haitian students straining resources at Independence High
