Students, Parents, and Taxpayers,

The quality of a town's school district is always viewed as one of the most important factors with regard to it's ability to attract residents, affect quality of life, and impact property values. As such, it is the obligation of a school district to provide the best possible education for our tax dollars, while also operating in a transparent and cooperative manner. Rather than being the crown jewel of Bristol and Warren, our school district is a liability, with a reputation for dishonesty, secrecy, and academic failure.

Academics

The district's standardized test scores last year showed that we are failing our students, with 1/3 of our students being proficient in language arts and 1/4 being proficient in math. The students we graduate are often required to take remedial coursework at the college level, as they are not adequately prepared, and more than half the students who graduate from Mt. Hope drop out of college by their second year. We continue to struggle in providing true vocational and alternative curriculum for our students, and fail those that do go on to college.

We continue to fail our most vulnerable students, those with IEP's and special education needs. Stripping children of resources and failing to properly integrate special needs students has contributed to the chaos in our classrooms and impacted the learning in most classrooms. This behavior has not only impacted the quality of the education our children receive, but also has exposed the district to liability and civil lawsuits.We deserve better.

Discipline/Safety

Discipline and safety continues to be a major source of concern. For many in our town, the teacher "sick out" was the first time hearing about the level of chaos in our schools. For many families, they've had to deal with it firsthand. The administration has a documented history of gross negligence when dealing with discipline, including bullying and sexual assault. The lack of disciplinary control is evident, as the local police departments are often called to our schools to "investigate" incidents/students that the schools should be handling internally with families, and the disciplinary situation continues to get worse. Even at KMS, no significant changes have been made that will truly affect the school's ability to get discipline and the student population under control.

Reputation/Morale

The reputation of our district continues to be one of a district in chaos. Teachers have expressed their frustration with the administration and its lack of response in making our schools a safe workplace for them. The district is seen as an adversary, with the local teachers union even warning teachers about Dr. Andrade's accessing their district email and directing teachers not to discuss union business on district email. We will continue to struggle to attract top teaching and administrative talent if changes are not made. Top professionals will continue to avoid our district and we will lose those that we have. 

Many families have expressed their own frustration with the district. The district has a reputation of one that deceives parents, fails to follow its own policies, bullies families, and seldom delivers on promises. Sadly, this reputation is earned, and without substantive improvement, parents will continue to turn to social media and the press in an effort to bring attention to their situation. 

Conclusion/Call to Action

The challenges we face extend far beyond even those that have been provided in this petition. The BWRSD is in a state of failure and the responsibility for this falls squarely on the shoulders of Dr. Mario Andrade. Dr. Andrade has created the culture of bullying, deception, and corruption in our district, and this cannot be addressed without first terminating his employment contract and finding a Superintendent who can implement a plan of corrective action and bring our schools back. 

It is understood that there will be a financial impact to the district in terminating or "buying out" Dr. Andrade's contract. While we believe that the behavior on the part of Dr. Andrade does reach the level of criminality, which could be the basis of dismissal, Dr. Andrade must be removed regardless of any legal or disciplinary action. Our district will continue its downward spiral with Dr. Andrade as Superintendent, and as such we ask for the BWRSD to terminate his contract and begin the long road to repair the damage that has been done.

The right choice is often the hard choice. It is our expectation that the BWRSD School Committee honor its obligation to act in the best interest of the students, families, and taxpayers in Bristol and Warren, and act swiftly to remove Dr. Andrade as Superintendent.

Thank you in advance for your consideration