‘Solutions are needed’: Dennis Lab teachers vent, say building too cramped for school

DECATUR, Ill. (WCIA) — Teachers at a Decatur school expressed their frustrations at the Board of Education meeting Tuesday that their building is not big enough for the students, to the point of dysfunction.

Dennis Lab School on the west side of the city has moved twice within the past few years and is temporarily at its Meadow Terrace Place location for another year . But its temporary location is a few rooms short for the building and teachers there are frustrated, forcing them to keep items in storage in the hallway.

“I never thought I would miss the days where everyone would have closets,” Dennis first grade teacher Cassie Mann said. “We miss our closets.”

Dennis art teacher Shannon Cook said the lessons she can teach are limited due to her not having a permanent classroom. Instead, she has five minute passing periods to travel across the modular buildings with classroom art supplies.

“Setting up and packing up can be particularly challenging, especially for projects with a lot of art materials,” Cook said. “Our situation makes it difficult to engage in more complex art activities.”

Students working with the social worker are only a partition away from peers meeting with the speech therapist in the library. The only place students with IEPs can meet to discuss their plans are in the teachers’ work room. This sets teachers behind as they can’t copy assignments during their work periods.

“Our working conditions are the student learning conditions,” Decatur Education Association President Sam Mills said. “The working conditions at Dennis are unsustainable and this staff deserves better than what we are currently getting. And we demand better.”

Board members are also pushing the Decatur School District Superintendent Rochelle Clark to help Dennis Lab Schools in providing answers to the community and to find a permanent solution.

“We need a plan from the administration at the next meeting on Dennis,” board member Al Scheider said.

The school district is collecting one more piece of more information on the educational efficiencies before it will make a district-wide report on facilities.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com.