Newly elected Hartford NAACP President Corrie Betts came before the Hartford Board of Education during its April Regular Meeting and let it be known that he and the Hartford NAACP will be an active stakeholder in Hartford Public Schools.

Mr. Betts told the Superintendent and the Board that there are “pressing” issues of racial disparities in resources and opportunities which exist in HPS that require “attention and action.”  “I am dedicated to holding the district accountable in addressing these disparities,” said Mr. Betts, while putting HPS on notice that the NAACP will be “actively investigating” concerns that are brought to them.

Some of the concerns that Mr. Betts related to the Superintendent and the Board include:

• The district’s website is hard to negotiate and contains outdated information or no information at all.

• The district is not in compliance with their SGCs in all schools.

• Information is needed on the rollout of the Black and Latino Studies courses that are required by state law to be taught in all high schools.

• Chronic absenteeism rates and the measures to address them are not handled correctly by HPS and NAACP requests participation through dialogue and action to address the issue.

• A full report is needed on the situation with the Bulkeley High renovation and the conditions that students are dealing with due to the renovation.

• The NAACP requests a full accounting of teacher diversity in HPS by school and by grade.

• The hiring of Black teachers from within the Hartford community needs to be addressed.

Many of the issues mentioned by Mr. Betts are issues that the public and the Board are frequently told by the Superintendent are being addressed.  However, the fact that the President of a national organization is reporting that these concerns are ongoing is another level of proof that the whole story is not being told openly and honestly.

It will do Hartford Schools well to have an organization such as the NAACP, not beholding to the Superintendent via contract or politics, to take an active role in protecting the rights of students and holding the district accountable.

I look forward to reporting on the NAACP’s role in Hartford Schools.