RICHMOND, Va. -- A Richmond father reached out to CBS 6 with concerns that his daughter's class was without an English teacher. Keon Booker's daughter is a 7th grade student at Martin Luther King Middle School. He said her class has been without an English teacher for the majority of the school year.
"At the beginning of the school year, she had a teacher, after about two or three weeks the teacher left because her mother got sick," said Booker.
Martin Luther King Middle School
The teacher eventually came back, but Booker said she then left again permanently which lead to a variety of substitute teachers.
"I come up here and they tell me, they don't have an English teacher," said Booker, "she ran out of the building, said she couldn't take it."
Booker said this kind of environment is taking a toll on the students in the classroom.
Keon Booker
"It's hurting the kids," he said, "and it's hurting my daughter, she can hardly write a paragraph."
CBS 6 reached out to Richmond Public Schools regarding Booker's concerns.
RPS spokeswoman Cletisha Lovelace provided the following statement:
Three 7th grade English teachers have been temporarily replaced with long-term substitutes as a result of a medical condition experienced by one teacher, the retirement of another teacher and the resignation of a third teacher. School officials have been working diligently with district administration to ensure continuity of instruction and an optimal learning environment for students and staff during this period of transition.
School Board Chairman Jeff Bourne said this situation is a prime example as to why extra funding in the budget for teachers is so critical.
"In that budget request we have some additional dollars that we could spend to help with teaching in our hardest to staff schools," said Bourne.
