I recently attended a special town hall meeting at Bamberg Middle/High School (BMHS) in Germany. The topic of this meeting was the school itself. I thank the community for realizing that such a meeting was needed and I would like to reiterate a point: The educators at BMHS are very much appreciated and respected by our community.
As a past PTSA vice president, teacher in the school, and a parent of two daughters who attended the school, I can clearly state that the school has a major break in its so-called “open communication,” but the teachers as a whole are not and have never been that break.
Through the years I have attended many briefings with the school as a topic. Most recently parents met with a deputy director of Department of Defense Education Activity. This deputy director was attempting to find out what was happening at BMHS. The meeting got emotional at times as parents relayed their frustrated efforts on behalf of their children, but parents also highlighted that most teachers were doing everything they can at BMHS. The teachers have never been the problem, though there appear to be people who might want to use the teachers as a smoke screen to blur the real issues.
To the teachers at Bamberg Middle/High School: Your efforts, time and professionalism are appreciated, and many folks within our community say thank you.
Chief Warrant Officer 4 Pete Streker (retired)
Bamberg, Germany