BY MICHELLE ROSENBERG
Staff Writer
ABERDEEN — The Board of Education and students don’t always see eye to eye.
The board’s recent decision to part ways with Harry Peles, a high school physics teacher, has students questioning its actions.
Peles said he was informed about a week earlier that he was being fired, after two years of service, for not keeping up with the curriculum. He decided to tender his resignation instead, effective as of the end of the school year.
Superintendent of Schools Bruce Quinn said that Peles actually handed in a letter of resignation after discussions with the district on his contract. Quinn said it was a personnel issue, and he could not comment further due to the code of confidentiality.
Well over a dozen current and former high school students showed up at the board meeting on April 25 to voice their opinions on the termination, stating that the district will never find another teacher as good as Peles, and that the real problem will not leave with him.
Students, as well as Peles, claim that too many kids are being placed in honors physics, and they simply cannot keep up with the pace of the district’s curriculum.
“This is not a teacher problem, but a student problem,” senior James Huynh said.
Huynh said that he witnessed Peles teach firsthand when he took honors physics last year, and that he was able to observe things that administrators can’t. He said that there are students on the honors level that shouldn’t be there, and this forces Peles to teach at a slower pace.
“He doesn’t want a struggling student to fail,” Huynh said.
Peles approached the board, claiming he wasn’t at the meeting to try and get his job back, but to make sure the superintendent and the board understand the real problem.
Peles handed all the board members a sheet of statistics, claiming that the district has 10 times more students in first-year honors physics than the national average.
Peles said that honors students are not being taught to their ability because they are being drowned out by students who can’t keep up with the work.
“The ambition is there, but the ability isn’t,” he said.
“The problem is going to be here after I go, and it needs to be addressed,” he said.
Peles said that last year, eight students qualified for honors physics, but he had 28 students in the class.
Quinn said the district is aware of the issue with the number of students, and is looking into it.
Huynh said that part of the problem is that the district puts time restraints on when students can transfer out of classes, and by the time students realize they can’t keep up in the honors class, it is too late.
He also said that the district made an exception last year for an honors U.S. history class, allowing students to transfer out. “It worked. It worked perfectly,” he said.
Peles said that construction on the building also played a factor in falling behind in the curriculum.
“The construction was definitely an impact,” he said. “There were times I had classes in the auditorium.”
The construction on the building is now complete, and the science department has brand-new state-of-the-art labs.
Peles’ current and former students feel that he is a great teacher with an amazing understanding of the subject.
“I’ve never met another teacher that has such a grasp on the subject,” said Alex Goldenthal, a senior who took honors physics last year.
Most of the students who showed up at the board meeting will not be directly affected by the termination, but wanted to voice their opinions anyway.
“To revoke his contract because he’s not teaching at a quick enough pace, I feel is ridiculous,” junior Steve Martinez said. “Mr. Peles has been the greatest thing that the physics or science program has ever seen.”
“I feel I am better prepared for my college education because of Mr. Peles,” he said.
Board President Cathy Zavorskas commended the students for showing up at the meeting, speaking their minds, and standing up for what they believe in.
“It’s worth it coming, whether you like the outcome or not,” she said.