Public demands change at South Bends Schools board meeting

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Things got heated at Wednesday’s South Bend Community Schools board meeting.

Dozens of parents, teachers and community members using the public comment period to address concerns they say South Bend Schools have had for years. Some calling for superintendent Todd Cummings, Ph. D., to step down.

A lack of school supplies and teacher support, unclear communication, transportation issues, low test scores, and students and staff feeling unsafe at school are just a handful of the concerns brought up at the meeting.

“I’m glad that people are standing behind the people who actually care and are addressing these problems because obviously the school board just doesn’t care. It doesn’t seem like they care, and if they do, they’ve got a funny way of showing it,” said Jeffrey Wolf Sr., a SBCSC parent.

After the meeting, superintendent Todd Cummings, told ABC57 he loves his job and plans to stay until his 2026 retirement. He went on to explain that he will take the issues brought up at the meeting to his team to find solutions.

“So, we did hear a lot from the community tonight, and we’ve heard a lot from the community over the past six years and what they specifically want us to focus on. Safe and secure schools, our third graders reading on grade level, and continuing to increase our high school graduation rate. Tonight, we’ve heard that there’s some pain points around our facilities plan. There are some pain points in transitioning from schools, and so we want to do what parents have said, we want to communicate better. We want to make sure that we’re being transparent and we’re going to take steps to make sure we’re addressing everything we heard tonight,” said Cummings.

He encouraged the public to attend the South Bend Community School’s Sep. 16 facilities meeting to hear updates in how they plan to address these issues.