After about an hour outside waving signs that read "Respect" and "Reward Education," the teachers filed into the Board of Education building. They filled the seats. Some sat on the floor. Others stood.
Minutes before the 7 p.m. meeting was set to begin, Deputy Superintendent Arlen Liverman pleaded with the teachers who could not find seats to leave the meeting room, which has a capacity of just more than 300.
"Everything is being taped," Liverman said. "You're going to be seen. You're going to be heard. I'm simply asking you, those that are standing, please move to the cafeteria."
The crowd defiantly shouted their responses.
"Bring the meeting to the cafeteria!" someone said.
Another said, "Bring the board in, and then we'll move!"
At some point, school department officials called the county fire department to enforce the room capacity.
Only when Mennuti used a microphone and urged the overflow crowd to go to the building's cafeteria, where school officials had set up a video feed, did the excess crowd retreat. The firefighters arrived after the standing teachers had departed.
"As with most people, they work best when they feel appreciated," Mennuti said of the teachers, citing various accomplishments. "We expect the respect that our hard work has earned."
Bob Mosier, a school department spokesman, said, "They are obviously passionate about that they do. And we're obviously passionate about what they do. Our school system is obviously as good as it is in large part because of what they do and all our employees."
