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(Updated at 4:42 p.m. Wednesday: Del Norte Unified School District Director of Communication Mike Hawkins offered a clarification regarding class sizes in the district. While class sizes are changing, many are still fairly small, he said.)

Brandiy Dixon’s days teaching third through fifth grades at Mountain School in Gasquet appear to be numbered.

But instead of fighting to keep her job when she appeared before the Del Norte County Unified School District Board of Trustees on Thursday, Dixon said she was concerned about her colleagues, who will now be expected to cover five grade levels each, and her students.

“The maturation gap between a 4 year old and a 9 year old and a 9 year old and a 14 year old is enormous,” she said. “These are formative years where students need targeted academic support, clear routines and peer connections appropriate at their stage of development. This structure risks students feeling overlooked, frustrated or unsupported, especially those who already need scaffolding to succeed.”

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Melissa Endert went before the Del Norte Unified School District Board of Trustees two days after bus service to her children’s school was canceled.

Endert, who lives in Crescent City while her kids attend Smith River School to be near their father who is a special education teacher, said finding out at the last minute that the bus wouldn’t be showing up was a sacrifice for her and left many parents scrambling.

“That’s a hardship for community members who are not like myself, who don’t have a spare car or don’t have time set aside to get their kids to school,” she said. “The district stresses that students should come to school every day. If buses aren’t running they can’t attend school. If they come to school an hour late, they’re missing breakfast, they’re missing time and they’re stressed, they’re hungry, they’re anxious and they’re worried and it’s already a long bus route.”