UPDATED: Teachers reassigned to SI schools just days before pre-planning

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

Updated at 7:30 p.m. on July 30 with updated list of transfers and information from the School Board meeting.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Multiple teachers have contacted Alachua Chronicle to report that on July 28, just days before pre-planning starts, they were suddenly reassigned to the district’s lowest-performing schools. One source told us 20 teachers found out yesterday that they must report to a different school next week, but the district has not responded to our questions about the extent of the reassignments.

UPDATE: During public comment at the July 30 School Board meeting, several teachers said they learned today that their transfers had been reversed. ACEA President Crystal Tessman said, “Teachers have advocated for themselves flawlessly. I have advocated with Assistant Superintendent of HR, Ms. Terry, as well as Superintendent Patton. Parents have rallied, the media has gotten involved, and board members have pushed back. That is why so many of these moves have been reversed. There were too many moves to begin with. I understand the desire to prevent the need for moves in the future, but we did too many. I’m thankful that we’ve looked at who has extenuating circumstances and who isn’t legally needed to move, and we have reversed that. And I do hope that that is the case for everyone in that situation.”

FLDOE requirements for School Improvement schools

Under Florida Department of Education Rule 6A-1.099811, when a district opts for District-managed Turnaround of low-performing (School Improvement or SI) schools, the district must replace the principal, ensure that teachers who do not have a VAM rating are not rehired at the school, and ensure that the percentage of teachers with a VAM rating (a metric that measures the improvement of students relative to their expected improvement) below Effective must not be higher than the district average. This rule appears to be the motivation for the involuntary transfers.

Unconfirmed list of transfers

A source identified the following transfers, but this has not been confirmed. The same source said that all of these teachers are rated effective/highly effective with high VAM scores.

• Parker Elementary: 3 forced, 1 voluntary
  • 1 to Rawlings
  • 1 to Idylwild
  • 1 to Lake Forest
  • 1 to Williams (voluntary) 
• Norton: 3 forced
  • 1 to Willams
  • 1 to Idylwild
  • 1 to Lake Forest
• High Springs: 2 forced, 1 voluntary (one destination not listed)
  • 1 to Rawlings (voluntary)
  • 1 to Lake Forest
• Chiles: 1 forced, 1 voluntary
  • 1 to Rawlings (voluntary)
  • 1 to Idylwild
• Irby: 1 voluntary
  • 1 to Williams
• Wiles: 1 forced, 1 voluntary (one destination not listed)
  • 1 Williams (voluntary)
• Glen Springs: 3 forced
  • 2 to Lake Forest
  • 1 to Idylwild
• Littlewood: 1 forced
  • 1 forced to Rawlings (teacher resigned)
  • 1 destination unknown 

The district recently offered bonuses to teachers who voluntarily elect to move to an SI school, but according to School Board Member Janine Plavac, only seven teachers chose that option.

Rawlings, Lake Forest, and Williams are all SI schools, but Idylwild is not; Metcalfe is an SI school, but we don’t have any reports of teachers being involuntarily moved to Metcalfe.

Teachers are considering resigning after last-minute reassignment

One teacher who asked to remain anonymous told us that Human Resources called her on July 28 and informed her that she was being moved to one of the SI schools; she said no explanation was provided except that it was “per the superintendent.”

This teacher wrote, “At my school, the teachers contacted about reassignment feel so strongly about the manner in which this was handled that some are considering resigning rather than reporting to their newly assigned schools on Monday. If that happens, these decisions could create even more vacancies across the district rather than solving existing staffing problems.”

“For many of us, this is far more than an inconvenience. We have established programs, relationships with students and families, and longstanding ties to our current school communities.”

One teacher wrote to Alachua Chronicle, “These decisions were communicated only days before teachers are expected to report for the new school year, leaving those affected completely blindsided. For many of us, this is far more than an inconvenience. We have established programs, relationships with students and families, and longstanding ties to our current school communities.”

ACEA says contract permits these reassignments

ACEA President Dr. Crystal Tessman Hall has not responded to Alachua Chronicle’s request for information, but a source shared an email from Tessman Hall that said, “I have to be honest and they can do this… This is the absolute worst and there is no excuse I can give for it other than that part of our contract is not strong enough yet and state law is not on our side AT ALL.”

The instructional employees’ contract requires the superintendent to discuss any change in assignment directly with the teacher and provide 10 days’ written notice for a transfer to a different school. However, the contract states that the written notice may be waived “in an emergency.” An FLDOE rule states that an “Educational emergency” exists in a school district if one or more of the schools in the district have a school grade of “D” or “F.”

“Egregious”

Plavac told us the way this was handled was “egregious,” but the School Board does not have direct input into operational matters like teacher reassignments. Plavac said the district should have begun this process as soon as it had the school grades, which were released on July 1, instead of waiting until the week before pre-planning. She noted that Highly Effective teachers would already have their classrooms set up, making the move even more disruptive.

The School Board’s next meetings are at 5 p.m. (budget) and 6 p.m. (business meeting) on July 30.