Superintendent Claude Tiller resigns with 'mixed emotions'; Green Bay School Board meets, accepts action

GREEN BAY — Green Bay School District Superintendent Claude Tiller resigned in the wake of comments he made on an Atlanta-based talk radio show — after less than a year on the job.

The Green Bay School Board went into closed session at 2 p.m. Saturday to discuss and potentially take action on Tiller. It came out of the closed session and unanimously voted to accept his resignation after nearly three hours of discussion.

A statement from the school district, School Board, and Tiller said the board has accepted the superintendent's resignation and they "have mutually agreed to the terms of Dr. Tiller, Jr.’s resignation from the district. Both Dr. Tiller Jr. and the district have agreed that this is the best course of action for both parties. The Board and District wish to express their gratitude to Dr. Tiller for his many contributions to the Green Bay Area Public School District and wish him well in his future endeavors."

Tiller issues letter to Green Bay community

Tiller also released his own statement, saying the community made him feel immediately at home.

"It is with mixed emotions that I inform you of my decision to step down from the role of Superintendent of the Green Bay Area Public School District," he wrote Saturday evening. "This decision was extremely difficult to make, and comes after considerable deliberation, reflecting on the district's needs, its future direction and a collaborative consensus with the board regarding what serves the best interest of collective stewardship of the district."

In the statement, Tiller addressed his radio show comments and said he spoke his truth.

"I provided my perspectives with candor, anchoring my narrative in both my professional insights and personal experiences as an educational leader of color. Simply put, I spoke my truth," he wrote.

He said his intention was never to "call out" specific individuals, but to highlight where collective efforts can significantly improve education. Tiller emphasized he was speaking about the "the broader systemic issues within public education that contribute to ongoing challenges" in many school districts.

"In the days subsequent to my appearance on the program, it was disheartening to learn that select comments in my two-hour long interview were interpreted in a manner that inadvertently caused offense with some in our school community," he said. "It's important to emphasize that my comments were specifically directed toward the broader systemic issues within public education that contribute to ongoing challenges."

He also noted that he recently received his six-month performance review. On Jan. 22, the board held a closed session to discuss the superintendent's performance evaluation, according to the agenda.

"Not only was I delighted and proud of its findings, I felt significant gratitude for the collaboration and support extended to me by our board that helped me along the way," Tiller wrote.

Tiller resigns before release of interview recording or the board completed its investigation.

The nature of Tiller's comments are not known — there is no copy of the interview online, and the school district has not released a copy of the interview. The Press-Gazette expects to receive a copy of the radio show interview Wednesday from the school district.

The resignation took place before the public had the chance to hear the nature of his comments. It's rare that the board meets on the weekends, typically meeting on Monday nights. Tiller was not present at the closed session meeting, only his attorney was, according to Board Member Laura Laitinen-Warren.

The board had not been able to complete its investigation because Tiller resigned before it was finished, she said. She was a huge supporter of Tiller and his resignation is very sad and disappointing, Laitinen-Warren said.

"It was very, very difficult. Dr. Tiller has done a lot of great things," Laitinen-Warren said.

Board President Laura McCoy quickly left the board room after Tiller's resignation was accepted and was not available for comment.

Tiller was placed on administrative leave Tuesday while the School Board conducted a review. The board and its privately hired legal counsel, Geoffrey Lacy, have been largely quiet about the investigation.

Community members outraged by Tiller's resignation, lack of transparency

Over 50 community members gathered at the meeting. Because it was a closed session, there was no public speaking portion. A virtual flier circulated Friday and Saturday with the hashtag "Together4Tiller" calling community members to attend the meeting.

Community members were outraged to hear Tiller resigned, especially before the public got to see the interview and hear Tiller's comments.

"We're here today to demand that the board of education not make a decision on anything until the video was released," Amanda Garcia, the executive director of Casa Alba Melanie, said. "But they moved quickly and swiftly, intentionally."

Attendees called out to board members as they got up to leave: "That resignation I hope that you can sleep at night when our kids see that you guys did not defend Mr. Tiller," community member Steph Guzman said.

Many at the meeting said he was the first superintendent to engage with the community, be out in the schools and listen. He routinely posted on his social media about his school visits and different community events he took part in.

"He reached out to us," Said Hassan, the executive director of COMSA, said. "I have never seen before someone in his caliber reaching out to us and talking to us about our challenges, igniting us, talk to the community to address inequities and address barriers."

Robin Scott, the executive director and founder of the We All Rise African American Resource Center, said the board could have given Tiller a restorative justice opportunity.

"We had hoped for that," Scott said. "This was nothing but a public lynching of a Black man to tell the rest of the Black people, the rest of the Black leaders in this community, 'If you do anything out of line, this is what we will do (to) you.'"

Restorative justice is a method for addressing wrong-doing that seeks to examine the harmful impact of an action and then determines what can be done to repair that harm, according to the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Tyesha Jackson, a parent in the district, said Tiller was the only person doing work to make things better.

"Our kids are failing in this district," she said. "When Tiller came in here, he was putting in footsteps."

Tiller came to Green Bay with ambitious goals

Tiller started in July and was the district’s first superintendent of color in its over 150-year history.

And, with a school district that has 60% students of color, Tiller has said he wanted to be a role model for all of Green Bay's students, but specifically Black and brown kids.

"Instead of always seeing us in different positions, being (in) lower positions if you will, they can look at me and say, 'Hey, I can strive to be superintendent. I can run a district.' And, yes, you can,'" he told the Press-Gazette in October.

He came into the district with ambitious goals to raise test scores along with attendance and graduation rates. He planned to raise reading scores by 5% and math scores by 10%. Only 23% of the district's students tested proficient in reading on the 2022-23 state Forward Exams, compared with 39% statewide.

He also wanted to boost the district's 89% attendance rate to 95% and the 87% graduation rate to 100%.

Tiller has not responded to the Press-Gazette’s multiple interview requests.

Danielle DuClos is a Report for America corps member who covers K-12 education for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at dduclos@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @danielle_duclos. You can directly support her work with a tax-deductible donation at GreenBayPressGazette.com/RFA or by check made out to The GroundTruth Project with subject line Report for America Green Bay Press Gazette Campaign. Address: The GroundTruth Project, Lockbox Services, 9450 SW Gemini Drive, PMB 46837, Beaverton, Oregon 97008-7105.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay School Board meets Saturday on Superintendent Claude Tiller