Resignations from the Waukesha School District continue to mount. Parents say the school board won't take the issue seriously.
The Alliance for Education in Waukesha is concerned about what it says is a continued lack of concern by the Waukesha School Board over additional teacher and staff resignations that come just a month after the issue was first brought to the board and as a new school year looms.
In a July 13 email to a reporter, the organization, which calls itself "a parent-led community group", said the district has accumulated 95 resignations as of early July, more than double the 45 resignations it had by this time last year.
"The (School District of Waukesha) board and administration will attempt to categorize this as a national and public sector trend, but ... this phenomenon is specific to Waukesha," the AEW said.
AEW said the school board did not address the resignations at its July 13 meeting and had previously "downplayed the severity of the resignations" with a misleading comparison at an earlier meeting.
"We feel like this is a dereliction of their duty to the students and families of our district," the AEW said.
According to notes for the July 13 meeting, along with the 32 resignations, the board voted on the hiring of 27 new teachers and staff. Video of the meeting showed the board unanimously approved those resignations and hires without any discussion. Board member Joseph Como had an excused absence from the meeting.
Waukesha School Board president Kelly Piacsek said in a July 18 email that the board has been reviewing employee turnover data "for several months," which she said included "detailed monthly discussions" at the board's Human Resources and Compensation ommittee meetings and at the board's full meeting in June.
"All Board members have had the opportunity to review employee exit comments, and the District leadership has kept the Board informed of month-to-month staffing changes. On a positive note, in the last three months the Board has approved over 60 new contracts for teaching professionals who have chosen to join the School District of Waukesha for the 2022-2023 school year," Piacsek said in her email.
The other eight Waukesha School Board members did not immediately respond to phone calls or emails requesting interviews.
Waukesha School District superintendent James Sebert said in an email that the district is trending up in resignations and down on retirements. He described the staff turnover as a "trend in the public and private sector throughout the area, state and country."
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According to district data Sebert provided, resignations increased from 57 in 2021 to 93 in 2022 while retirements had decreased from 30 in 2021 to 20 in 2022 as of July 6. Sebert later clarified that his figures did not include resignations from seven administrators which brings the total to 100.
AEW said from January to July, the district has lost over 10% of its staff, which AEW described as an outlier compared to other local and national trends.
"For the sake of our students and our community this trend cannot continue and must be confronted by the Board," the AEW said in its news release.
The group said the district is losing through resignations long-time educators, specialists, particularly at the secondary level and a majority of its secondary principals. AEW added "a large number of positions" are still unfilled for the upcoming school year. It said there are currently 38 open positions, including teachers, administrators, social workers and counselors.
To slow the resignations, the AEW said it encourages the board to:
Cease all political campaigning, political appearances, and political rhetoric in an effort to cultivate common ground in the district with ALL teachers and parents
Commit to a cost of living increase for the 2023-2024 school year that is in line with other districts in southeastern Wisconsin, which was not the case this year
Speak up for teachers and other district employees when those teachers and employees are disparaged by members of the community
Rescind the ban on safe space signage and pride flags in classrooms so that teachers can show support to marginalized students
The school board previously discussed staff resignations at its June 8 meeting. At that meeting, 83 resignations had been reported, which board members said was on par for previous years.
AEW strongly criticized that comparison, arguing it was misleading because the board was comparing full calendar year totals to what, at that point, had been less than six months of data.
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Contact Alec Johnson at (262) 875-9469 or alec.johnson@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AlecJohnson12.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Waukesha School District continues to lose staff through resignations
