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Bluffview Montessori earlier this week hosted a public hearing on whether to renew a veteran teacher’s contract after administrators concluded she wasn’t fulfilling her duties. After a heated public hearing on Monday — where parents, teachers and even a school board member broke into tears — the board decided in a split vote Thursday not to renew her contract, a controversial decision for Bluffview parents and teachers who thought the investigation was unfair and the teacher deserved to stay.
But it’s not just about the teacher.
While Bluffview administrators point to a school climate report issued this year that showed high morale, some staff and parents say turnover at the school is a symptom of problems with the management and with the design structure of all Minnesota charter schools.
According to charter school law, the school board — which governs administrators and sets policy — must be comprised of a majority of teachers. The teachers also work under the administration, creating an awkward situation for groups if they butt heads.
“It’s a built-in conflict of interest,” said Bluffview Montessori Director Les Hittner.
While the structure works for some schools, it doesn’t work for all. Now that the school year has ended, educators at Bluffview are contemplating how to move forward.
Turnover
About 10 to 20 percent of the school’s staff turns over every year at Bluffview, which has been a charter school since 1993, Hittner said. Last year, three of the school’s 13 teachers resigned. This year, four will not return.
Leadership has not been consistent, either. Two administrators manage the school: a director of operations and a director of Montessori education, the teaching method Bluffview uses. Since the position was created in 1999, the school has had three education directors, Hittner said.
Last year, three school board members resigned.
Reasons for resignations vary, Hittner said, and he’s confident there is no problem with morale.
Hittner and school board Chairman Carew Halleck said they could not discuss reasons for resignations because personnel issues are considered private information.
One teacher, Cindy Gerdes, said she resigned last year after the previous education director left. She didn’t know what it would be like to work without her, and said without the experienced administrator she didn’t know who would mentor or evaluate her.
“I didn’t feel safe,” she said.
She said at the hearing on Monday that she worries that children will be emotionally damaged by switching teachers so often. At Bluffview, children normally have the same teacher for three years in a row.
“What is going on that all of these teachers are not staying?” said Julie McCormick, a concerned parent at the hearing on Monday. “It’s a huge concern.”
Several teachers declined to comment for this story.
Bluffview is not the only charter school faced with attrition.
Charter schools are small and their staffs carry heavy work loads, said Jodi Dansingburg, director of Ridgeway Community School. At her school, turnover is frequent because the pay is low and the workload is high, she said. Since 2001, turnover has ranged from 20 to more than 40 percent per year, according to numbers provided by the school.
Flawed design?
Area charter school directors say the design of the independent public schools is awkward because the board is made up primarily of teachers, who are managed by administrators they govern.
Halleck said staying objective in both of those roles can be difficult, and in a small school where everyone works with everyone, filtering out emotions can be hard.
“I don’t understand the genesis of charter school law,” he said.
Eugene Piccolo, executive director of the Minnesota Association of Charter Schools, said the school model would be considered a conflict of interest in the world of non-profit organizations.
In charter schools, it’s not.
Piccolo said the model is designed to empower teachers, and it works for most schools in Minnesota.
At Dakota Area Community Schools n which has a small budget of $400,000 compared with Bluffview’s $1.6 million n the model creates transparency, said Director Darin Shepardson.
“That’s a very unique check and balance,” he said.
At Riverway Learning Community, a Minnesota City charter school, Laurie Krause said she sees her role as working for the board and for the teachers, even though her title is school director.
“This is an opportunity for innovation,” she said.
Halleck is at a loss for what to do at Bluffview, other than to keep working together respectfully. He said even if it’s flawed, this design is the one they have to work with.
Britt Johnsen can be reached at (507) 453-3519 or bjohnsen@winonadailynews.com.
