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Teachers and residents tell school board extra duties, fear of retaliation in public forum
Summary
HEA chair Elizabeth Broda and a Fairfield resident told the Henrico County School Board that hundreds of staff submitted comments describing increased workload and, in some cases, fear of retaliation for speaking up.
Elizabeth Broda, a social studies teacher at Henrico High School and chair of the collective bargaining committee for the Henrico Education Association, told the school board during the public forum that the HEA coordinated staff responses to board requests for feedback and had collected a large volume of written comments.
"You received nearly a 100 written comments from a variety of educators and county staff with a variety of experiences and ideas shared," Broda said, noting the union asked staff to describe extra work done for little or no compensation and, in a second prompt, to describe instances when they were reluctant to raise legitimate concerns out of fear of retaliation. She added that comment submissions included over 40 pages of feedback for the April prompt and urged the board to continue listening and to consider collective bargaining.
A Fairfield resident, Marlene Sherlock, also addressed the board, saying the volume and tone of comments showed staff are not "fine." Sherlock urged the board to enforce existing student conduct rules, reduce nonteaching burdens placed on teachers, and to consider redirecting certain wraparound responsibilities rather than relying on teachers to provide extensive services outside classroom hours.
Nut graf: Speakers told the board that a large, coordinated set of staff submissions describe increased noninstructional duties, concerns about classroom disruptions and cell phone use, and instances where staff feared speaking up. Board rules for public forum provide for follow-up by staff rather than immediate on-the-spot responses.
Details and context: Broda said the HEA asked staff two prompts in April: one to name an additional task that has exacerbated their workload and another to describe a time they feared retaliation for raising concerns. She emphasized submissions were solicited from across the county and not limited to union members. Sherlock focused her remarks on classroom disruption and compensation for added duties such as covering classes and lunch periods.
Ending: The board did not respond during the public forum; staff follow-up was offered to speakers per board rules for the public comment period.
