Resident urges board to investigate staff exodus, raises special-education concerns

A resident and former district employee told the Garfield Heights City School District Board on June 16 that the district is experiencing a "mass exodus" of staff and urged the board to investigate the reasons and to hire an outside firm to perform exit interviews.

Miss Wunderstock, who identified herself as a long-time employee and community member, told trustees she had tracked departures and said the district lost 78 staff in one year and 42 the next; she said she expected turnover to remain high. "I first coined the phrase mass exodus to describe the excessive amount of staff members leaving this district," she said.

Wunderstock urged the board to conduct robust exit interviews and to seek candid feedback from employees who have left and those who want to leave but cannot. She said the district had lost staff members "that are absolutely irreplaceable" and called for stronger appreciation and supports for employees.

She also raised concerns about reports that special-education students would be moved into general-education classrooms, saying that change would be "catastrophic" unless appropriate supports are in place. Wunderstock described herself as a special-education teacher with decades of experience and implored the board to prioritize teacher welfare and transparency.

The board did not respond with a formal plan during public remarks; trustees heard the comments near the end of the meeting and later moved into executive session for compensation and bargaining matters. No board action on Wunderstock's recommendations was recorded in the meeting minutes.