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Former KIPP San Antonio teacher urges board to investigate campus leadership and teacher support
Summary
At the April 24 KIPP Texas Board meeting, a former KIPP University Prep teacher and her spouse told the board leadership at the San Antonio campus failed to provide curriculum materials and coaching, and said she was disciplined after seeking help.
Jennifer “Jenny” Stevenson, a former 10th‑grade honors English teacher at KIPP University Prep in San Antonio, told the KIPP Texas Board of Directors on April 24 that campus leadership failed to provide promised teacher coaching and materials and disciplined her after she asked for support. She said she received two coaching sessions between August and January when she expected 16 and that one session was “unproductive.”
The board chair, Allison Thacker, opened the public comment segment and reminded speakers of the board’s procedures. Stevenson said that, from November to January, “no action was taken to address the campus support gap” and that she had to seek help from administrators at other schools and outside resources. Porter Stevenson, who identified himself as Jennifer Stevenson’s husband, urged the board to read a document she prepared and warned the board not to dismiss the complaints as those of a “disgruntled former employee.”
Stevenson said her students’ December English I passing rate was “10% above the district average” and that she doubled the passing rate for tenth‑grade students retaking English I. Porter Stevenson criticized district leadership’s response and called attention to what he said was a disparity in compensation, telling the board that “the KIPP CEO makes a base of $409,000 a year” while teachers lacked basic materials. He asked the board to “ask questions” and “go beyond the surface.”
The board did not take any formal action during the public comment period; board members thanked the speakers and moved on to the agenda. The meeting record indicates that board leadership said members of KIPP Texas leadership could follow up with speakers after the meeting as allowed under the Texas Open Meetings Act.
