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Union leaders tell Charles County board educators are near a breaking point over expanding duties
Summary
The Eastern American County Council (EACC) and AFSCME representatives told the Board of Education Sept. 9 that rising non-instructional workload, required makeup work, and expectations for collaborative planning are unsustainable without time or compensation changes.
A labor representative and a union vice president told the Board of Education on Sept. 9 that educators’ non-instructional workload has grown to unsustainable levels and that the district should examine what duties could be removed or reallocated.
At the start of public comment, EACC representative Mr. Veil (identified in the meeting as the speaker for the educators’ association) described teacher workload in vivid detail: hall and bus duty, signing in, meetings before school, interruptions during lessons, grading hundreds of papers, planning time consumed by urgent items and parent calls, and new expectations such as collaborative planning and allowing retests. “What is being asked of educators is unsustainable,” he said. “Responsibilities continue to grow without reducing existing demands.” He asked the board, “What are you doing as a body to provide educators with the time they need to perform their jobs most effectively?”
AFSCME vice president Stephanie Lofenau (support staff union) addressed the board immediately afterward, inviting staff to steward training and thanking the system for recent events that brought staff together.
Why it matters: Teachers’ workload — and any changes to time or expectations — affects classroom instruction, staff retention and district operational decisions. Several board members later referenced workload and collaborative planning when discussing assessment follow-up and MTSS implementation.
Board response and context
Board members acknowledged the testimony and asked staff to consider the workload effects of proposed changes such as collaborative planning and more frequent parent communications. Dr. Navarro and other staff noted the district’s intention to automate some parent letters through Synergy to reduce teacher time spent writing notifications, and district leaders emphasized that any systemic changes would need to account for schedule differences across school types (for example, block schedules versus traditional schedules).
Union asks and district responses
EACC asked the board to examine duties that could be removed from educators’ plates and to consider tradeoffs between time and compensation. AFSCME noted opportunities to train stewards and thanked staff for support at summer events. District leaders said interventions and new reporting tools aim to target support to students earlier — but acknowledged that staff schedules and workload will be part of the implementation conversation.
Ending
The public comments underscored teacher and support-staff concerns about time and workload at the start of the school year. Board members asked staff to consider workload implications as programs such as Synergy-based MTSS and collaborative planning are implemented, and to return to the board with operational details that address teacher time and scheduling differences.
