College Station parents, teachers protest Rock Prairie principal reassignment, urge board to address teacher morale

Dozens of parents, current and former teachers and other community members urged the College Station Independent School District Board of Trustees on April 15 to reverse the reassignment of Rock Prairie Elementary principal Jeff Durand and to address what they called declining teacher morale tied to the district's professional learning community (PLC) rollout.

The speakers said PLC implementation, a contract with Solutions Tree and loss of uninterrupted teacher planning time have increased teachers' workloads, produced what several described as a 'culture of fear' and prompted midyear resignations. Yi Chen Kwon, reading a statement from a teacher she identified as the 'teacher Lorax,' told the board that state law guarantees planning time and said the district's 'district of innovation' status has allowed the loss of that time. ''Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not,' Kwon read.

Why it matters: speakers said the leadership decision at Rock Prairie has…