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Union-presented staff survey flags low morale and asks board to condemn retaliation
Summary
A union representative presented a climate-and-culture survey showing low staff confidence in district leadership, highlighted areas for improvement in discipline and contract respect, and asked the board to publicly denounce retaliation against employees.
An unnamed union representative presented results of a district staff climate-and-culture survey during the Hamtramck School District board meeting, telling trustees the data show substantial concerns about morale and staff trust in administration.
The presenter said about 123 staff responded to the quick survey and that results on a 1–5 scale were mixed: "My principal prioritizes workplace physical safety" scored positively for about 48% of respondents, and "Demonstrated respect for all students" was at about 60%, while "Handles student discipline consistently" drew only about 36% agreement and "Respects the contract and reaches out to the union on issues impacted by the contract" drew roughly 40% agreement. The presenter cautioned that assistant-principal data suffered a survey glitch and that corrections were not available at the meeting.
Why it matters: trustees heard that the staff perceives a gap between district leadership and classroom staff on communication, scheduling and contract implementation — issues the union said contributed to low morale during recent negotiations.
Key recommendations offered to the board included targeted conversations to identify practices from higher-scoring buildings, more transparent rollout of initiatives, and a formal, public condemnation of retaliation. "I need from this board and I need from district leadership a very robust condemnation of retaliation and reassure those employees that you will not stand for it," the presenter said, asking for a written or verbal statement from the board.
The presenter also proposed a novel relationship-building measure — requiring building and central-office administrators to substitute in classrooms once a month to better understand school operations — and urged the board to support grievance processes under existing collective bargaining agreements.
Board response and next steps: trustees did not take an immediate formal vote on the survey recommendations. The presenter offered to share the full open-ended comments via a QR-code link and said corrected assistant-principal data would be provided later. The board is expected to consider how to publicly respond to the anti-retaliation request and whether to incorporate union recommendations in district personnel and communications practices.
