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Harrison kindergarten teacher urges board to reconsider reduction-in-force, alleges policy misapplication
Summary
Maggie “Maddie” Smith, a kindergarten teacher, told the Harrison School District board she was notified of a reduction in force and said the district did not follow its policy or the LEARNS Act requirements; the board acknowledged personnel rules and moved to executive session for personnel matters.
A Harrison kindergarten teacher told the Harrison School District board on Wednesday that a recent reduction-in-force decision naming her position overlooked rules the district must follow and that the decision has harmed students.
“My name is Maggie Smith. I am a teacher at Harrison Kindergarten,” she said during the public-comment period, identifying her residence and saying she was notified March 6 that her position was subject to nonrenewal. “I do not believe that the district administration followed its own policy or the requirements in the LEARNS Act to arrive at this decision.”
Smith said the rationale behind the decision shifted from testing data to questions about her performance and argued that, under the LEARNS Act, performance-based nonrenewal requires placing a teacher on an intensive support status before nonrenewal. She told the board her most recent evaluation score was 3.05, described student progress in her classroom and recounted the case of a formerly nonverbal student who began talking and reading in her class.
“Before making decisions that impact the classroom, lives, and our community as a whole, please carefully look at the facts,” Smith said, asking the board to reconsider.
Board leaders responded by noting that personnel matters are governed by executive statutes and directed that personnel issues be handled in executive session. The chair thanked Smith for bringing forward her concerns and said the board would address personnel items in closed session as appropriate.
No formal motion or vote on Smith’s employment was recorded in open session; the board later recessed for an extended executive-session hearing on personnel matters.
Context: Smith’s remarks came during the public-comment portion of a regularly scheduled school board meeting in which the board also reorganized officers, reviewed audits and approved several routine items. The board did not issue an immediate public ruling about the allegations during the open meeting.
What happens next: The board moved into recess to consider personnel items in executive session; the transcript shows the board planned a final vote after that closed deliberation.
