Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Human Resources topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Parents and teachers urge transparency after Sunnyside layoff notices; board hears demands for seniority data
Summary
More than a dozen parents, teachers and union representatives testified about layoffs affecting Sunnyside Environmental School and other focus programs, urging release of seniority listings, consistent application of seniority rules, and protection for teachers who earned specialized certifications. They asked the board to pause budget actions until questions are resolved.
Parents, teachers and union representatives filled public comment to press the board for greater transparency and consistency after recent layoff and unassignment notices.
Mary Lloyd, a fifth-grade teacher at Sunnyside, said she received notice on June 1 that her full-time teaching position would be terminated and said she had been unable to obtain a seniority listing that would show where she falls on district lists. “There has been a tremendous lack of transparency with these layoffs,” Lloyd said. “These notices do not comply with provisions of our contract. PPS needs to provide clarity, data, and information regarding these layoffs.”
Multiple parents and community members described Sunnyside as a specialized, place-based program that requires teachers to hold multiple certifications and deep program knowledge; speakers warned that replacing those teachers based strictly on seniority lists risks undermining program integrity. Travis Pritchard, a parent, asked the board to “ensure that any teachers replacing existing well-qualified and prepared teachers meet these same exact qualifications.”
Speakers including Philip Dlahousaye and others said district HR is counting only certificated years for seniority and excluding earlier PFSP (paraprofessional/educational-assistant) service — a treatment they argued conflicts with collective-bargaining language. Several speakers asked the board to direct HR to release seniority listings to site leaders and union representatives so placements can be verified.
Superintendent Armstrong acknowledged the human toll and described the district’s structural deficit and the complexity of the HR workload; the superintendent said notices went out last Thursday and that the district is meeting with union leadership to reconcile lists and unassignments. Board members requested a briefing on the layoff process and seniority calculation.
The board did not reverse published notifications at the meeting; directors asked staff to provide detailed briefings for board and public review about timelines, seniority rules, and possible contractual or policy alternatives for future bargaining cycles.
