Discord over the direction of Jefferson County Public Schools spilled into classrooms and onto sidewalks Friday after an unusually large number of teachers either called in sick or claimed personal days at two high schools, prompting the district to cancel classes.
A total of 50 teachers from Standley Lake and Conifer high schools were absent, out of 117 teachers at both schools. Without enough substitutes, Superintendent Dan McMinimee made a “quick and difficult decision,” saying there wouldn’t be enough adults in the buildings to provide a safe and secure environment for students.
At a news conference in which he apologized for inconveniencing parents, the first-year superintendent called the teachers’ choice “unfortunate” while declining to speculate on their reasons.
“While I respect the opportunity for free speech and expression, I think there are other ways we can work through these differences without putting kids in the middle,” McMinimee said.
The Jefferson County Education Association, the teachers union, said it did not organize any action but understands the frustrations of teachers and others about what it described as a pattern of secrecy, wasting taxpayer dollars and disrespecting community priorities.
More disruption could be coming. An organized “sick-out” may be planned for Monday, district leadership wrote in an e-mail to staff Thursday that warned that such actions are illegal under state law.
Tensions in Colorado’s second-largest school district have been high since the November 2013 election of a conservative slate of three school board candidates who became the majority.
Acrimonious board meetings from last spring have spilled into this fall with debates over teacher compensation and curriculum.
“It’s all right to have disputes and distractions, but they should never be brought into our classrooms,” board chairman Ken Witt said Friday. “I’m extremely disappointed our teachers chose not to come to work today.”
Witt said teachers “should be celebrating” after the board Thursday approved a new system for awarding teacher raises.
An impasse over this year’s raises led to a review by a third-party “fact-finder,” who found the district’s teacher evaluation system was too flawed to use for setting salaries and recommended the status quo.
The board, however, refused to adopt a system that would have awarded raises to teachers evaluated as “partially effective.”
Last week, Jeffco teachers issued a unanimous “no confidence” vote in Witt over the teacher evaluation system.
Witt said the newly adopted salary plan gives effective teachers a 2.4 percent raise and highly effective teachers a 4.2 percent raise.
The district says this year’s teacher compensation package is $18.2 million — up from $11.7 million last year — and that 98 percent of Jeffco teachers will get a salary increase for the first time in four years.
The e-mail that was sent out because of the “sick-out” rumors warned staff about the consequences, including legal ones.
James Branum, the attorney for the school district, said Friday he could not discuss Friday’s action or potential steps. But he said in general, any “sick-out” organized involving employees who are not sick could be considered an illegal strike under Colorado labor law.
He said evidence of organization could include anything from Facebook posts to overheard conversations.
At the news conference Friday, McMinimee did not rule out action but also signaled discipline was not a priority.
“For me, it’s less about punishment and more about understanding and trying to pick up the pieces and move forward,” he said. “We have to have schools in session, and our kids deserve to have a great opportunity to learn.”
District officials said 32 of 72 teachers at Standley Lake, which had 1,391 students last year, reported sick or took a personal day Friday. At Conifer, which had 863 students, 18 of 45 teachers were absent.
No other Jeffco schools had absences that made closure a possibility, and the teacher absence rate districtwide was about average Friday when the two closed schools were factored out, district officials said.
On Friday morning, students at both campuses took up signs and chanted messages such as, “my school, my voice.”
“We are supporting the teachers,” said Evan Blaskowski, a senior who was picketing with about 20 others near Conifer High School. “We think they should get paid more.”
It’s unclear whether actions that result in school closures — and the possibility of more next week — will help or hurt the cause of teachers and others critical of the school board.
Scott Pantall, whose 10-year-old daughter attends Mortenson Elementary in Littleton, said one factor is that the disruption of canceled classes for parents of high school students is much less.
He sympathizes with the teachers’ frustration, saying proposed changes in setting curriculum shows the board lacks trust in them.
The school closures, he said, “makes teachers’ annoyances louder. It causes more people to pay attention.”
The school board on Thursday tabled a proposal to form a controversial new curriculum review panel. The proposed criteria call for teaching materials promoting patriotism, respect for authority and the free-market system while avoiding material that would encourage or condone “civil disorder, social strife or disregard of the law.”
“It’s chilling,” said school board member Lesley Dahlkemper, who typically clashes with the conservative majority. “Does it mean Jeffco will no longer study the civil rights movement, the Boston Tea Party or women’s suffrage?”
Teachers who caused Friday’s school closures hurt their credibility, argues Rex Halbeisen, parent to a Standley Lake High School student.
“I think it was a selfish act by the teachers,” said Halbeisen, who voted for the conservative bloc in the November 2012 elections. “All they did was give our kids a day off school — and I have a struggling student. He is a sophomore, playing football. The last thing he needs is a day off school.”
Eric Gorski: 303-954-1971, egorski@denverpost.com or twitter.com/egorski
