Twenty-one staff members assert Manchester High School has become a hostile work environment

Disruptive and defiant students, threats from parents, and rampant destruction of school property are just some of the factors listed by staff members as making Manchester High School a hostile working environment for them and a hostile learning environment for the students.

Last Monday after school, a letter signed by twenty-one junior/senior high school staff members was delivered to the superintendent, Dr. Brad Bezeau. The letter was addressed to the Manchester Community Schools (MCS) Human Resource Department, Dr. Bezeau, Principal Andy Rousselo, and the MCS Board of Education. Signees included custodians, paraprofessionals, secretaries, counselors, and teachers. Although the staff believed that the letter had been received by school board members early in the week, due to a miscommunication, the school board did not receive copies of the letter until Friday.

The letter states, “The majority of school staff and students are trying to follow mandates put forth by the county health department that are supposed to increase the chances of us staying healthy and being able to remain in school. In addition to trying to keep ourselves and students physically healthy, we are also facing an organized effort to disrupt the daily functioning of the school environment incited by a minority of parents/board members in the community.”

In addition to those causing the disruptions, the letter lays responsibility for the untenable situation at the schools with the district, including the school board for letting it happen and states that the staff members who signed the letter are making a complaint against MCS including the Board of Education, for allowing the hostile environment. It goes on to say, “We do not take the filing of this complaint lightly. This was a difficult decision for all of us but our/student safety and the overall working conditions have become unbearable.”

The letter asserts that since Tuesday, September 7, 2021, the district has been in violation of the master agreement of the teachers union, and includes full versions of the Board of Education's policies in question. These policies are Code 5517 Anti-Harassment which include sections on bullying and harassment, 5520 - Disorderly Conduct, and Code 5720 - Student Activism. (To read the referenced policies, visit https://www.manchesterschools.us and click on the “District” tab.)

While this complaint has been filed by an independent group including union and non-union members, teachers' union president Leslie Rollins confirmed that separate from this complaint, there is also a union grievance in process.

Examples of these violations cited in the letter include:

• Parents/board members encouraging their students to enter the building in direct violation of the Washtenaw County Health Dept.'s mask mandate order
• Students inciting other students to disregard the mask mandate
• Staff fearful of parents based on social media posts, irrational behavior, and emails; threats of legal action against teachers who are following mask mandates. Teachers worried about their safety during parent conferences at the end of October
• Students refusing to wear masks at all or appropriately on a daily basis; non-mask wearing students refusing to leave the classroom when a teacher asks; administrators unable to remove student from classroom
• Students and parents being insubordinate to Athletic Department by not wearing masks at indoor events
• Students refusing to leave school grounds/parents refusing to pick up insubordinate students
• Students video recording teachers without their permission and posting on social media {direct violation of Board Policy #5136)
• Non-mask wearing students creating a hostile and disruptive learning environment for staff and students
• Putting the health of students and staff in jeopardy by not wearing a mask
• Board members directly violating school board policy (in school building and at athletic events)
• Number of days students have had substitute teachers due to staff absences, substitute shortages, and teachers having to work through their prep period
• Disruption of class and health risks caused by unmasked students.
• The defiance of school rules is manifesting in other areas.
• Empty consequences from the administrative body leads to power struggles between students and teachers, leading to increased tension between staff and students, as well as between teachers.
• The destruction of school property is occurring at an alarming rate. Bathrooms are being destroyed (food strewn around the cafe, toilets being stuffed with masks, soap dispensers being ripped from walls). The janitorial staff are having to work extra hard to cover all of the issues.
• A Link Crew leader resigned due to conditions in the building.
• Due to threats toward staff members, staff are leaving in pairs because they feel uncomfortable leaving the school building alone.
• It is unclear how to support students that have mask exemptions while still supporting other students' need for a healthy environment in classes.
• Parents of masked students are becoming frustrated by the lack of support for teachers and student learning from administration and the Board.

The letter goes on to discuss the patience the staff had at the beginning of the year to accommodate the change in administration and the county health mandates but reiterates that the disregard for school rules has become intolerable. It talks about staff members who've left their jobs or are seeking alternative employment because of this, and some who have taken mental health leave.

It concludes with specific requests: "We are asking that students and adults be held accountable for their actions in connection with the students handbook, the code of conduct, the Board of Education Policy, and teacher/support staff contract, so that we can educate students in an environment that is safe and free from hostility. Please honor your post's commitment to the entire school community by following the policies and procedures that are in place to support order and safety for all of us."

When asked about the letter, Bezeau responded to the Mirror, “Regarding the contents of the letter, (there) has certainly been an 'all hands on deck' approach to educating our students as to the requirements and the critical health importance of masks and the emergency health orders, and the enforcement of these orders. From our teachers, to our parents, to administration, and most important, our students, we have had to continue to work together to make sure that everyone is safe and that we are complying with the order, but it has certainly been a process. Personally, I have worked each day with our principal welcoming each student at our main entrance to school and making sure that everyone has a mask for the day. I would just hate to have it be presented as nothing is being done from administration, as there have been suspensions, detentions, and meetings with parents and law enforcement as we process through these instances.”

All school board members were reached out to on Thursday, but none have commented since receiving the letter.

On Sunday afternoon, a high school staff member stated that there has been zero communication from the administration or school board, nor acknowledgement of the document with the group as a whole since the letter was delivered six days prior.

The staff member added, “We have not worked through anything. We tried to bring it up at a staff meeting and were pushed aside.” They went on to explain that the superintendent did not attend the Thursday staff meeting and the only administrator present was unable to confirm during the meeting whether the board policies would be enforced by school administration and/or supported by the board.

One issue the letter mentioned is lack of substitute teachers, which is a statewide issue not unique to Manchester. This problem was starkly illustrated on Friday when so many teachers called in sick that multiple classes with no one to teach them were sent to the auditorium to watch movies, where they could be supervised by the limited staff available.

Although the rumor spread among the student body that teachers were "on strike," Rollins stated that teachers being out sick is not a union action and that Covid is running through the building. She concluded, “I hope they are all ok.”

The school is currently experiencing its highest rate of new positive COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began, with 29 positive cases in the district since the beginning of the school year; 13 of those cases among high school students in the last two weeks.

Dr. Bezeau encourages community members to join him this Wednesday, October 13th at 6pm at the Manchester Jr./Sr. High School football field for a community listening session and “an opportunity to begin the healing that has to take place for our school to continue through the year.” He concluded, “There is no doubt that this has been a divisive issue within our school, our community, and across the country, but we have to continue working together.”

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.