RE: 28 March Katy ISD School Board Meeting

Per InstantNewsKaty.com: Golbow Elementary Administration Accused Of ‘Bullying’ Tactics, Teachers Say They Work In Fear By: John Pape on Tue, Mar 29, 2011 News Saying they have been bullied, belittled, disrespected and forced out, more than 50 teachers, parents and former educators from Katy ISD’s Golbow Elementary School showed up at Monday night’s school board meeting to plead with trustees to investigate the situation at the north Katy campus. The speakers said the current campus administration has created an atmosphere of fear among teachers and parents with tactics of intimidation and retaliation. Even a retired principal from Golbow took the podium to address the school board about the situation. The one thing nobody mentioned publicly were the names of the people they blame for much of the problem. Privately, they identified those individuals as school principal Ann Smith and her top administrators, assistant principals Ceci Perez and Felicia Sheedy. Even before being invited forward to address the school board during the public comments portion of the meeting, Katy ISD Board President Judith Snyder issued a warning to those who had signed up to speak. Snyder told speakers if they attempted to voice “complaints against specific personnel, we’ll have to ask you to cease at that time.” Third grade teacher Cynthia Cameron was the first to speak about the problems at Golbow, telling trustees the staff felt “bullied” and intimidated. Less than 20 seconds into Cameron’s remarks, Snyder interrupted with yet another warning, telling the veteran teacher “employees may not complain to the board until all (internal) appeal processes have been exhausted.” Cameron persisted, saying Golbow employees were “being bullied and treated like we’re not trusted.” “It has become difficult to work at Golbow because it appears the district does not trust us,” she said. One parent told the board “teachers are scared for their jobs” and parents were “frustrated” and felt unwelcome on campus. “Teachers are preoccupied with toeing the administration’s line,” he said. Former teacher Cindy Petrowski, a 21-year educator, told the school board she resigned after last year because of the “atmosphere of fear” at the school. She also said teachers were routinely non-renewed or pressured to resign over their perceived support of the school’s administration. One of the teachers forced out at Golbow took a position in another school district, only to be recognized as a teacher of the year in that district. Fifth grade teacher Tobias Whitman told the board he had fallen into disfavor after being asked for his “honest opinion.” Whitman said after he voiced an opinion the school administration did not like, he was “targeted.” Because of the stress of working at Golbow, Whitman said he has been placed on medication for high blood pressure and depression. “Teachers are constantly threatened and constantly living in fear of their job,” Whitman said. Possibly the most compelling testimony came from retired Golbow principal Terri Majors. She told trustees “there is an unhealthy, psychologically damaging work and learning environment at Golbow that has been created and fueled by the current administration.” “Behaviors and actions of Golbow’s three administrators injure the staff’s self-esteem, cause anguish during work hours, are perceived as hostile, unwanted and unwarranted. These actions defeat the goal of providing a happy, positive learning environmental for the students,” Majors said. She also said the school district’s human resources department was complicit in the retaliation against teachers. “There is documented ongoing support for Golbow’s current administration by the district’s human resources department despite the large volume of teacher resignations, transfers and non-renewals that far exceed the norm,” Majors said. “At the end of the school year, 68 percent of the teaching staff at Golbow when the new administration was hired will be gone.” Majors also noted teachers were reassigned to “incompatible positions” to force them out. Examples included an art teacher with no classroom experience reassigned to first grade; an ELS teacher with one year experience assigned to special education; a fourth grade math teacher transferred to second grade and others. Majors also said the ongoing controversy is also affecting students. “Students are taught in an atmosphere in which teachers are bullied by administrators and fear for one’s job is palpable. Recognition by students of their teachers’ emotional distress impedes their ability to learn at optimal levels,” Majors said. Majors and the others asked the school board to conduct an investigation into their complaints and the situation at Golbow. Board members did not respond to any of the comments and no action was taken.
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