'Disdain': B-P teachers say school has 'low morale' and 'high turnover.' What they want

TAUNTON — B-P teachers pleading for a role in the superintendent search are unhappy with the district’s current leadership and want a voice in helping make sure the district gets the kind of change it badly needs, B-P teachers union President Tasha Cordero said.

The Bristol-Plymouth school committee “exhibits disdain and animosity towards teachers, never truly believing or listening to us” and the school has “a poor climate and low morale under the current superintendent’s leadership for a decade, and have had a high turnover of staff as a result, more so than ever before,” Cordero said in an email to the Gazette on March 29.

“We are concerned that if the school committee and the superintendent have exclusive power to choose and hire the next superintendent, it will be through their lens, which does not reflect or honor or even know who they represent and what they need,” Cordero said.

The Bristol-Plymouth Teachers Association displayed a big banner at the April 3 School Committee meeting with the words, “Transparency, inclusivity and collaboration.”

Teachers, students, and supporters of the BPTA packed the lecture hall at Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School in Taunton asking the school committee and administration to include teachers and other members of the school community in the superintendent selection process.

“I came here tonight to implore you not to settle for fulfilling a minimum responsibility. Do right by the stakeholders you have pledged to put first and make this search the exciting, collaborative and innovative process it should be,” B-P English teacher Jerilyn Karam-Kozak said.

Superintendent Alexandre Magalhaes announced back in December he will be retiring at the end of calendar year 2024.

Magalhaes did not respond to requests for comment when The Gazette both called his office and messaged him through his work email.

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Parents also concerned

It’s not just teachers concerned over the hiring process.

“A task force is the only way to ensure that candidates are evaluated not only based on their qualifications but also their ability to address specific issues facing our school district. By involving parents, teachers, staff, administration and students in this process, we can find someone both qualified and capable,” said B-P parent Elizabeth O’Brien at the April 3 meeting.

At the meeting, Cordero said teachers are asking for “a seat at the table” in the search process, including being able to meet and ask candidates questions and representation on the hiring committee.

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Has teachers union endorsed a candidate?

Cordero said the superintendent's position has internal candidates. While the BPTA isn’t yet endorsing any candidates, they want to make sure everyone gets a fair shake, she said.

But the school district’s attorney, Joe Emerson, said under state law the School Committee has sole authority to choose the hiring process.

“There’s nothing that requires a particular process,” he said, emphasizing the School Committee can choose any methods it deems fit.

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What does B-P school committee say?

School Committee member Estele Borges, who heads the Personnel Subcommittee that’s responsible for determining how the selection process will go, said, “We haven’t decided yet on how to do this. When we get to that point, we will outline what it will be.”

Borges said she is "just as concerned and passionate about having the right person fill that seat" as everyone else.

School Committee Chair Louis Borges told the Gazette after the meeting “we are listening” to the teachers and parents and “we are being as transparent as we can.” He pointed to a survey that was recently sent out to over 300 teachers, staff, administrators and advisory board members asking for answers and feedback regarding the candidate selection process.

Lack of transparency not a new complaint

Teachers and supporters of the BPTA told the Gazette the issue of lack of transparency on the part of the B-P school board isn’t new.

“There’s no transparency. Ever. Never has been,” said B-P special education teacher Kristin Moreau.

Cordero, in a written statement, said School Committee meetings “meet the bare minimum requirements set by law and do not truly foster an inclusive culture by the committee that seeks to inform and engage those they serve.”

Moreau pointed out that neither video recordings nor archived meeting minutes for school committee meetings are available for public consumption online. They are only available through public records requests.

Estele Borges said she will be addressing access to the meeting minutes being available online at a future meeting, explaining she doesn't believe meeting minutes should require records requests.

“They should be there for everyone who wants to look at them," she said.

Paraprofessionals: Officials show 'disdain and contempt'

B-P paraprofessionals Elise Abbott and Michele Pearce in a written statement to The Gazette, cited an example they say shows the “disdain and contempt the school committee holds for the employees of Bristol-Plymouth.”

When the paraprofessionals and early childhood education teachers unionized five years ago, the school committee and administration refused to allow them to annualize their pay, where wages are spread out across the whole calendar year, including vacations and summer break, Abbott and Pearce said.

“While many may say, ‘just budget your money better,’ when you are already paid near the poverty line that is a difficult task,” they said in the letter.

Abbott and Pearce said the refusal to do something that would cost the district no extra money “makes us feel like the least valued and cared for employees.”

They said they have seen more than 50% of their colleagues among B-P paraprofessionals and early childhood education teachers in the last five “leave for happier places of employment.”

Response to paraprofessionals?

Attempts through the School Administration were made to speak with Committee Chair Louis Borges regarding the paraprofessionals union, but he could not be reached.

Estele Borges said the dispute between the paraprofessional union and the school committee happened before she joined the school committee four years ago, and she had no comment.

This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Bristol-Plymouth high school teachers upset over superintendent search