Is Green Bay School Board ever going to discuss internal report that cited 'a dynamic of distrust'

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect that the Green Bay School Board did not approve that the district switch from an income protection plan to a short term disability plan in March.

GREEN BAY — Over two months after Green Bay School Board members said they wanted to discuss a district culture report, they still haven’t talked about it.

The report, authored by district-hired consultant Burns/Van Fleet, detailed a "seemingly impenetrable barrier" causing district senior leadership to resist engaging with principals and other staff at schools, creating "a dynamic of distrust and antagonism.”

Since January 2023, over 250 employees have resigned from the Green Bay School District, not including retirements. In the Appleton Area School District, which is similar in size to Green Bay, 133 employees have resigned in that same timeframe, according to school board meeting records.

More: Green Bay School Board members got internal culture report 5 months ago. They haven’t discussed it.

Board members received the report in August 2023, but it wasn't made public until the Press-Gazette obtained it through an open records request in January.

While still serving on the board, Nancy Welch told the Press-Gazette in early February that she wanted a meeting on the report, since the board hadn’t discussed its findings yet. Welch’s seat was up for reelection in April, and she did not run.

Board member Andrew Becker also told the Press-Gazette in February that a meeting on the report would be helpful and that he would put in a request to get it on an agenda. Becker was elected to his eighth term on the board in April.

Yet the report and its findings still have not been on a board agenda.

Will the board ever discuss the report?

At its Feb. 26 board meeting, the board talked about getting the report on an agenda and bringing in its author, Stuart Berger, to answer questions. Welch requested a meeting, and board member Lynn Gerlach seconded the request.

“I would like it to be seriously looked at as soon as possible,” Welch said at the time.

Multiple board members — including Board President Laura McCoy, Vice President James Lyerly and member Bryan Milz — have said they question the report's lack of concrete numbers and anecdotal findings.

“I know the report kind of was like, ‘Oh, we can’t take this report because there’s no quantitative analysis and data,’” Welch said Feb. 26. “As I understand it, the report writer was given direction on how to do the preparation, and so I think that has to be looked at as well.”

McCoy said at the Feb. 26 meeting that she didn’t know whether discussing the report and bringing in the author would be the work of the board.

“I’m wondering about if this is our superintendent, or our interim superintendent, gets to invite this person to make a report about this and meet in open session,” she said.

Welch said that in her three years on the board, it had been very hard for her to get anything on the agenda.

“This has been going on for a long time now, trying to talk about this with the board,” she said at the February meeting.

At the Feb. 26 meeting, Becker said he didn't want discussion of the report to slip away into April. He did not respond to the Press-Gazette’s multiple requests for an interview.

At that same meeting, Gerlach said she would like to have the report’s author come speak with the board.

“I would like to have a discussion and have the author here for the purpose of seeing what insight we can gain as we move forward with leadership in our district,” Gerlach said. “Because, as I’ve said to so many of you so many times, it doesn’t make sense to choose a leader until you know where you want and need to go.”

The report was created as part of former superintendent Claude Tiller’s transition into the role as district leader and cost $30,000. Tiller resigned in February amid a controversy over comments he made on an Atlanta radio show. He was only seven months into the position.

No movement from board members to discuss the report, though concerns are being addressed

Gerlach told the Press-Gazette in an interview that, to her knowledge, nothing has been done to bring Berger to talk with the board.

“I'm open to having conversations about where to go next, if anywhere,” she said.

McCoy declined the Press-Gazette’s interview request and did not answer the Press-Gazette’s questions about whether the board will discuss the report or bring in Berger to answer questions. Instead, she pointed to a March board work session where associate superintendent of continuous school improvement, David Johns, presented on building a thriving workforce in the district.

“In that work session it was clearly stated that some of the suggestions from the Burns Van Fleet report have been incorporated already into administrative planning and work, etc.,” she said in an email.

While she's no longer on the board, Welch said she feels the district was starting to address the report’s concerns before her tenure ended.

“I feel what David Johns said in his presentation showed that they are definitely starting to address things,” she said in an interview.

Welch declined to answer what happened to bringing in Berger to answer the board’s questions.

Berger did not answer the Press-Gazette’s emailed questions about whether he was contacted by the board to speak with them, saying “it has been made very clear to me that I’m not supposed to communicate with (the press).”

In his March presentation, Johns highlighted that work teams often don’t feel their voices are included in decisions and that teachers struggle to collaborate, given the demands on their time outside of teaching.

Johns said the district is hosting listening circles with staff, administrators having a larger presence in school buildings and establishing a principal advisory team as a sounding board for leadership decisions.

The district is also studying administrative positions and reviewing the roles of executive, associate and standard directors. It is also looking at positions below the senior level to compare them with other Wisconsin districts and update job descriptions.

The district is eliminating the executive director roles for teaching and learning, student services, and school leadership. It is hiring for two new director roles for recruitment and inclusion.

In March, the board did not approve replacing the district’s income protection plan with a short-term disability plan, as recommended by the report, for staff that have to take leave from work.

What was in the report?

The 34-page report was authored by consulting firm Burns/Van Fleet for Tiller, who started as superintendent in July 2023.

The firm conducted 60 interviews with district employees and administrators throughout June and July. The report details a district whose senior administration undermines its employees and whose members are tethered to their desks and have turf wars among colleagues.

Principals often spoke of "initiative overload" with virtually no coordination, and frequent undermining, from the department heads of teaching and learning, student services and school leadership.

Burns/Van Fleet also reviewed administrative staffing and compensation compared to other districts. It found the district has sufficient staffing in its administration, but compared to other districts of similar size — like Appleton, Madison and Milwaukee — Green Bay has more administrators below the senior level. Administrators are compensated at a competitive rate compared to other Brown County districts as well as other Wisconsin districts of similar size, given Green Bay's low cost of living.

Danielle DuClos is a Report for America corps member who covers K-12 education for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at dduclos@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @danielle_duclos. You can directly support her work with a tax-deductible donation at GreenBayPressGazette.com/RFA or by check made out to The GroundTruth Project with subject line Report for America Green Bay Press Gazette Campaign. Address: The GroundTruth Project, Lockbox Services, 9450 SW Gemini Drive, PMB 46837, Beaverton, Oregon 97008-7105.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Is the Green Bay School Board ever to discuss internal culture report?