Firing notices go to near-dozen Tiverton teachers

Union chief objects to ‘Valentine’s Day massacre’

By Tom Killin Dalglish
Posted 2/21/19

TIVERTON — The table is set for a confrontation next Tuesday, February 26, at the Tiverton School Committee meeting (7 p.m., Tiverton High School Library), between teachers given performance-related termination notices last Thursday, February 14, and the Tiverton School Department.

The precise number of teachers involved remains unclear.

"I am not entirely certain how many teachers are involved," said Amy Mullen, teachers union president. "There are between 10-12." The union was not given any advance notice of the actions.

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Firing notices go to near-dozen Tiverton teachers

Union chief objects to ‘Valentine’s Day massacre’

Posted

TIVERTON — The table is set for a confrontation next Tuesday, February 26, at the Tiverton School Committee meeting (7 p.m., Tiverton High School Library), between teachers given performance-related termination notices last Thursday, February 14, and the Tiverton School Department.
The precise number of teachers involved remains unclear.
"I am not entirely certain how many teachers are involved," said Amy Mullen, teachers union president. "There are between 10-12." The union was not given any advance notice of the actions.
Ms. Mullen commented from the airport in El Paso, where she is "with three other Rhode Island teachers to call to an end to the separation and detainment of immigrant children." Superintendent Peter Sanchioni was out-of-town and could not be reached for comment.
"The Superintendent does not communicate with me on a routine basis," Ms. Mullen said, "and he refused to disclose that information about the number of teachers involved to me, so that I could ensure they [the teachers] have the rights and protections they are legally entitled [to]. (This is something I have never experienced in 20 years as a union president, working with different superintendents, and something that my colleagues are completely unfamiliar with as well)," Ms. Mullen said.
Ms. Mullen is quoted in another news report as referring to the termination notices as "a Valentines's Day massacre."
That characterization didn't go down well with Tiverton School Committee Chairman Dr. Jerome Larkin.
"I think people should let this process play out naturally, rather than refer to it as a 'Valentine's Day Massacre,'" he said.
The notices that were sent out, justified or not — the final decision in each case will be made by the school committee — are performance-related, and are different from other notices usually sent out later in the spring of the school year that relate to layoffs, reduction in force, and budgetary concerns.
The process underway now, said, Dr. Larkin, is that these performance-related notices result from a recommendation of the school principal to the superintendent, who sends out the notices. The notice next goes to the school committee, which will make the final decision — affirming it or not affirming it— about each teacher.
"I don't think these dismissals," if any are affirmed, Dr. Larkin said, "will have any effect on any budget-related personnel actions."
The school committee decisions will be made after closed door committee meetings, unless the teacher in question chooses to have his or her case heard in open session. The teacher retains the right to appeal any decision by March 1, Dr. Larkin said.
I and the school committee "don't now know the identity of the teachers," said Dr. Larkin. "That information is not shared with the school committee."
There is some general information about the teachers, however.
"A few are non-tenured teachers — non-tenured in their first three years of teaching in a public school in Rhode Island," said Ms. Mullen. "All are middle and high school teachers. One was hired in 1999, another, not on a correction plan, in 2000."
"The brand new principal at the middle school, Susan Craven, put these teachers on corrective actions plans at the end of January, Jan 31st," said Ms. Mullen. "They received termination notices on February 14. This does not allow adequate time for anyone to demonstrate marked improvement. If there were concerns warranting termination, why were these teachers not put on corrective action plans earlier in the year?" 
"The timing of the termination notices was also handled very poorly by the building principals," Ms. Mullen said, "by calling teachers into their office at the beginning of the day, rather than waiting until the end of the day to give them this incredibly upsetting news — and then expecting them to go back into the classroom and give their best to our students."
Ms. Mullen also said, "we had parent-teacher conferences immediately after school — so the timing of that from the superintendent is poor and shows how little he values the teachers. To be told you are going to be fired and have to deal with that emotionally — and each of these teachers did — because they remain professionals who value their job."
"Teachers have the right to be given adequate time to demonstrate improvement and have clear guidelines of what constitutes improvement. If teachers can not and do not demonstrate improvement, they should be exited from the classroom," Ms. Mullen said.

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