Some Lakeville Teachers Being "Stranded" as District Cuts Jobs

In an active Tuesday meeting, the Lakeville School Board took action that effectively served official notices of unrequested leaves of absence (ULA) to more than 60 teachers and also laid out a public timetable for redrawing enrollment borders due to the pending closure of at the end of the current school year.

The evening began, however, with some impassioned comments from district teachers and parents surrounding the realignment of teaching positions affected by the district’s recent .

Marie Ruhme, a third-grade teacher at Orchard Lake Elementary with 17 years of service in the district, said she was addressing the board on behalf of “a large group of tenured teachers who are being involuntarily transferred to special education.”

The teachers, she said, are concerned because they are being reassigned to special education programs despite not having taken any renewal classes in that area. Some, she said, have never even taught special education.

“Stranding” was the key phrase used by the parents and teachers during the open comment session to describe what they felt as a “forced” placement to areas outside of their specialties.

According to district officials, all of the realigned teachers possess current licensure in the areas they are being moved to.

The term originated with a 1984 Minnesota legal case involving Arlene M. Strand that covered teacher seniority status with regard to realignment issues.

The Lakeville school district is in the process of eliminating a number of special education FTEs with low seniority in its current round of cuts and experienced tenure teachers that survived the cuts are being shifted into those roles as well as other areas.

The concern from some of those teachers and parents, especially with regard to special education, is that they feel teaching in that area requires a passion for that area and that the move may negatively impact those students.

“You have to have a passion for it and have to want to do that job,” said Julia Michelson, who has a son with autism in the district. Michelson was overcome with emotion during her comments on the issue. “It’s been really hard,” she said. “(His teacher) has just been amazing. They do wonderful work and he’s progressed so much.”

Emilie Breit, another parent of an autistic child, told the board “I would seriously reconsider the idea that someone who has not chosen to teach special education is, in fact, qualified to teach at such a challenging level.”

Tony Massaros, the district’s director of administrative services, responded to the comments by saying, “I certainly understand and appreciate the concerns that were expressed. We’re aware of the issues, but the school board and administration at this time does not have the ability to do it differently. We’re complying with legal and contractual requirements.”

Those requirements include provisions in the Education Minnesota-Lakeville (EML) contract that mirror state statutes governing ULA policies. Those policies ultimately stem from the state’s Teacher Tenure Act which requires districts to favor tenured teachers by saving those with multiple licensures and realigning them to positions currently held by probationary teachers or lesser seniority.

Unfortunately, that often produces unfavorable change for many.

“Everybody bonds with the teachers,” said Don Sinner, EML’s president. “When a teacher goes away that bond is broken and the emotional ties are hard. Every time that happens I think it’s a testament to the quality of our teachers that they’ve made such an impact on our students.”

Sinner said EML has worked collaboratively with the school district to ensure the process is being conducted according to state law and that there is no “stranding” violation.

“All of these teachers are going to do a nice job in their new positions,” said Sinner. “We have good teachers here. There’s just this shock with the change that’s occurring due to the depth of cuts going on right now, and that’s brought this issue to the front. Our contract has been this way for over a decade and adheres to the state law. We just have to get over the shock of the change.”

“We’re complying with legal and contractual requirements,” said Massaros. “If we hadn’t done it this way, there would be teachers whose jobs are now protected making comments here in order to protect their rights. It’s a difficult, difficult issue.”

In other business, the board announced its open enrollment period was being extended to a May 10 deadline rather than May 1. The period begins April 1.

Board member Roz Peterson said she felt the move would be “a good will gesture” to accommodate parents awaiting the school boundary lines that need to be redrawn due to the closure of Crystal Lake Elementary.

The board laid out a timetable for that process as follows:

April 5: Study session discussions.
April 12: Preliminary presentation at regularly scheduled board meeting.
April 18: Community information night at Kenwood Trail Middle School.
April 19: Additional study session discussions.
April 26: Formal vote finalizing the new boundaries.