Teachers offer rebuttal

Peura’s comment was sparked by the dozens of union Local 331 teachers who flooded the Falls High cafeteria to confront the school board about information discussed at February’s school board meeting and then printed in The Journal.

On March 2, The Journal reported that International Falls School District teachers average the fifth highest compensation in the state, according to information presented during the Feb. 22 meeting.

At that meeting, board member Stuart Nordquist shared a notebook full of statewide data from a recent Minnesota School Board Association meeting.

The information showed the average teacher compensation package in the Falls district for the two-year contract extending 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years is $91,285; the average teacher salary in the Falls is $63,335.

Nordquist noted that the district’s salary and benefits package was the second highest in the state when an additional $3,000 QComp payment was added to the base salary and benefits.

He also highlighted data that referred to recent standardized test results compared to teacher salary.

“If we had the best (teachers), then we should be able to produce results,” Nordquist told The Journal following that meeting.

Local 331 president and district teacher John Sandberg came before the board Monday during the open forum to represent the district’s teachers.

“We have a few concerns we’d like to address,” he began.

As two documents were distributed to board members, Sandberg explained, “We’re giving you examples on how sometimes numbers can be skewed based on who is interpreting the data.”

Sandberg explained that the first document, compiled by union officers, listed all 2010-11 current staff, and listed the average salary for full-time equivalent teachers is $53,586.

In the second document, provided by Minnesota Department of Education based on information provided by school business offices, the average teacher salary is reported to be $52,841.

“We are not No. 5, we are No. 80,” Sandberg said. “You can see that three different numbers have been given and they’re all different. It depends on who gives that information. The outcome can change based on that.”

Sandberg continued that he needed to address a much deeper concern. He said that while teachers were not upset about the numbers presented, they were upset because they felt a personal attack on their character, dignity and work ethic.

“Mr. Nordquist quotes in the paper insinuating that teachers in International Falls are not working hard enough to address test scores,” he explained. “The various quotes are a direct slap in the face and an insult to every teacher and school board member in this district.”

Peura interrupted Sandberg reminding him that open forum rules prohibit personal attacks or name calling on members of the school board.

“If you’re going to call out members of the school board, we’re going to stop your open forum ability,” he said.

Sandberg concluded that teachers work hard each day and they care about kids.

Mike Holden, president of the Koochiching County Labor Assembly which represents more than 1,000 union members in the county including the teacher’s union Local 331, spoke in support of the International Falls teachers, saying the information presented in the The Journal story wasn’t accurate or fair to the teachers.

“This isn’t Wisconsin,” he said. “We don’t want to go like Wisconsin went.”

Through tears, first grade teacher Shelby Dowty told the board she “loves her job.”

She said that it is exciting to be a teacher and to see students learn.

“These past couple years have been pretty challenging as a teacher,” she said. “We have had a great deal of things added to our plate to meet the individual needs of our kids and to increase test scores. It’s been challenging, but at the end of a long day, it is rewarding.”

She thanked Falls Elementary Principal Jerry Hilfer and Assistant Principal Andy Fougner for being leaders and “pushing a team of leaders.”

After reading The Journal’s March 2 story, Dowty said she didn’t feel respect she deserved.

“It was totally disheartening,” she said of the story. “It was actually 6 p.m. when I read it, and I was still doing lesson plans for the next day.”

She concluded that without remaining unified, success cannot be achieved and the story took the ‘t’ out of team.

“My dad always told me not to judge a person until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes,” she said. “With that, I would like to invite each board member to spend a full day in my classroom.”

Without any response from board members including Nordquist, the board moved on to approve several personnel items including the hire of Katie Prettyman as the assistant girl’s softball coach for the 2011-12 season and approve requests from Marci Nemec and Stacey Litwiller for use of a personal leave day on the March 25 teacher in-service day.

The board unanimously voted to deny a request for reinstatement of a student who was expelled for bringing a weapon on school grounds earlier this year.

“He is a younger student and after discussions with other administrators, we don’t feel we’d have any issues with this young man,” Peura explained.

Peura said if the student was reinstated, the board would be developing a reentry program contract for reinstatement.

Board member Will Kostiuk said that weapon violations need to be treated the same and the board should remain steadfast because of the seriousness of it.

“When you bring a weapon to school, you should know what you’re getting in to,” he said.

When asked for his recommendation, despite stating the lack of issues with the student, Peura said the board should stay consistent with the school’s policy and continue the expulsion for the remainder of the year.