LETTERS SENT TO BOE AND SUPERINTENDENT

Glen Rock High School has consistently retained its status as a high-performing school district which is evident in state and national rankings and accolades, such as the Blue Ribbon Award. I believe that it is not so far-fetched of a statement to partially accredit our high rankings to the very backbone of our schools: the teachers. After hearing the alleged news that every teacher was issued a RICE notice and 10 teachers were asked to vacate the building and hand in a resignation letter, I would like to state my concerns as a citizen of Glen Rock, a mother to children graduated and still in the Glen Rock Public School System, and an educator myself.

First and foremost, I would like to start by expressing my discontent with Dr. Brett Charleston. I first became disillusioned with his role as the superintendent when he and the Board of Education pitched the plan to restructure the high school and middle school. I am still trying to comprehend the purpose of this restructuring. I believe the district was able to attain high rankings due to the distinct separation of high school and middle school administrations. In an environment where the middle school and high school were separate entities, both administrations and faculties were able to divert their utmost attention to their respective schools. In reality, I don’t understand what the problem was with having separate administrations, faculties and schools, as this method worked out seemingly great with the rankings we received. To introduce more administrative positions seems very costly and hard to fill in. According to the district website, the district is still trying to fill in the supervisory positions of science and social studies. It’s not clear whether Glen Rock has a director for the Curriculum and Instruction department, which is the heart of the education. 

It’s also worth noting that upon learning more about Dr. Charleston, he has more than once introduced an unneeded radical restructuring plan. In 2017, Dr. Charleston and the Pequannock Board of Education planned to separate their K-5 structure into two different structures, K-3 and 4-5. This was met with a protest from the community by this petition:

https://www.change.org/p/pequannock-board-of-education-support-our-children-s-education-by-keeping-k-5-schools-in-pequannock

Unfortunately, his radical thinking did not stop with the restructuring plan in Glen Rock. Teachers have tirelessly worked hard this year with remote and in-person teaching, yet Dr. Charleston awarded every teacher (tenured and untenured) with a RICE letter. What I found most surprising was the overall inappropriate behavior towards the teachers. According to the GREA statement, the administration forced several teachers to vacate the building and hand in a letter of resignation by Monday and if they did not, they would not receive a positive recommendation. This is a completely unethical and unprofessional practice. To add to this unethical and disrespectful behavior, one teacher was taken out of the classroom while teaching and conducting a Zoom meeting, leaving virtual students unattended. The teacher was not allowed to return to the classroom.

Upon seeing the alleged list of teachers who were forced to hand in resignations, I can attest that my child has had extremely positive educational experiences with two of the math teachers and one Spanish teacher. I think the community deserves the answers as to why these hard-working teachers have been treated so unfairly. I urge the Board of Education members to take action and reverse the forced resignations of these hard-working teachers. Although the future of our children lies with our teachers, they are not being heard, respected, or supported under Dr. Charleston’s administration. Before further damage is done to this tight-knit, high performing district with Dr. Charleston’s radical thinking, please enlist someone who will listen to the community and teachers and will lead this district with a great vision.

Sincerely,

A Concerned Glen Rock Parent