To all Fairfield teaching staff:
On Apr 5, 2023 The Teacher Retention and Recruitment Committee consisting of; Tracy Vance, Dr. Noll, Jen Kinder, Annie Pollet, and Tai Ward met. The Committee is responsible for the Teacher Morale Survey.
During our meeting, recent concerns of the Survey were discussed. As a result of our review of these concerns, the committee has the following report:
1. Concern: The survey results were not released to staff as promised.
- The survey results were released in the Weekly Staff Update on February 8, 2023.
2. Concern: HR did not present the survey info the same way to this committee, Admin, Board, and staff.
- Members of this committee were present at various presentations of the survey by Tracy, and the presentation materials presented were the same and consistent.
3. Concern: Teacher union reps' access was removed from the notes document.
- This was done in consultation with Jen and Annie on 2/2/23 after discussing the sensitive nature of some personnel issues brought up during the listening tour.
It was agreed that documentation of the notes would be held in HR EAB files.
4. Concern: HR met with a staff member who was the focus of a discussion at the Middle School, and this staff member was told what was said about them.
- Tracy met with two staff members who were the focus of concern in one or more buildings. Tracy advised all four buildings at the beginning of each meeting that he would be using quotes and information provided at the meeting in order to address concerns but would not attribute names to those who provided information or quote.
The purpose of the listening tour was to identify areas and issues of concern so that the district could address these concerns. Personnel issues were raised concerning a staff member, and Tracy addressed these concerns as a confidential matter without providing any information about who made comments or where the concerns were voiced.
We hope that addressing these concerns clears up any questions you may have surrounding the recent Teacher Morale Survey. We look forward to having one more data point from an additional survey and listening tour to be conducted in the next few weeks. After that, we will ask some teachers to be on a committee to help develop action steps on one area of concern that surfaces from the two data points.
Tracy Vance
Dr. Laurie Noll
Jen Kinder
Annie Pollet
Tai Ward