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With several people looking on, the Austin Public Schools Board took a critical and introspective look at the climate of the district and vowed to continue discussing the topic during its work session Monday night.

The conversation followed an emotional school board meeting on April 14, when teachers and supporters took their frustrations out regarding moves by the district regarding involuntary transfers within the APS system as well as a feeling of having no voice within the district.

That earlier April meeting also pulled back the curtain on lowering morale among the district’s teachers, something that was very much on the minds of board members Monday night.

“Why do people feel like they have to come to us,” Dan Zielke asked.

At the heart of the issue remains the feeling by teachers that the district and administration is making these moves, something that administration does have the right to do under the current contract structure, without taking teacher concerns into account.

A part of this appears to be a gap in communication contributing to a feedback loop not only at the district administration level, but also at the individual school level. 

“I’ve heard different buildings say we haven’t had a staff meeting all year,” Zielke said. “To me that’s a gap. What feedback do you have for me as an administrator?”

The situation has also created a fear of speaking out within the district, something Cece Kroc mentioned as she admitted her concern that very little has been improving.

“We cannot have staff members being fearful of what their words might do to their career or job,” Kroc said. “We cannot have staff members wondering what the reason is.”

At the same time there was also conversation about not hearing what specific issues were from teachers.

Peggy Young said that while she has heard from plenty of people in the community about continuing issues within the district, she said she had personally heard from very few teachers.

“I’m not hearing from the teachers what they actually want. The actionable?” Young said. “I’m hearing from a lot of non-teachers. I need the meat of what it is.”

What is known is that teachers are leaving the district, many of whom are pointing directly at the climate as for the reasons they are leaving.

Many of the teachers and staff that came forward on April 14 said as much with blunt testimonials that served as a warning to the board and administration.

“Some teachers, including myself, are resigning,” said science teacher Rachel Stange at the earlier meeting. “We can no longer ignore the conditions that are affecting us and our students.”

With the resignations, board members have heard some resignations have been getting very little in the way of acknowledgment.

That’s a crisis Kroc acknowledges.

“As a district, we’ve got to recognize when there is a crisis out there and I feel like we’re there,” she said. “Little conversations … do make a difference.”

While nothing was officially decided on Monday night, Board Chair Carolyn Dube said that the conversation would continue and asked Superintendent Dr. Joey Page to begin gathering data with the administrative team in order to take a closer look at the underlying issues and what steps might be taken to improve things.

At the same time the possibility of more training for administrators down the line could help them make those personal connections in their own buildings.

“It’s time to check in,” Young said. “It’s time to put on that personal hat.”

That included Page as Don Leathers lauded the superintendent for his work on the macro level but believed that more progress could be made on the micro level of ensuring staff feel valued within the district.

“I think we need to work on that,” he said. “Dr. Page has a lot of good characteristics, but I think there are some places where he could improve.”

The board agreed to return to the issue and to continue the conversations at the next study session in May.