BY SARAH STEPHENS
ELMORE AUTAUGA NEWS
Top photo: Jenna Mead addresses the Elmore County School Board Tuesday. Photo taken from video provided by Elmore County Schools.
Tuesday evening, Elmore County Schools Supt. Richard Dennis made a recommendation to the school board for a transfer of Eclectic Middle School Teacher Jenna Mead, from 6th grade ELA teacher to teach 7th grade ELA at EMS effective Aug. 1, 2024.
Before board members voted on the transfer, Jenna Mead was allowed to address them and share her thoughts.
Board Chairman David Jones said, “The transfer will not result in a loss of pay.”
He continued, “The full matter before us is a serious and important matter. However, it is not a full or adversarial hearing involving cross examination of witnesses.”
Supt. Dennis deferred his statement to EMS Principal LaTresia Robinson, who made the original decision on the transfer. She was allowed to explain her reasoning for Mead’s transfer, which would have been the latest in multiple changes of duty for the veteran teacher.
“Ms. Mead interviewed in the fall of 2015 for the vacant 7th grade language arts position that we had. During that time, she was one of the top three candidates, however we chose another person to fill the position. She interviewed again in the summer of 2016 when we posted a third ELA position.”
Principal Robinson went on to say that it was believed that hiring an additional ELA teacher would allow the school to decrease their English class sizes, hopefully resulting in learning and student performance.” Ms. Mead was hired for the position.
Robinson explained to Mead when she was first hired that her schedule would vary and there would be additional courses she would be teaching.
Robinson said that during the 2019-20 school year, each grade level had fewer students than when Ms. Mead was originally hired. “Consequently, her schedule was filled with career prep and electives.”
Robinson said that Mead seemed to enjoy the flexibility that was afforded to her. “She incorporated a combination of technology, creative writing, reading and current events into this course.”
Robinson said that Mead’s schedule has varied, but it represented what was needed by the school at that time.
After Covid, things changed again. “What we needed was four people to be in PE. She was our PE teacher to keep classes separate.”
Robinson said the decision to transfer Mead for the coming year is not personal, but she has “to be concerned with 460 kids I have at Eclectic Middle, and I also have to focus right now on 110 that I have going into seventh grade. I have a strong teacher (in Mead) on campus. It is hard to find someone who is certified in that area.”
Robinson stressed that Mead had done nothing wrong, and her decision to make the transfer was based on school staffing needs alone.
“With her certifications, she has always been what I call our ‘Wild card,’” Robinson said, adding that Mead had always agreed to the changes.
Mead was then allowed to address the board.
“As a veteran teacher and a coach in this county I have taught nearly 3,000 young men and women. I have coached 24 volleyball teams and 14 softball teams. I am here tonight, as it is my right, to go before the board and ask that you vote against the recommendation that I be transferred from sixth to seventh grade ELA at Eclectic Middle School.
She then said she wanted to explain her reasons.
“I am here because I don’t consent to a recommended transfer by my boss, but I am an obedient employee. I have always been willing to do as I was told when it comes to my curriculum and my classroom.”
In the past seven years, Mead said she has not taught the same subject two years in a row. She has been moved to different rooms and hallways many times.
“I have moved classrooms four times, twice in one year. Slight changes are common for most teachers, but my yearly changes are not at all common. My EMS coworkers have experienced the security that I simply cannot relate to. There is not another teacher at my school who has moved even half as much as I have. At EMS I have taught something new every year, even though some things were the same balancing multiple subjects and grade levels at the one time. I have done as I was asked each time and my content changed without question.”
Mead said when she accepted the job at EMS she knew she would need to be a “utility player” and fill in the gaps.
However, she feels this transfer request is different, and that is why she wanted to address the board.
She went through numerous changes she has experienced over the seven years, including taking on the class of a friend and coworker that passed away. “I walked every day into a room that was once filled with a friend, his room, his material and his students. I have only asked one thing and I made it very clear. When Mrs. Pilgrim retires, can I please move to sixth grade. When it became available, I was thrilled.”
This past school year Mead said she has found a light and a purpose that has not been within her for a long time.
“Educator burnout is a real thing. More than 44 percent of veteran teachers report feeling burnout, which is more than any other career. You can look that up.”
She said she feels she has found her purpose from transitioning kids from elementary to secondary mentality.
“I am excited for what is to come, or I was. Teacher’s mental and physical health should be as important as the data that my current principal presented.”
Mead said that no one who has worked with her can doubt her ability as an educator.
“My students and parents are loyal and supportive. Personally, that is all the data that I need. That has to mean something. The Eclectic community is a special place. The feedback from my people is what drives me.”
“This year I helped kids who needed extensive intervention grow enough to be taken off the PST intervention list. More sixth graders at our school grew off the list than any other grade level yet no sixth-grade teachers will be teaching sixth grade again next year. That is something to be proud of whether we are teaching together or not. I’ve taught kids who started the year below pre-k reading level. I have never seen that in 17 years. They finished the year second grade or above. That is something. That is data. I don’t need a chart to tell me that I did a good job.”
Mead said that was a shoulder to cry on, she made her kids laugh, she shared her snacks.
“I made my classroom into a home. I used the word home because that word means something to me. A home is somewhere that is safe, secure and permanent. I felt that I had finally, after many years of hard work and dedication made it to that level of security that I see all round me every day in my coworkers.”
Mead said she was told she would be transferring and there was nothing that could be done to change Robinson’s mind.
She said she was assured that she had done nothing wrong, but when she requested to meet with Principal Robinson again it was denied.
“I was not told that I had the option to come before you, the board, until I contacted Ms. Goodin who is an invaluable resource to our employees, and she was very fair and straight forward with me. She informed me that I did not have to sign the letter of consent to transfer, and she would make sure that my principal got a letter about my rights.”
Shortly thereafter, Mead was called to the office, and she received a letter that stated the reason for her transfer is that EMS lost a teaching unit and the seventh-grade numbers require an experienced ELA teacher.
“This does not, and it still does not, make sense. I am being moved due to the loss of a teaching unit. I am being moved because it is hard to hire somebody. Our classrooms are full to the brim with kids. Why are we losing a teaching unit anyway?”
Mead said the situation does not add up for her. But she had a lot to say about why it is so difficult to hire teachers these days.
Classes are full, she said, but teachers are leaving. “The turnover rate is taxing on kids, the changes are taxing on the faculty. These adjustments on top of the changes that are being implemented for next year have made us feel that our wellbeing isn’t a priority. Teachers, especially veteran teachers, should have a voice. And feel respected and feel safe. I am proud of what I do. I am proud that I can be a voice for those who are afraid to speak up. I am being moved to another hall. It’s a loss for the kids in many ways. They will not be served well by having me as a teacher again because of the systematic difference on the 7th grade hall from the one that they have already experienced with me as a teacher.”
Mead said that when she resigned from volleyball with the 21st Century after school program this past year, which is run by the principal, it was a self-care move to allow her to spend more time with her family, the needs of her sixth-grade students and the plans to make next year even better.
“Another coworker did the same and was also dismissed from her job without explanation. The explanation that you guys got tonight is more than I have gotten in the past month. After-school activities and any extra employment opportunities shouldn’t affect our jobs as teachers. The reality is, we do not have to be given an explanation for any move. It is in our contract that we can be moved and reassigned, but we don’t have to be given an explanation. That explanation is that I am qualified, and I am great? I know I am great. But should I be moved if I am happy? I am doing a good job where I am.”
Mead said she would abide by however the board chose to vote. Her loyalty is to her students and the county. “I have done this before. I have taught the same kids twice; I know how this works. If the board makes a decision to move me, of course I am going to do my best. I wouldn’t be a good example to my students though if I didn’t do everything in my power to speak up for what is right. My hard work matters. Veteran teachers are important. My loyalty to my school and this county means something. The love and loyalty of parents and coworkers who are here tonight matters.
“I have prayed about it and thought about it many times over the past month, and I know that what people intend for evil, God will use for good. I will always do my best for the kids. If anything, my speech tonight might raise awareness toward the treatment that educators, especially veterans, across the county are facing. We don’t have a say in what we teach, we don’t have a say in where we teach. Our passions, our personal grief, our mental health are not considered when a master schedule is made. Yes, the county pays for a mental health hotline that checks all the boxes, but during a national teacher shortage and a time when teacher burnout rates are so high, I think giving us a voice will help a lot more than a hotline.
“Young teachers need to see a safe and stable environment when they enter school. They need mentors like the ones I have, and I had when I was a new teacher. My mentors, not my bosses, not my colleagues, or professors, made me into who and what I am. Please let me stay right where I am and be a mentor. Please let me have stability and security. Teachers are more than chess pieces. Education is not a game. Schools are not a card table and students are not wild cards. We need to ask ourselves what is systematically wrong in our education system and do something about it. I spoke up tonight because I had the chance. I had nothing to lose. I had the right as per my transfer letter.”
She said she knows she could face repercussions for speaking out regardless of what the outcome is.
“When teachers witness their coworkers speak up, and then they see them treated poorly, which has happened to me, they tend to keep their opinions to themselves and go into survival mode. I respect that. They have got to take care of themselves. This has happened and will continue to happen. People are afraid to say what they feel. I am not. I have nothing to lose. These are good people. I appreciate their support behind the scenes. It is hard to watch teachers who do so much used as pawns in a game of chess they didn’t sign up for. I had the opportunity to speak up not only for myself but all veteran teachers who have stayed in a profession that has not been easy since 2020. We have stayed, we have persevered and there is something to learn from us.”
She said that so much focus is on hiring new teachers that the veterans are overlooked. Mead said in the past year, she saw good teachers leave the building forever. She saw coworkers tossed around into new subjects. Their personal battles are not considered.
She then asked the board to overturn her principal’s decision to move her yet again. She then addressed Principal Robinson directly saying, “Mrs. Robinson, I want to work with you and not against you. My speech tonight is not out of disrespect. I just believe that I am called to be with the sixth graders. And I needed to take this opportunity to talk about that. I promise that before everybody here, no matter what happens, that I will remain professional and respectful to my administration and do my job well no matter what decision is made.”
The board then went into executive session to discuss the transfer. When they returned, the board made no motion on the suggested transfer, so the transfer failed. For now, at least, Mead is expected to keep her position as is when school begins in the fall.
