Jack Dennis continues to field numerous letters, emails, calls and other communication from La Vernia residents in response to Examiner articles last week. Below, is some of the correspondence from parents, teachers and staff. Note that, by request, names and identifying information have not been included.
It is true many of the teachers here find it difficult to do our best or encourage others, when we are constantly under pressure of getting in trouble or losing our job for attending a board meeting, offering an opinion….we need help. …the repercussions that the teachers are talking to you about are true. I questioned several incidents while employed with LVISD and attended school board meetings and soon after the administration began to make my life a living hell. I decided that my mental health was more important than my job at LVISD. I am contacting you because I want you and others to know that this treatment of teachers and some administrators has been going on for years.
Ask why Brian Moyer, a junior high coach, was not renewed 2 years ago….Ask why Mrs. Margraf was transferred from the high school. Ask the school board how many have family members in district. How many have resigned and then be reappointed?
Teachers and administrators are treated disrespectfully in this district if they stand up for things. You depend on the board (some of the board members are fair and supportive) to make good decisions. But..........not always.
When junior high opened new addition we were supposed to have new furniture for the classrooms. We were given old desks. Teachers had no storage except a cabinet.
I must say that I, too, am frustrated with the administration and their lack of focus on the students as their priority. I see several people have written in saying they have been in LV for only a couple of years and don’t like the nepotism. I must say that I attended LV ISD K-12 grade and graduated in the late 1980s….in fact, have contemplated removing my children from this school.
The focus of the staff is more on themselves than on the students. Nepotism goes beyond the school board. The High School Principal, Cheryl, is Sonny Gerlich’s daughter. And Sonny’s wife was Principal of the elementary school in the 1980s and High School in the 1990s, during the time Sonny was town Mayor. What other links are there? Cheryl’s husband is on the local police force.
Ignorance or corruption? It’s plain and simple and for a man that apparently makes 157,000.00… he continues to tell you he had no knowledge of all of these things happening right under his nose. Do you think all of this is coincidence or bad luck under his leadership? Why are your teachers and staff members afraid, intimidated and exhausted?
We don’t know how to contact the school board. The only way to contact them is through district email. We are begging this community to help. Every single time we have gone for help, we have been reprimanded. We can’t give you our names. It’s not because it isn't happening, it’s because we are scared! These are very serious problems….Without community support, this will continue, of that we are sure.
Let’s break it down: Drugs, suicide, an investigation into embezzling and corruption, a freeze on everyone’s salary and classroom supplies, but rest assured the Superintendent gets his allowances and raises, staff members intimidated and reprimanded when asking for help from public officials. We are here to tell you, this IS happening!
Please keep this "anonymous" as I work for the district and do not want repercussions from speaking publicly. I love what I do and the community in which I choose to live. I don't want to be reprimanded for sharing my thoughts. I share this with you because your voice is being heard and the people of La Vernia should know how our superintendent chooses to lead our schools. Thank you.
As a district and as a nation, bullying is a huge problem and has become a focus in our schools for our teachers and administrators. Bullying is characterized by someone in authority or power using that very same authority or power to intimidate those around him. The administrators, faculty and staff are experiencing this on a daily basis not just in our classrooms, but from our superintendent. It is true that we are afraid of attending board meetings because he has had teachers reprimanded for that....during Principal's meetings every week, he screams and pounds his fist on his desk when unhappy with a Principal. And yes, he does this in front of all of the administrators in attendance, apparently unconcerned that in reality he is not 'leading and guiding' our administrators, but humiliating and bullying them. As administrators and teachers, it's paramount that we model appropriate behaviors for our students as a strategy for teaching and encouraging appropriate behaviors in them. So, does this strategy stop with the superintendent?
He is not respected nor trusted by the majority of the faculty and staff in the district. How can he be an effective leader when he doesn't lead, but intimidates and bullies, and there is no one who trusts him enough to follow him? We cannot and will not follow a leader we neither respect nor trust. Our district will not progress and flourish under bad leadership.
We cannot recover and heal from the loss of a very respected and much loved Assistant Principal when it is widely suspected…We have an investigation into missing funds at the Junior High that is highly concerning to the staff at that campus, yet Dr. Harvey told the staff they just need to move on because the money "...is gone. It's just gone!”
The teachers have not had time to grieve for Mr. Hendrickson because we were taking care of our students, and rightly so. At the same time, we need to have some acknowledgment that the teachers need to be taken care following the very traumatic death of Mr. Hendrickson. Dr. Harvey was not there to take care of us. There was a complete lack of administrative leadership from the end of March through the end of the year at a time when what the staff needed most is support, encouragement and appreciation.
His speeches with the faculty were somewhat encouraging and positive as much as 6 years ago, but have turned into threatening and condescending in the last three years. He shared with the faculty in August that "...we had another thing coming" if we thought he had time to visit our classrooms and campuses. He's "too busy with the 400+ employees of the district" to visit our classrooms. Yet, without our classrooms, LVISD would fail to exist.
Our classrooms are where the magic happens, where teachers and assistants pour their hearts and personal money into the education of our children. He also stated to the faculty and staff, in August, that "...we should not expect appreciation, because we will be sorely disappointed."
He doesn't have time to tell us we are appreciated. Yes, he said this in his "Top 10 Ways to be Happy..." (at LVISD) speech. Really? Not being appreciated and not being important enough to visit our classrooms periodically will make us happy? Not in my world and not in the world I teach my own children and students in.
He further stated that, should we talk (negatively), it will get back to him and he will know names. He will know "who said it." Isn't that bullying and intimidation?
His convocation speech in August would have been an excellent opportunity to acknowledge the sad and very emotional staff with a fresh school year, yet instead of being uplifting and positive, he chastised and threatened. Bottom line is that the teachers and administrators remain at La Vernia, not because we have an effective and positive superintendent leading us, but because we loved LVISD as it once was and we love teaching.
LVISD was once a widely respected and sought after school district for the education of our students, employment of our teachers and staff and positive atmosphere. We are no longer that.
We are a community of teachers, staff and parents who don't or rather, are not allowed, to have a voice in our district because of the ##########.
Oh there is something definitely wrong in this school district. How sad is it that our children don't even have books to bring home. One set of class room books for each class. Teachers are having to copy assignments. Yet we have a new auditorium and track which is so much more important for education. Go figure.
It is such a controlling environment which doesn't make for a relaxing atmosphere. Please send help out this way. With the grace of God we will prevail.
Thanks for your articles; because of them residents are really taking notice and urging that changes are in order. Many of us are still in fear though of speaking out....reports of monitoring and spying are everywhere.
I have never heard of a community so intimated by a small group of greedy, close knit, power hungry individuals in my life....it is so frustrating for all involved. Please--please don't mention my name or situation, because they have ways of finding out!!
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