In the last few weeks of May, students at Warhill High School began speaking out against administration, saying teachers and staff members were leaving at an alarming rate due to displeasure with the school’s administration.
At the May 20 School Board meeting, Warhill senior Jong Lee stood with nine other students to address the board about the tension in the school. He said the new administration had created a hostile environment, and teachers and students were afraid to speak up. Less than 10 days later, about 100 students walked out of Warhill to protest the administration.
Though Warhill lost seven more teachers and staff — for a total of 26 — from the 2013-14 school year than it had the previous year, Williamsburg-James City County Schools officials say the turnover rate is not concerning.
“It is common across the division to have significant turnover. We have generally 200 employees over the course of the year who resign, retire, et cetera,” said Betsy Overkamp-Smith, director of public relations and engagement.
WJCC — from August 2013 to date — has lost 54 of its 367 high school staff and teachers. Five additional employees have transferred between schools in the division.
Across all three WJCC high schools, resignations and retirements were up this year, but the number of transfers was significantly lower than last year. Between Aug. 1, 2012, and July 31, 2013, the division lost 49 of its 383 total high school staff. Another 13 high school employees transferred to another school in the division.
“We keep an eye on the reasons people are going more than the number,” said Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools’ Director of Human Resources Jon Andre. He said the division has not noticed a trend “in terms of people leaving due to dissatisfaction or in terms of serious issues going on.”
Looking at a “one-year snapshot” of the number of staff changes in a school does not provide an accurate picture, Andre said. Jamestown High School and Warhill each lost 19 employees during the 2012-13 school year. Last year, the number of turnovers decreased at Jamestown, but went up at Warhill.
“Numbers are always a starting point to take a look and not an end in themselves,” Andre said.
When teachers and staff leave the division, they are given an online survey to complete and are offered an in-person interview. Andre said the surveys for the last year recently went out and all responses have not yet been returned. Once they are complete, he will analyze the responses to identify any trends in the information.
When Lee spoke out at the May 20 School Board meeting, he referenced an anonymous Google document where teachers and staff allegedly voiced their displeasure with Warhill’s administration.
Andre said he did not recall any specific complaints from teachers or staff about Warhill’s administration in the last two years, but said his department hears from employees throughout the year for varying reasons. None of the teachers and staff resigning from Warhill cited a problem with administration as their reason for leaving.
The reasons for resigning vary from person to person. Of the resigning members approved at the School Board’s June 3 meeting — for schools across the division, not just Warhill — reasons listed included moving out of the area, accepting new positions or promotions, personal or family health issues and resignation in lieu of administrative action, Andre said.
The most commonly cited reasons for leaving the division are personal: moving to be closer to family, pursing additional education, gained employment elsewhere or health issues.
“We also have a number of staff members who are eligible for retirement, and that’s not going to change anytime soon. In fact, our eligibility for retirements is going up; it’s not going down,” Overkamp-Smith said.
Warhill High School
Warhill had a total staff of 127 for the 2013-14 school year, and 26 of those retired, resigned, transferred or were terminated since Aug. 1, 2013.
Two employees resigned prior to the first day of school, and 18 left at the end of the year. Seven employees — including a teacher who was terminated — left during the school year.
The school lost four teachers to retirement, and one to termination. A security guard was also terminated, and a special education aide and four teachers transferred. A total of 16 teachers and staff have resigned, which includes six special educators or aides and seven teachers.
The 11 teachers who left the school since Aug. 1, 2013 is an increase from the seven who left between Aug. 1, 2012, and July 31, 2013.
During the 2012-13 school year, Warhill lost 19 total employees, including the entirety of its administration. The school’s principal left to go back to teaching, and one assistant principal resigned and one transferred to another school in the division.
The school has not lost any members of it administrative staff from the 2013-14 school year to date.
For the 2012-13 school year, Warhill lost one employee before school started, two employees during the school year and 15 at the end of the year.
Lafayette High School
Lafayette lost nearly as many employees — 22 of its total 120 staff — since August 2013 as Warhill.
Of the 22 employees who left Lafayette, nine were a combination of custodians, cafeteria workers and support staff.
Six employees resigned and one retired during the 2013-14 school year; two employees left prior to the start of the year; and 13 left after school released for summer.
In the 2012-13 school year, Lafayette had the highest turnover when 24 staff and teachers left. Five of its employees left during the school year, one left before it started and 18 left at the end of the year.
Jamestown High School
Jamestown, which had a total of 120 staff members, had the lowest turnover since August 2013, with nine employees resigning, one retiring and one transferring.
Three of Jamestown’s teachers and one school nurse left during the 2013-14 school year and five teachers left after the year ended.
The school lost 19 employees between Aug. 1, 2012 and July 31, 2013. Of those, seven left during the 2012-13 school year, one left before it and 11 left after school let out.
York County School Division
The York County School Division, which has four standard high schools and a charter school, had a lower turnover rate among its 429 high school employees during the 2013-14 school year than WJCC, as of the beginning of June.
The division lost 36 teachers and staff to resignations or retirements, and another 25 transferred, were terminated or did not receive renewed teaching contracts.
Bruton High School has lost the highest percentage of teachers and staff—21 percent. Grafton and York High schools each lost 16 percent, York River Academy lost one of its 10 employees, and Tabb lost 6 percent.
York County, like WJCC, has not identified a specific problem or trend in its turnover rate.
“We haven’t done an analysis building-by-building … but I would say in talking to our staff there hasn’t been a building or year that has stood out terribly as an anomaly,” said Katherine Goff, York’s community and public relations coordinator.
High school turnover information for WJCC and YCSD, as provided, can be found in the two charts below:
Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools
School |
Total Staff |
Resigned |
Retired |
Transferred or Reassigned |
Terminated or Non-Renewed Contract |
Total Employee Turnover |
|
2013-14 School Year (actions effective 8/1/13 to date) |
|||||
Warhill High |
127 |
16 |
4 |
4 |
2 |
26; 20 percent |
Lafayette High |
120 |
13 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
22; 18 percent |
Jamestown High |
120 |
9 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
11; 9 percent |
Division Totals |
367 |
38 |
14 |
5 |
2 |
59; 16 percent |
|
2012-13 School Year (actions effective 8/1/12-7/31/13) |
|||||
Warhill High |
133 |
10 |
3 |
6 |
0 |
19; 14 percent |
Lafayette High |
127 |
12 |
6 |
5 |
1 |
24; 19 percent |
Jamestown High |
123 |
14 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
19; 15 percent |
Division Totals |
383 |
36 |
11 |
13 |
2 |
62; 16 percent |
York County School Division
School |
Total Staff |
Resigned or Retired |
Transferred, Terminated or Other |
Total Employee Turnover |
2013-14 School Year (through May 2014) |
||||
Bruton High |
75 |
10 |
6 |
16; 21 percent |
Grafton High |
125 |
14 |
6 |
20; 16 percent |
Tabb High |
110 |
3 |
4 |
7; 6 percent |
York High |
109 |
9 |
8 |
17; 16 percent |
York River Academy |
10 |
0 |
1 |
1; 10 percent |
Division Total |
429 |
36 |
25 |
61; 14 percent |
2012-13 School Year |
||||
Bruton High |
77 |
10 |
7 |
17; 22 percent |
Grafton High |
133 |
17 |
4 |
21; 16 percent |
Tabb High |
114 |
5 |
5 |
10; 9 percent |
York High |
111 |
18 |
3 |
21; 19 percent |
York River Academy |
No turnover, staffing level not provided |
|||
Division Total |
435 (not including YRA) |
50 |
19 |
69; 16 percent |
This article has been corrected to reflect York County School Division had a lower turnover rate at the high school level in the 2013-14 school year than Williamsburg-James City County Schools.
Related Coverage: