PICKERINGTON, Ohio — Teachers at Pickerington Local School District voted nearly unanimously no confidence in its Board of Education.
This decision was made on March 20 but announced Monday afternoon through a press release. Brad Harris, president of the Pickerington Education Association (PEA), addressed their concerns Monday night to the board.
According to the press release, Harris said the board is acting in ways detrimental to students in the community.
"We've tried to be patient, we've tried to have conversations,” Harris said.
Harris said addressing their concerns on Monday was the appropriate next step as the association continues to work for changes within its school board. Nearly 100% of the association’s more than 700 members voted no confidence in the board members on March 20.
"There's concerns that go across the board but essentially what it comes down to is we need more staffing,” Harris said.
Harris said large class sizes and behavioral issues among students brought on since the pandemic are problems that could see some relief if more staff were hired within their schools.
"If the teachers do not feel supported and the teachers don't feel like the district is going in the right direction, I think that that's a very big problem in order to have a strong school system,” Harris said.
While the board did not directly respond to these comments, Mark Hensen, a board member since January, didn’t disagree.
"Right now, I have a lot of concerns about the board. That's why I ran for election in the first place because I thought there were significant changes needed,” Hensen said.
Monday night, the board also addressed a resolution of censure for Hensen, claiming he has repeatedly gone against their code of ethics and conduct, mainly directly communicating with school staff.
"I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one that communicates with people in the district,” Hensen said.
But Hensen said he’s willing to hear the board out and make changes accordingly.
"I'm going to, as I said, reflect on it, seriously and try to figure out where I need to change as necessary,” Hensen said.
Hensen added the bottom line is changes are needed across the board.
"This isn't about me, this is about trying to improve the school district and the kids' education,” Hensen said.
Harris said the association’s hope is for their vote to serve as a wake-up call to the board to start making decisions to better serve their school community.