School staff insist on new superintendent

August 19, 2019

La Conner teachers and support staff have the best interest of our students at heart, which is why we continue to firmly believe that our school district needs a new superintendent.

Last week the La Conner School Board issued an open letter regarding the vote of no confidence against Superintendent Meissner.

The leadership of the La Conner Education Association and Public School Employees unions were pleased to see the board accept responsibility for responding too slowly to this critical situation.

However, we were disappointed that the board did not communicate their decision to support the superintendent directly to union leaders; instead, we were informed by a reporter asking for comment.

As a result of the board’s decision, our staff will regrettably begin this new school year still facing a toxic work climate under a leader with whom the vast majority do not want to work. All of the issues we outlined in our original letter in June still stand. None have been resolved and in fact, problems continue.

Recently, Dr. Meissner has asked for grace and forgiveness, but this show of contrition came only after she faced public pressure and criticism. Behind closed doors, she has threatened to seek a very large payout and left open the possibility of suing the school district if the unions continue to push for her removal. We were warned to carefully consider all the costs we would bring upon our district and community if we persisted.

Dr. Meissner posted an open letter to the LCSD Facebook page on August 8. The post received both positive and negative comments, but on August 13, additional negative comments were made. Within 30 minutes, these negative comments were deleted, and shortly after that, the entire post was removed without explanation.

The choice for Dr. Meissner to post her letter to the district’s Facebook page was a questionable decision to begin with, particularly since the LEA and PSE were not afforded the same opportunity. But removing the post after receiving criticism points to a lack of transparency and goes against Dr. Meissner’s stated value of being open to communication and negative feedback.

The board has asked the staff to take a huge leap of faith and put our trust in them and Superintendent Meissner, but so far we have little reason – based on results – to trust either of them in this matter.

It pains us to be in this position, criticizing our district leadership, but we will continue to stand up for what is right for our staff, our students and our community. The members of the LEA and PSE will work professionally with Dr. Meissner for now and put our students first, as their education is our highest priority. However, our professionalism should not be mistaken for consent or contentment.

We share the board’s goal of providing a top-quality education for our students. However, we strongly believe that a new superintendent is needed to ensure the best possible working environment for our staff and learning experience for our students.

Members of the La Conner Education Association and Public School Employees

Letters to the community from the La Conner School District Board of Directors and Superintendent Meissner were in the August 14 Weekly News.