On Thursday morning, students at Montezuma-Cortez High School walked out in protest of the recent changes in administrators and staff.
Some teachers at the high school say that the two administrators left, in part, because of a pattern of disrespect and bullying by a top school board official.
“We’re out here because we really care about our teachers,” said Cruz Hernandez, a sophomore at Montezuma-Cortez. “So when they're poorly treated and affected, we want to stand up for them.”
KSJD: “And what's, what's going on specifically? Can you fill me in?”
“There's not really any transparency as to why our admin team is being treated the way that they are,” he said.
Hernandez and others standing outside the high school are protesting the fact that their principal, Emily Moreland, has been placed under administrative leave following a meeting with Superintendent Tom Burris on Tuesday, April 18.
Another administrator, Assistant Principal Lauren White, who was also in the meeting, quit.
Students like Alivia Durall, a senior at Montezuma-Cortez, say Moreland and White were well-liked among teachers and students at the high school.
“I’m just frustrated because we – this is the best admin team we’ve had, and of course, the school board has to ruin it for us again, a month before we’re done,” said Durall. “It’s, we’re almost done. And then the emails that he’s (Burris) sending out are so vague, such little information is being given out, and we’re just expected to sit and wait for whatever to happen, because they have the power, they have the control. And it’s not fair. And we’re done. We’re done.”
It’s still unclear as to exactly why Moreland was put on administrative leave.
Three teachers at Montezuma-Cortez – who spoke with KSJD under the condition of anonymity in case of reprisals – said the two administrators had already submitted their resignations to the school, but that before Tuesday’s meeting with Burris, they’d planned to stay until the end of the school year.
The teachers added that the swift departure of Moreland and White ultimately occurred because of a pattern of disrespect and intimidation from Burris.
They also suspect that the meeting between Moreland, White and Burris on Tuesday afternoon, which took place hours before a crucial Montezuma-Cortez School District RE-1 Board of Education meeting, was deliberately scheduled so that parents, staff and students wouldn’t have a chance to raise the issue to board members or discuss it publicly.
Ultimately, the teachers who spoke to KSJD say they want Burris to be replaced in his role as superintendent.
Burris did not respond to repeated requests for an interview.
However, the Montezuma-Cortez High School Facebook page posted several messages from Burris to the community earlier this week, which they eventually took down.
In one of the deleted messages, Burris threatens to investigate teachers he sees as being the reason for the protest, saying, “Much of this has been instigated by a handful of teachers at M-CHS. This is a violation of their professional oath and will be investigated. Teachers need to teach and students need to learn.”
Students at the walk out say the protest was organized by them, and them alone.
At one point, two members of the school board came and watched the walk out take place from a distance.
When KSJD approached to ask if they’d be willing to comment on the changes in administration and staff, they began to walk in the other direction, and sped up as we got closer.
KSJD: “Excuse me, would you folks talk?”
“No,” a school board member said.
KSJD: “All right.”
At the walk out, students also say they’re concerned by growing class sizes and problems around teacher retention.
A few hold signs that read, 'We need stability,' and 'How can we come first when our educators come last?'
The high school has gone through repeated staff changes in recent years. This year’s seniors will have had four principals in the last four years.
An online petition calling for Burris’s resignation has 358 signatures as of Friday afternoon.
The next school board meeting is scheduled to take place at 6:00 p.m. on May 16.
