Fox C-6 officials are expected to change the school district’s policy that prohibits people related to Board of Education members from being hired to work for the district.
The school board also is looking to change the district’s policy governing how the superintendent may reassign teachers and support staff members.
Board members voted unanimously Nov. 28 to approve the first reading of five policies dealing with hiring and reassignment processes. The board is expected to vote Dec. 12 on the second reading of policies, and if the changes are approved again, the new policies will go into effect then.
The main change for the hiring policy would allow the district to hire candidates related to board members for teaching and support staff positions. The policy still would prohibit family members of those who serve on the school board to be hired for administrator or director positions.
A minor change will be made to how Fox handles reassigning or transferring teachers and support staff employees.
If approved, the new policy will say the superintendent “will consider voluntary transfer requests to meet the district’s needs before proceeding with involuntary reassignment of staff.”
The current policy says the superintendent “may consider voluntary transfer requests to meet the district’s needs before proceeding with involuntary reassignment of staff.”
The change to the hiring policy comes at a time when Fox and other school districts are struggling to fill positions, especially for support staff jobs, like bus drivers and custodians.
“I think for right now, we have gone far enough (with easing the restrictions against hiring board members’ relatives),” board president April Moeckel said. “It keeps people safe from perceived actions. It is a step in the right direction.”
The adjustment regarding employee reassignments and transfers comes after many teachers complained about how Fox handled the procedure to fill positions for this school year when 25 teaching positions were phased out by attrition and teachers were involuntarily transferred to fill positions throughout the district.
“I don’t think one word is enough, but it is a start,” Moeckel said. “The only thing that will correct the past is actions in the future.”
Hiring policy
The restriction against hiring board members’ relatives is part of the Fox district’s policies dealing with board conflicts of interest and financial disclosure, which was last updated in October 2015, as well as with policies related to professional staff recruiting and hiring and support staff recruiting and hiring, which were last updated in January 2017.
In 2014, Fox board members requested a state audit after “financial improprieties” were discovered by then-chief financial officer John Brazeal.
In 2016, the audit the Missouri Auditor’s Office completed alleged that former Fox Superintendent Dianne Critchlow inappropriately spent taxpayer money or misused district resources in an amount ranging from $470,941 to $1,100,116, going back to 2010. Those funds included $214,000 that auditors said directly benefited Critchlow or her then-husband, Jamie Critchlow, another former Fox administrator.
The audit also said a series of adjusted contracts and administrator raises were given to employees based on incorrect and inconsistent application of salary schedules.
In some cases, base salaries reportedly were increased without board oversight and salary adjustments allegedly were made with no explanation.
A number of administrators, including the superintendent and Jamie Critchlow, reportedly received inappropriate salary increases not approved by the board, with Dianne Critchlow’s compensation boosted by about $20,000 and Jamie Critchlow’s by $89,000.
Other administrators also allegedly were overpaid, the audit alleged, ranging from $42,958 to $175,028 in the 2012-2013 school year and from $213,983 to $711,088 in the 2013-2014 school year.
The Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, a special prosecutor from St. Charles and the U.S. Attorney’s Office looked into the Auditor’s Office allegations, and all three agencies decided against filing criminal charges.
Moeckel said when the policy of restricting board members’ relatives from being hired was put in place, it was not an overcorrection, but now the policy needs to be adjusted, and she believes removing that restriction from teaching and support staff positions is a good first step.
“This is giving the community an opportunity to trust us,” she said. “We are showing transparency by changing this policy. It allows us to hire people who we desperately need right now.”
Superintendent Paul Fregeau, who began leading the district in July 2021, said the district has enough checks and balances in place during the hiring process that he believes will prevent future issues.
“As we build trust, and (community members) see how it operates under these guidelines, we can consider further adjustments later,” he said. “We need to be held accountable by having the proper processes and checks and balances.”
Fregeau also said he believes the change will help the district fill open positions.
“It is another avenue to find great people to help support our kids and buildings,” he said.
Reassignment policy
Jen Walter, a Seckman Middle School seventh grade science teacher, said she was happy the board adjusted the reassignments and transfers policy to use the word “will” instead of “may.”
Both Walter and Melissa Bland, an Antonia Middle School special education teacher, told the board on Nov. 28 that the change was needed.
“It is a small victory,” Walter said. “It was nice that the board members who spoke heard us, and it was a gesture in the right direction. I still think more needs to be put into policy. I feel the lack of having more concrete wording and procedures within the policy created this problem in the first place.”
Walter said she wants the policy to include language about seniority being a factor when considering involuntary transfers in the district.
She said she had taught eighth grade science at Antonia Middle for nine years before she was told at the end of last school year that she was going to be transferred to Fox Middle School to teach social studies. However, she applied for a Seckman Middle science teaching position and got that job.
“I feel I have the ability, voice and choice to determine my own career,” Walter said. “I wanted to stay in science.”
Bland said the policy should be more specific.
“Voluntary transfer should automatically be the first step,” she said. “If no one wants the position, let’s move to district seniority, years taught in the district. Once it is decided who needs to leave a building because of district seniority then principals should have input on how the staff is shuffled within their building.
“If this process was followed last year, we would not have had teachers leaving by the truckloads over the summer.”
Fox officials reported that 70 teachers left the district after the 2022-2023 school year, which was down from the 2021-2022 school year when 77 teachers left. However, it was up from the 2020-2021 school year when 41 teachers left, as well as from the 2019-2020 school year when 55 left.
Fregeau said he discussed the policy and how the reassignments were handled with teachers before the Nov. 28 meeting. He said he believes the teachers appreciate the change that is being made to the policy.
“A bridge was damaged,” he said. “I think we are rebuilding that bridge between us.”
Fregeau said there should have been better communication with the teachers being transferred before the start of this school year, so they would have better understood how decisions were made. He also said the district should have considered seniority more when transferring teachers.
“We should have given (seniority) stronger consideration than we did,” he said. “(The proposed change) holds me accountable that we will consider seniority moving forward. Longevity in the district should be a factor. It is not the final factor, but it is a factor.”