The Oxford Hills School District 232 Main Street South Paris, ME 04281

Phone (207) 743-8972 fax (207) 743-2878

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M.S.A.D. #17 www.msad17.org

Heather Manchester, Chief Academic Officer

Dr. Monica Henson, Superintendent of Schools
Jan Neureuther, Chief Student Services Officer
Carrie Colley, Chief Financial Officer
Donald Thorne, Chief Operating Officer

Harrison * Hebron * Norway * Otisfield * Oxford * Paris * Waterford * West Paris

January 18, 2022

Statement on the OHEA Claims

As I’ve said a couple of times this week, in my line of work, a no-confidence vote by a union is a sign
that you’re doing the work that your Board of Education hired you to do.

All this uproar from the Oxford Hills Education Association is puzzling given that they have made no
previous expression of concern to the School Board using the channels that are available to any staff.
There have been zero grievances lodged against me with the Board for any contract violations. The OHEA
was invited to submit a quarterly letter to the Board outlining how they perceive things are going with the
new administration, with the express purpose that the letters would be used as part of my performance
evaluation by the Board. To date, no letters have been received during either the first or second quarter.

I’m unaware of any other school system in the state where a teachers’ union is asked to participate directly
in the evaluation of the superintendent of schools. And the OHEA has neglected to take advantage of that
opportunity and instead try to hijack the public narrative with a collection of falsehoods and vague
expressions of “concern” that is easily disprovable.

Notably, there have been no complaints from any of our administrators to the Board about my leadership.
Fourteen teachers have applied to participate in the Aspiring Assistant Principals Academy to be able to be
considered for promotion to work in my administration.

I meet regularly with the following staff groups, which includes many teachers in addition to
administrators:

 Executive Team (weekly)

 Principals and Assistant Principals (Leadership Academy monthly, other times as needed)
 Teacher Performance Evaluation and Professional Growth Committee (monthly, teachers at
elementary, middle, and high school levels)
 Teacher Certification Steering Committee (monthly, teachers at elementary, middle, and high
school levels, one administrator)
 Teacher Cabinet (monthly, teachers at all elementary, middle, and high school levels)
 Oxford Hills Education Association leadership (monthly, president has my cell phone number)

Aude Suscipere Ausum “Dare to Accept the Challenge” The Oxford Hills School District
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 Bus Drivers Union President and Vice-President—who expressed to me last week in my meeting
with them that they feel that things are going well with corrective actions I have taken at their
request
 COVID-19 Response Team, which includes the OHEA president and two school nurses, principal
representatives from the elementary, middle, and high school, and the Central Office administrators

I have not terminated anyone’s employment in this district since I arrived here. (Removal of a teacher from
a stipended coaching assignment is not a termination.) Declining to continue contract negotiations on an
expired contract for one individual demanding a $14,000 raise with no additional working days added to a
new contract is not a termination. There have been two resignations accepted by me in lieu of dismissal
upon presentation to the School Board of documented serious misconduct with recommendations from the
Board Attorney. The OHEA signed off as a party to one of the settlement agreements.

The Grievance Chairman of the OHEA made reference in public comment alleging “breaking the law.”
This is categorically false and is a direct reference to the former Agnes Gray Elementary School principal’s
circulation of her resignation letter throughout the staff and into the general public, in which she falsely
characterized an incident which occurred after I dealt with a food fight in the cafeteria (the first week of
school) that erupted due to lack of sufficient supervision of the number of students with only one adult
present. This occurred while the principal was absent, and I covered the administrative duties for the day in
the building.
I used a limited restraint technique for a loudly disruptive student so as not to allow disruption of an
entire hallway of classrooms. I used my training as a former alternative school principal, with no
injury to the student. After consulting with the special education teacher, because I realized I was
dealing with a student with a behavioral disorder, I notified the parent immediately afterward in
writing with full detail of the incident. I notified the Board Chair and Vice Chair immediately after I
notified the parent.
Notably, the parent did not object to my handling of the incident, communicated with me for the next
couple of days, and has filed no complaints with the Board or expressed any further concern since the
notification from me.
I met with the Chief Student Services Officer to go over the details of the incident and request a form
to file with the state department of education documenting use of the restraint. This was my
introduction to the concept of "working lockdown" to allow a screaming, disruptive, highly
dysregulated student to yell it out, break things until they are exhausted, and run where they want to,
regardless of the disruption to the rest of the school. It's frankly one of the craziest things I had ever
heard of. I immediately notified the Board Attorney of my use of restraint. The attorney confirmed
that there was no liability perceived. A newly arrived administrator in similar shoes (without specific
knowledge of Maine’s new law) would reasonably have taken the same action I took given the
student's behavior. I completed Drummond Woodsum's training for special education administrators
on the new Maine law on restraint and seclusion a few weeks after that, along with my Chief Student
Services Officer and the Assistant Director of Special Education.
There was no call made by any the former principal or any other Agnes Gray Elementary School staff
to Maine Department of Health and Human Services to report any alleged abusive behavior, which
should certainly have occurred within 24 hours if in fact anyone perceived such. Nor was there a
notice filed with the Credentialing office at the Department of Education, which would also have
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been in order if abusive behavior had actually occurred. All staff received specific training in
Mandated Reporting from the Chief Student Services Officer in August and know how to file such a
report. Reports can be filed anonymously, so there could have been no retaliation against any staff—
and there wouldn’t have been.
This incident has not been revisited since the former principal went on voluntary leave for three
months, and only resurfaced when she wrote an incendiary letter of resignation to the Board. The
Board Chair notified her that she should have filed a grievance four and half months ago if she had
such complaints and addressed them with her supervisor. The next step would have been to seek
redress from the Personnel Committee of the Board, and the final step would be to request review by
the Board. None of those steps were followed, and the resignation letter was circulated among the
community by the former principal and others, eventually making its way to the OHEA.
None of the OHEA or any other staff who have either seen the resignation letter or heard the rumors
pushed by disgruntled staff at Agnes Gray Elementary School felt that the situation as described by
the former principal merited a Mandated Reporter call to DHHS. None of them asked to speak to the
Personnel Committee Chair or the Board Chair to express concern and inquire what was the
resolution of the issue. Instead, it was used to gin up public consternation in the West Paris
community and fuel the effort to secure a vote of no confidence.
There are many wonderful things about Agnes Gray Elementary School, not the least of which is the
extraordinary commitment to outdoor and experiential learning. But there have been significant issues
impacting students in a negative way as well, and those issues are being addressed by the interim
principal. Several staff have been resistant to accepting her leadership, but the presentation she made
in the School Board meeting demonstrated not only the data showing substantial behavioral issues
among students, including bullying and physical altercations, but that her institution of Assertive
Discipline and Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) has reduced the number of
students referred to the administration for major infractions in the classroom by more than 80% from
September to December.
There has been abuse of federal Title I funds at the school, requiring corrective action by the Chief
Financial Officer and the interim principal. Special education rights of students have been violated by
allowing teachers to send students being evaluated in the Response to Intervention (RTI) process to the
office, sitting sometimes for hours there instead of being in their classroom where the teacher was
supposed to be documenting the effectiveness of academic and behavioral interventions. Providing support
to teachers in Assertive Discipline by the interim principal has enabled them to keep students in the
classroom and provide them with RTI and federal services required by law and policy. Bullying at Agnes
Gray had been reported by parents over the years, but there were no bullying investigations conducted as
required by State law and Board policy JICK. There was no code of conduct in the student handbook, a
basic administrative requirement in any school. Confidential personnel files, including employee health
information, were stored unlocked and unsecured for years, where anyone who comes into the school can
access them. The interim principal has taken corrective action to secure the files under lock and key per
Maine state statute and Board policy.

With regard to the staff concerns the OHEA claims have been brought to them, there are several false
statements. There has been no “inconsistent” or “unfair” discipline of staff under the terms of their
collective bargaining agreement and if there had been, the OHEA is under an obligation to have filed a
grievance when it occurred. As I have stated previously, there have been no grievances lodged against me
 Page 4 January 19, 2022

with the Board. The only grievance that has been brought to me, which did not get escalated to the Board,
was brought after the OHEA president and grievance chairman told me in plain terms that they did not
want to represent the individual, but they were ordered by the Maine Education Association to represent
the teacher anyway. There has been no inconsistent use of chain of command. It has been clear from the
beginning, and repeated by me when the union leadership claimed to be confused, that matters at the
building level need to be taken to the building supervisor, when possible and sensible, before being
escalated to the principal’s supervisor and beyond. Many teachers refuse to do this and instead complain to
the union, a fact that the union president has expressed frustration over more than once in her discussions
with both the Board Chair and me.

I have encouraged staff to feel free to reach out to me with questions—which is a different matter than
leapfrogging their principal with a complaint. This is not inconsistent with chain of command.

I have not attempted to intimidate any members of the public with cautions about referring false
accusations made specifically against staff members to the Board Attorney, or in my case, to my personal
attorney. There are some outrageous allegations that are demonstrably false that have been slung about
social media and leveled in email communications. Part of the responsibility of the Superintendent of
Schools is to defend the integrity of the district, and that includes defending personnel against public
accusations. I do not apologize for fulfilling this responsibility. I have been thanked by staff for doing so,
and those messages have been shared with the Board Chair and Vice Chair and are on file.

I have made no remarks to television or other media disparaging the quality of educators at the middle and
high school. I stand by my statement that bullying is a pervasive issue in the school system, and the data
proves it. Since school began, there have been 40 completed JICK bullying investigations, with seven of
them substantiated as meeting the statutory definition of bullying, which I have reported to Maine DOE as
required. In the previous five years in this district, there have been a grand total of two incidents of
substantiated bullying reported to the state, with only one at the middle school and none at the high school.
I received an outpouring of support by email and social media private messages from many parents and
students when the reward program was used to address the Instagram bullying that had spread to our
district. I have all of those messages on file.

I have been praised repeatedly by the union president for my attendance at a variety of extracurricular
activities, including sports events. Yet the OHEA list of staff concerns claims that my presence there is
“intimidating to kids.” I have been greeted by parents and students when they see me at the events.

I send a Monday morning message to all staff and have done so since the beginning of the school year. I
usually include a few pictures of what I did over the weekend, such as my children and grandchildren,
sports events, and other personal photos. When I had been to Georgia to finish packing up my house into
moving boxes, I shared a couple of photos, and in one of the pictures, I noted my Smith & Wesson
shotgun, which is a prized possession. I also shared a picture of the mimosa flights I enjoyed while
shopping with my new daughter-in-law. There has been no expression to me, the Personnel Committee
Chair, or the Board Chair about any of my Monday messages. I frequently receive nice replies from staff,
such as sharing pictures of their own families or giving me suggestions about places to go and things to see
in my new adopted hometown of Auburn. I have provided encouragement to staff and offered information
on how they can access mental health resources in our employee benefits plan. I received an excited reply
from the union president with the “word of the year” activity she was doing with her students the morning I
mentioned my word of the year for 2022 in my Monday message. At no time has anyone from the OHEA
 Page 5 January 19, 2022

leadership or any other staff member expressed to me that they are uncomfortable with the messages or the
information I share with staff.

I have followed the terms of my contract in taking vacation time, confirmed by the Board Chair. I have
worked on several holidays (as have other Central Office administrators) when teachers and other building
staff are enjoying their breaks, which comes with the territory and can be confirmed by the Board Chair
Administrators who are not in student-facing roles in the school buildings cannot reasonably be expected to
take all of their vacation time at once during the summer months. A great deal of administrative work must
be done during June and July. It is unreasonable to expect central office administrators to give up vacation
days each year because they were unable to use them all up in the summer, but this has happened for many
years in this school system. I have modeled for our administrators that it is OK to use their vacation time
throughout the year, and I will continue to do so. I do not apologize for discontinuing the past practice of
my predecessor in routinely approving unpaid vacation leave time for teachers, ed techs, and bus drivers
when students are in school in classrooms and riding school buses.

The presentation by the interim principal of the Agnes Gray Elementary School documenting the decrease
in disciplinary incidents speaks for the success of Assertive Discipline. Our Maine DOE and University of
Connecticut PBIS coaches have confirmed that Assertive Discipline is a logical pairing with PBIS, as do
many researchers over the years.

I have followed the masking policy of the School Board to the letter. I meet every Friday with a COVID-19
Response Team, which includes the OHEA president. The first item on the agenda of that meeting is a
review of the week’s data on transmission rates, positivity rates, and other metrics by the Lead School
Nurse. The claim that I don’t share any real concern about the numbers is laughably false. I follow the
mask policy of the Board, which I recommended and championed, to the letter. The accusation that I do
not hold myself to the same masking standards as the staff is false.

I do not apologize for my advocating for a retention stipend for work groups who have demonstrated
exemplary attendance and not for the classroom instructional staff. In the month of October, as an example,
the Central Office and building administrators and school secretaries, along with other work groups, had a
total of 1.5 absences. During that same time frame, the teachers and education technicians had more than
350 absences. The School Board decided not to award retention stipends for exemplary attendance, and I
invited the entire staff as well as the OHEA to come up with creative and innovative ideas for incentivizing
better attendance. The phenomenon of chronic teacher absence and its impact on learning loss is well
documented in educational research. In that same meeting, I advocated and was authorized by the Board to
provide teachers with an additional hour of planning time on Wednesdays, an opportunity for those who
struggle to provide meaningful content in their online classrooms to collaborate with colleagues and
receive training. It is false to say that I do not advocate for teachers.

I consulted with our Chief Academic Officer regarding posting of images of staff and students and have
reviewed the Board’s policies. I have not been advised of any violations. There have been no staff
investigations unless specific complaints are lodged requiring them. I do not conduct investigations, as I am
the avenue of appeal for employee discipline. The voluntary attrition rate of staff in our school system is far
below the national average for public school systems.

Incidentally, I have on more than one occasion reminded the OHEA president that teachers have the
benefit of a full five-day weekend at Thanksgiving, two weeks’ winter break, a week in February, a
week in April, and two months in the summer, plus federal holidays to help recuperate from the stress
 Page 6 January 19, 2022

of their jobs. Those who work in non-education jobs have an average of two weeks of annual
vacation, and they are lucky if they have paid time off and paid sick leave. Many other people in the
United States have to work on holidays. This is not to minimize the concerns of teachers, but to put
them into perspective. The pandemic has been hard on school staff—but it’s been hard on everybody
else, too.

I have not denied any staff request for leave upon production of sufficient documentation to support the
request. In the case of federal-level leave, the bar is high because of federal regulations. I expect and
require staff to meet that bar and provide them specific guidance on the documentation needed to do so.
Meeting locations for districtwide events is determined by the Executive Team, including me. There has
not been a single case of COVID-19 transmission among staff contact traced back to a district training
event all year.

I have forwarded every single concern that the OHEA has presented to me since July 1, 2021, to the Board
Chair and Vice Chair.

I interact with staff when I have the opportunity. As I work in the Central Office primarily, I have more
opportunity to get to know those employees better than staff in the buildings, with the exception of the
principals, with whom I get to interact relatively frequently. I have received positive feedback from several
staff describing me as approachable and friendly. Tonight before the School Board meeting, one of our
classified staff came to me in the hallway downstairs and said, “Dr. Henson, I want you to know that I
support the work you are doing. I believe that you are the change that this district needs.” Then she hugged
me.

One of our teachers wrote me a thank-you note for advocating for the extra hour of early release time:

Dear Monica,

Thank you for providing an hour of prep on Wednesdays. It’s going to make a huge
difference, and the fact that you heard our need and took positive action to support our desire to be
the best educators we can be, well that’s just so affirming and empowering.
I’ve made a list of four positive parent phone calls, two calls home regarding concerns, and
one consult with a colleague during that time tomorrow.
Thank you for believing in us, and honoring our urgent need for more time to do our “jobs:
(teaching is a calling, not a job). In my 20 years of teaching, I’ve never seen leadership take such a
big step in defense of quality instruction.

The preceding is an example of the kind of teacher we all hope that every child has in their classroom.
Unfortunately, we have a knot of negativity, what I hope is small percentage, of teachers whose
behaviors and words do not support the OHEA’s assertion that teachers are “stressed out and
exhausted.”

A sampling of discussions on MSAD #17's email server shows pair of high school teachers engaged
in Google Chat on several days, sometimes over several hours, while they are supposed to be
providing instruction to students. Some of the topics discussed include
 Pondering using one of the teacher’s children who was in quarantine as an excuse to get out of
a meeting;
 Page 7 January 19, 2022

 Complaining that their own children are being assigned “legit full schedules” of schoolwork
to do while PBIS training is occurring, characterizing their children’s schoolwork as “an
inconvenience”;
 Mocking an investigation of bullying of a student because of sexual orientation;
 Misogynistic comment about female athletes;
 Mocking a Christmas gift left by a student for one of the teachers;
 Complaining about having to be with their students face to face Dec. 20-21;
 Talking early in the day Dec. 21 about needing to have students “do some work” because the
day is “going to drag,” and then later talking about showing the movie Elf to high school
students.
 Discussing their reading selections, including Game of Thrones, and characterizing it as
“brothers f***ing sisters”;
 Commenting on the first early release day in January about how much time they now have
due to the extra hour of early release and how soon they plan to leave work for the day: “What
an easy job we have.”

This activity is a gross violation of Board policy and regulations by misusing the District’s email
account, server, and devices (if these discussions occurred on District-owned equipment). Moreover, some
of the comments expose the District to liability because email and online discussions are public documents
subject to Freedom of Information Act requests.

I want to believe that those teachers represent the minority. But I also know that there is a contingent that
wants to maintain the lack of accountability that was present when I arrived in Oxford Hills. That is the
source of the pressure on the OHEA to take their action. The OHEA hitched their wagon to the departed
principal’s effort to gain a measure of revenge upon her departure, which was solely her own decision.

The School Board will, rightfully, reject this weak effort to derail accountability and redirect the OHEA to
the process they were invited to by me to participate legitimately in my performance evaluation by
providing a quarterly letter to the Board.

The MEA’s own guidelines for taking a no-confidence vote against a superintendent include the following
criteria:

 At least two years in the district;

 Documented mistreatment of staff; and
 Documented inability to manage the district operations.

The taxpayers can judge for themselves the legitimacy of the vote.

Several staff already have.

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One of the teachers who did not support the OHEA’s effort wrote to me:

Monica,

This may be inappropriate but I want you to know that we are thinking of you today.

We voted for you and rallied supporters. Your leadership skills are evident and easily observed.
Your passion for excellence shines through when you talk about the Oxford Hills and changes that
need to be made. You are a breath of fresh air for our school district and community.

We all know Change is hard and the Oxford Hills is not a particularly welcoming place. I believe
that you are what this community needs.

I am disappointed by the unnecessary drama, gossip, negative campaigning and complaining. I

actually did not know about it until Tuesday. Please know that there was a toxic work environment in
many schools before you arrived. Clearly, we have staff continuing to engage in this negative
behavior.

Your presence has positively affected so many people here. There are so many positive stories
that you don't get to hear. There was a toxic school last year and the principal has done a 360. That
principal is now doing an amazing job and the environment continues to change and improve. The
staff who work with that principal attribute the principal's great success to your mentoring and
leadership skills. I have heard that story about 2 different schools in our district. Please know that
you took on the impossible when you arrived and every day you are having a huge positive impact.
You are appreciated!

I am embarrassed by the actions of my peers and cannot believe that you are being treated this
way. We will keep you in our thoughts and prayers! If you need anything, please don't hesitate to
reach out. We are your supporters.

In my Monday message today (Tuesday edition), I invited all of the staff, unionized or not, regardless
of their vote, to put the negativity behind them and pull together for us all to row this big old boat in
the same direction. I am an optimist and a believer that things happen the way they are supposed to.
As painful as it is to disclose the issues I have discussed in this statement—and it does not begin to
scratch the surface of the issues in the Central Office that are still in corrective action—I know that
truth is the best disinfectant for situations like this. I am not a grudge holder, and I am ready to
continue doing the work that the School Board hired me to do.

Monica Henson
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