School Employs At-Will Workers

Board rewords policy to match state waiver

Virginia Scheuer, drama teacher at Benton County School of the Arts, watches her students Friday perform as Italian comedy characters the class is studying. The school has adopted a policy changing how teachers’ contracts are handled.
Virginia Scheuer, drama teacher at Benton County School of the Arts, watches her students Friday perform as Italian comedy characters the class is studying. The school has adopted a policy changing how teachers’ contracts are handled.

— A policy clarification at Benton County School of the Arts has put the spotlight on the school’s charter waivers.

New policy language approved Tuesday by the School Board spells out terms for the school’s at-will policy. Teachers can be terminated with or without cause and can terminate their employment with the school during the year by offering written notice.

Superintendent Paul Hines met with teachers in December to advise them of the updates. Since its inception in 2001, the School of the Arts has had a waiver from the state exempting them from the Arkansas Teacher Fair Dismissal Act and the Public School Fair Hearing Act which direct teacher employment in the state.

The policy and waiver now match, something Hines wanted in place before the school’s charter comes up for renewal this spring.

“We have a waiver. We need to have the language that supports the waiver,” Hines said.

Policies hadn’t been updated in 10 years, and those governing board operations are up for review in the February meeting.

Hines said he has never exercised the at-will policy and his intent is not to fire teachers.

“That is counter to what we’re all about because that sends the message that we have inadequate teachers and we don’t,” Hines said.

At-will employment works both ways and carries risk for both teachers and the school, Hines said. A teacher can quit without finishing the school year and the school could release a teacher during the school year. Contracts at the school do not guarantee employment, but specify responsibilities and pay for the upcoming year.

Fast Fact

School History

Benton County School of the Arts opened in Rogers on Sept. 4, 2001. The K-8 school is the second oldest charter school in Arkansas. The K-8 school merged with the Northwest Arkansas Academy of Fine Arts, a 9-12 grade charter school, in August 2007.

Source: Staff Report

There is more job security in the contracts offered at a standard public school, but more flexibility with the at-will waivers, said Ronnie Flowers, Northwest Arkansas coordinator for the Arkansas State Teachers Association.

“It’s good for the school because they can fire bad employees,” Flowers said, adding employees still have the right to a hearing.

On the flip side, teachers who get a call from a larger school, one with better pay or closer to home, can leave without breaking contract, Flowers said.

“They can go ahead and take that job because it’s an at-will contract,” he said.

Contract waivers are not the only exceptions the school operates under. The school has other waivers covering salary, start and end dates for the school calendar and the option to waive teacher licensing requirements.

Virginia Scheuer, theater teacher at the School of the Arts High School is working her way through the state’s nontraditional licensure program. She was with TheatreSquared in Fayetteville and taught workshops through the Walton Arts Center before taking her current job. Her master’s degree is in theater and she could teach at the college level, but without the charter school and its waivers she would be unable to teach at the secondary level.

“It gives qualified people who are professionals in their field the opportunity to teach kids,” Scheuer said the licensing program.

“Waivers are really the crux of what it means to be a charter school,” said Seth Blomeley, communications director for the Arkansas Department of Education.

Waivers give charter schools the chance to prove they can do something different and most charter schools have waivers that make them an at-will employer.

“If you’re working hard and doing your job then the waivers are irrelevant,” Hines said.

Although the policy only clarifies the existing school waiver, some teachers were surprised at the announcement, Flowers said.

“They have mixed feelings about it,” he said.

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