School board lawsuit: Was it a violation of the teacher’s rights?

BY NICOLE NADLER

On January 11, 2021, at the beginning of a new semester, teachers were instructed to return to school. This mandate was in order to accommodate all of the new kids now going to be entering school after the release of the recent form to see who was going to come back.

However, this violated the memorandum of understanding (MOU) that the School Board of Broward County (SBBC) and Broward Teachers Union (BTU) agreed on to support greatly at-risk teachers. Thus, BTU decided to sue the school board. Since the teachers that were found to have the greatest need for work-from-home accommodations were granted such as —1,700 teachers in all—this was considered a violation of their MOU.

For the start of the second semester and new students returning to school, SBBC has required all teachers to come back into the building. But this is not possible for many of them, and several teachers have had to take leaves thus far. This has baffled many, especially since the accommodating MOU was supposed to be valid until June, and not end at the start of the second semester. 

This violation was therefore met with a lawsuit by BTU on behalf of the 1,700 teachers that were required to come back, as that is not what they signed off on. 

This violation was therefore met with a lawsuit by BTU on behalf of the 1,700 teachers that were required to come back, as that is not what they signed off on. 

Since then, many other teachers have had to both take leaves of absence as well as risk their health to come back into the school building. 

The principals that have been filed suit against SBBC are:

• Catrice Duhart, Principal at North Andrews Elementary
• Leena Itty, Principal at Maplewood Elementary
• Laneia Hall, Principal at Parkside Elementary
• Marie Hautigan, Principal at Piper High School, Devon O’Neal
• Principal at Orange Brook Elementary
• Lewis C. Jackson, Principal at Dania Elementary
• Susan Sasse, Principal at Pines Lakes Elementary
• Colleen Stern, Principal at Cross Creek School Center
• Robert Pappas, Principal at Pioneer Middle
• Tracy Lockhart-Tally, Principal at H.D. Perry Educational Center
• Donald Lee, Principal at Cresthaven Elementary
• Paula Peters, Principal at Flanagan High School
• Kelvin Lee, Principal at Seagull Alternative High School
• Keith Peters, Principal at Gator Run Elementary
• Karen Nesbeth, Principal at Sanders Park Elementary
• Thomas Darby, Principal at Royal Palm Elementary
• Amy Winder, Principal at Indian Trace Elementary

SBBC Superintendent Robert Runcie held a press conference discussing the matter, where he justified his actions by saying, “If we’re gonna have our kids in schools, we need to have our teachers available.” However, he is unable to answer other questions pertaining to the lawsuit.

In order to make the legal process move quicker, the lawsuit was filed as a complaint for injunctive relief. This is the process where a judge will make an early ruling during the time while the plaintiffs and defendants are waiting for the entire case to get a permanent ruling; it will instruct the people involved what to do in the meantime. This was able to be filed this way since the teachers are in possible physical danger when being brought back into the school. 

While many details regarding the lawsuit are still undetermined or cannot be disclosed, some updates have occurred. As of January 26, the arbitrator has ruled in favor of the school board. This may require teachers to return to classrooms to meet operational needs. 

Photo courtesy of the Miami Herald