GARFIELD HEIGHTS, Ohio — The Garfield Heights City School District is facing a mass departure of teachers and staff ahead of the new school year. The teachers’ union there says nearly one-third of its members have resigned, in part because of not feeling safe or valued.
Rebecca Justice’s middle school son would have been the third generation of her family to graduate from Garfield Heights City Schools.
“It breaks my heart that I have to take him out of this district. And that’s the only way I feel good, is to remove him from a place that is so important to my family,” she said.
The mother of two recently enrolled her younger son in a different district. She told News 5 the boy faced bullying in school, including physical assaults. She said he was suspended after he fought back, but administrators never addressed her concerns for his safety before or after the incident.
“There doesn’t seem to be any accountability or any support for the teachers who are trying to keep their kids safe in their classrooms,” she said.
Justice brought her concerns to the Garfield Heights Board of Education meeting Monday evening. She was the only parent to speak during public comment but shared the same message as the 6 educators who spoke before her.
“There’s been so much speculation about what has caused what I refer to as a mass exodus of almost 30 percent of our staff since school ended six weeks ago,” one teacher told the Board.
According to the Garfield Heights Teachers’ Association, at least 75 of its members have resigned ahead of the new school year. The number includes all 5 of the district’s school psychologists and nearly half of the middle school teaching staff.
“I’m hoping that losing 5 out of 5 psychologists is not looked at as a coincidence and that the central office takes a serious look at the mistreatment of staff and teachers,” an association rep told board members on behalf of a resigning employee.
Before the 2022-2023 school year, 47 teachers resigned from the district. Prior to this year’s numbers, it was a record-breaking departure.
Association representatives said this year’s figure does not include several other educators who submitted their resignations after July 10 and were denied. Ohio Revised Code says teachers cannot terminate their contracts after that date without the school board’s consent.
“All of this pressure, lack of time, concern for my safety and feeling like I can’t be the teacher I want to be has made me dread coming to work every day,” said a high school science teacher who tried to resign after the July 10 deadline and was denied.
Many teachers spoke of safety concerns, lack of disciplinary action by administrators and burnout from already short staffing. Despite a contentious contract negotiation in the fall of 2022, the association said its teachers still receive the lowest pay in Cuyahoga County.
“Garfield Heights City Schools leadership did me such a disservice I do not think I will ever enter the public teaching field again,” one association rep read from a letter penned by an outgoing teacher.
District leadership declined an interview request following Monday’s meeting, but the superintendent briefly addressed the retention issues in his address to the board, saying the district is gathering feedback from outgoing staff.
“We’ve identified some areas that we can provide immediate improvement and other areas that will take a little more time,” Dr. Richard Reynolds told the board.
As of Monday evening, the district has filled 26 of the vacant positions. Justice said she hopes leadership listens to the concerns of departing teachers and families so it can create meaningful changes.
“It’s not good for the board. It’s not good for the administrators. It’s not good for the teachers or the students. It’s a very unfortunate situation,” she said.
The district issued the following statement:
"The Garfield Heights City Schools is and continues to be dedicated to preparing students to pursue their dreams to give back as engaged citizens, and we invite all instructors who have a compassion for teaching our community’s children to our district.
We’re actively recruiting quality teachers through a number of methods, including several hiring events that will be taking place at Garfield Heights High School at the end of this month, as well conducting an aggressive informational campaign that includes video and print resources that highlight the benefits of being a staff member in Garfield Heights.
School safety and security is a top priority in our district, and we have increased security personnel, added metal detectors at the High School and Middle School, and intensified our partnership with Garfield Heights Police Department. While our school community can expect new faces in key administrative roles such as Teaching and Learning, and Human Resources, our vision to be a premier educational institution recognized throughout the State of Ohio remains unwavering. The fulfillment of this vision, however, requires a true partnership for success with parents, students, staff members, and the community-at-large who desire a school district that is successful academically and in matters of school safety.
I’m confident that we can keep building successful partnerships with these stakeholders to make our vision a reality."
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