Staci Jacques, a Tonkawa teacher, has resigned from the Tonkawa Public School system. In doing so, she criticized the Tonkawa school board for inaction and lack of support of teachers. Her letter follows:Dear Members of the Tonkawa School Board:Foremost, I want to express appreciation to Superintendent Lori Simpson and members of the district who supported, encouraged, and held me up over the past three years. It was a learning and growing experience that is invaluable to me as a professional and as an individual. Tonkawa schools are filled with amazing students, faculty, & support staff and will forever hold a piece of my heart. That being said, please allow me to explain the screenshot and reason for my resignation. The picture in the margin is a screenshot (not shown) of a personal message I received from a parent. This is just one example of how this situation was handled. As is easily discerned, this was in the midst of the “dress code” controversy. As I am sure you are aware, the parents did in fact take it to social media. I took quite the online bashing as, unfortunately, did a few other employees of the district.This father did, eventually, come in and visit with Mr. Simpson. He did not, however, have to sit down and have an in-person conversation with me after sending that message nor was I given the opportunity to explain the actual circumstances in which his daughter was asked to change her clothing (as opposed to the explanation he got from his teenager). Furthermore, of the many parents that had so much to say about me via social media, and despite me being readily available during the school day, at teacher/parent conferences, and at the March school board meeting, I had personal conversations concerning the dress code issue with only five parents – three of those conversations were initiated by me. The traditional process of 1) Go to the teacher 2) Go to the building administrator 3) Go to the district administrator 4) Go to the school board has apparently been replaced with 1) Go to social media. The new process is obviously more effective, time efficient, and parent friendly; additionally, it boosts students’ morale. In a matter of a few short weeks, parents and students were able to get the desired outcome without needing to bother with presenting a more reasonable policy to the school administration ...
