SHAWANO, WI- The Shawano School Board is offering full support for Superintendent Randi Anderson and dismissed complaints that she has been mistreating staff members and causing an hostile working environment through a statement released on social media Thursday evening.
The board released a collective statement indicating that a former employee has chosen to pursue a personal vendetta against the Superintendent and presented a survey that is of limited value, because it was not conducted by the district, not all staff were invited to participate and how the staff that did participate were selected was unknown.
“The board values community and staff input that is constructive and solution-oriented.”
The survey was conducted by former Human Resources Coordinator Chris Marcks. The survey allowed staff to address concerns that they had.
Marcks says she put the survey out after hearing from multiple current and former staff members that they were unhappy, and after experiencing some mistreatment herself.
“I conducted the survey in an effort to share concerns of staff who are too frightened to speak up directly for fear of retaliation.”
There were 47 people who responded to the survey and of those, 92 percent are active teachers or professional staff. 51 percent have been with the district for 10 years or more. Marcks told the board that she learned that 34 percent of those surveyed are actively looking for another job and 81 percent would leave the district if the right opportunity came along. “89 percent of the respondents who have left or are leaving, shared that they were leaving for a preventable reason”, Marcks told the board.
Marcks was hired in summer of 2020 and resigned in March of 2021 with the effective date of June 30th, which was the end of her contact. According to Marcks, after filing a harassment complaint against Superintendent Anderson on behalf of others and herself, and following an investigation, the board determined that it was for her personal and professional wellbeing that her last day be April and 30th with the agreement of paying out her contact.
In the statement from the school board, the board labeled Marcks’ departure from the district as a resignation.
“The Board has received an heard from a former employee who resigned from her position with the district and has chosen to pursue a personal vendetta against the Superintendent.”
Marcks indicated in prior public statements that she considered herself forced to leave early and it was more of a termination at the end of her contract.
The statement released Thursday night also stated that efforts such as those of this dissatisfied former employee can serve as a distraction.
“We as a district are focused on working with those dedicated, high-quality, professional staff who choose to partner with the Board and Administration for the benefit of our students.”
The School Board statement also addressed the district’s strategic plan and stated accomplishments such as building the technology infrastructure, developing a full-day 4k program for the fall, increasing social media presence and developing health and wellness initiatives for staff to improve their well-being.
It then stated that they are giving full support behind Superintendent Randi Anderson to lead that journey. “The board choose the Superintendent specifically because we believed that she is the right fit to move the community and board-developed goals forward.”
Marcks said that she is saddened and disappointed that the school board dismissed the feedback that was gathered from staff members.
“I accepted the job of HR Coordinator with the District with one objective in mind: to help make things better so that our educators could focus on teaching children, including my own. I loved serving others in this role, and feel blessed to have been able to positively impact staff while there,” she said. “At the end of the day, we all need to speak up for what we believe in. It is our civic duty and job as parents to role model this behavior to our children. We must evaluate the information available, seek further insight when questions present themselves, and be authentic in our pursuit of what believe is right.”
The board ended their written statement by asking the community to change their focus.
“It is easy to get sidetracked and bogged down in the type of negativity being pursued by a very small number of people with a personal agenda.
Marcks said she will continue to be a voice for what is right.
“I encourage others to join me and to do the same.”
Comments