Teachers union issues vote of no confidence in Mount Healthy Schools leadership

Members of the Mount Healthy Teachers Association issued a vote of no confidence in the district's superintendent and school board Tuesday evening. Of the 260 members eligible to vote, 121 teachers voted yes and 14 voted no, according to Julie Wakefield, the union president. Several teachers did not vote.

The vote comes after the state placed Mount Healthy City School District on fiscal emergency in April. The district is approaching a projected $10.8 million operating fund deficit and has already notified more than 80 employees that they will be cut after this school year ends.

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"We need answers about how this all went so wrong," Wakefield said in a recent news release.

Superintendent Valerie Hawkins is not stepping down at this time. On Wednesday, the district released a statement that Hawkins "is deeply committed to the district and to fostering an environment where constructive and respectful dialogue leads to positive outcomes for our schools."

School Board President Julie Turner did not respond to The Enquirer's request for comment.

District leaders 'failed to see the red flags' in financial reports

Wakefield said the decision to approve a no confidence vote was not taken lightly, but that teachers have lost trust in the superintendent and the school board.

"Mt. Healthy school leaders should have recognized and responded to the district's increasingly dire financial situation years ago," Wakefield said. "There was clearly extreme mismanagement of the district's finances along the way, and the people who failed to see the red flags or take any corrective action must be held accountable for that."

The district's statement acknowledges these concerns and that "the past few months have been challenging for everyone."

"While the specific concerns cited as the motivation for the vote fall under the purview of the district’s treasurer, it is important for all of us to work collaboratively toward solutions," the statement reads.

Wakefield said Mount Healthy students are the ones who will suffer most from the deficit and budget cuts.

"They are losing the expertise and talent of so many dedicated professionals who have given the best of themselves every day to help their students succeed," Wakefield said. "We will rise to the challenge to continue to serve them moving forward, but, unfortunately, we do not have confidence in the superintendent or the school board to take on this challenge with us."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Mount Healthy Superintendent gets no confidence vote from teachers