Teachers rally after transfer of union president sparks controversy

Teachers, students and parents rallied outside the Freeport School District administration building last Friday over concerns that a sudden wave of staff transfers is punishing those who speak up about problems in the schools and leaving students without key support. More than 50 people took part.

The flash point was the reassignment of Patricia Langan, a social studies teacher at Freeport High School and the president of the Freeport Teachers Association. Langan told the Herald that she was pulled into an office at the high school the afternoon before Thanksgiving “without any representation, with the superintendent and the assistant superintendent,” and handed a letter saying “that effective Dec. 1 I would be transferred to Dodd Middle School.

“So that violates our contract,” Langan added. “It’s union animus. It’s obviously anti-union-president, and it’s also just unethical. I was given absolutely not a day’s notice, nor were my students.”

The teachers union contract, she said, requires notice and specific conditions for involuntary transfers.

“The contract says voluntary transfer has to be given 60 days’ notice, and there are stipulations for what can necessitate an involuntary transfer,” she said. “None of those things are true. In fact, they’re leaving my five classes with substitute teachers.”

After 32 years of teaching high school social studies, Langan reported to Dodd this week, where she shadowed seventh grade social studies teacher.

A district spokesman, Ron Edelson, said in a written statement that Langan’s reassignment was the result of a complaint and an independent investigation.

“To ensure objectivity and remove bias,” Edelson said, “an external 3rd party investigator (with no background knowledge about the matter) was hired to conduct the investigation.”

He added that the district had not publicly discussed details of the matter because

“Ms. Langan has been asked on more than one occasion to sign a waiver granting the district permission to share that information with the public, and on each occasion she has declined.”

Administrators, Langan said, told her the move was tied to a harassment claim she described as unfounded, made by a member of the custodial staff, who alleged that Langan had asked school maintenance staff to submit too many work orders, and had entered unauthorized construction areas.

“They accused me of going into unauthorized construction sites, and I asked them for picture, for any video of that, because I certainly did not do that,” she said. “And they showed me a picture of my own classroom, and I had to inform them that was my classroom, not an unauthorized work site.”

Edelson, on behalf of the district, declined to discuss the details of the complaint, issuing a statement that read, “The district will not discuss the specific reasons or circumstances surrounding the reassignment of Ms. Langan to the middle school without Ms. Langan’s permission. If she does so, we would be happy to provide additional details.”

“I will not give the district permission to discuss,” Langan told the Herald, “as they have not been truthful about events in the district.”

Langan contends that the real reason for the move is her outspokenness about district leadership, including at Board of Education meetings and during the board’s town hall on Nov. 17, at which she and others questioned administrative restructuring and a planned biometric sign-in system for staff.

“It’s happening because I’ve been vocal about the problems in the district,” she said. “I’ve been particularly vocal about the problems in the high school under the building principal, who has a personal vendetta against me, and I think this was … them appeasing her.”

The district rejected claims that the reassignment was retaliatory. “Those allegations are patently false,” Edelson said. “Her reassignment was a result of the independent investigation into the circumstances.”

Langan said the transfer is being read by staff as a warning. “Teachers feel like this has justified all of their fears,” she said. “They are very afraid of speaking up. Now they feel like there will always be a target on their back, and yet they’re speaking up now — they feel like it’s gotten too far.”

Addressing claims that Langan’s students were left without instruction, the district stated, “Ms. Langan’s five classes are being taught by a single qualified teacher who will continue to teach those classes until such time as a full time permanent replacement is found.”

Edelson added, “Yes, the impact on students is always a consideration,” but the district determined “that it was prudent to take the steps taken (and) bring in a replacement teacher.”

Langan described a school where discipline and services are fraying. To her, the message behind her reassignment is clear. “It was to silence me, and I refused to be silenced.”

Parents at the rally echoed those concerns.

“Well, the reason for this rally is that we have to return the schools to our children,” said longtime Freeport resident and parent Howard Colton. “What we’re finding is that a handful — five people — are utilizing this district for their own personal goals and needs and for whatever else they wish to do.”

Colton said he believed educators — and residents — face retaliation when they speak up. “Any time someone wants to talk, any time someone wants to speak up, if you’re a teacher, you’re reassigned — yeah, suspended,” he said. “If you are a resident like myself, they threaten you with lawsuits. They threaten me that they’re going to sue me for defamation, for speaking out.”

Colton, a founder of the district’s special education PTA, said he was especially alarmed about services for students with disabilities. “They have absolutely neglected the special-needs students in this district,” he said. “The district abandoned them. Completely abandoned them.”

Asked about special-education staffing, Edelson said, “Occasionally we have staffing issues, and when that occurs, we fill them as quickly as we can.”

At the high school, students organized their own form of protest on Friday, hanging papers decrying the situation.

“You can definitely tell there’s a bit of tension in the building,” junior Adriana Campbell said. “We printed out papers, stuck them up in the hallways. Nothing vulgar, nothing inappropriate, just statements saying that, like, we support our teachers, we want answers, and, like, to give our teachers the respect they deserve. And, you know, admin’s going around, they’re taking down the fliers.”

“We want to know why they’re moving teachers with such little notice,” Campbell added. “They move (Langan) out, and now they don’t have somebody to teach her Regents level class, and these students take a Regents in January. Yeah, so they’re not prepared for it.”

“Personally, the class of 2027 needs her the most,” Junior Jenna Newton said. “Junior year is one of our most important years in high school.”

Teachers from across the district joined the rally. Special education teacher Chris Dressler said, “We’re living in an era where people are afraid of speaking out because of fear of retaliation against us. The fear of retaliation is absolutely real.”