The Nestucca Valley School District reached a settlement of more than $100,000 in November 2022 to resolve former teacher Katie Bean Bamford's complaints that her contract was not renewed.
Bamford alleges, and a Department of Labor and Industry investigation agreed, that she was subject to intense monitoring and uneven absenteeism policies by Superintendent Misty Wharton and then-Nestuka K-8 Principal Chad Holloway.
“I've wanted to be a teacher since I was in elementary school, and this changed the trajectory of my entire life,” Bamford said. “I just think the community has a right to be better and our children have a right to be better.”
Ms. Bamford arrived at Nestucca K-8 in 2019 to teach kindergarten and has nearly 10 years of experience.
During the year, the number of students in her classes fluctuated between 26 and 32 students, making teaching difficult at times, especially after remote instruction began in spring 2020. In March of that year, Ms. Bamford met with Ms. Wharton to discuss concerns about her student population. In her class, she told her that she felt it interfered with her ability to best meet the needs of her students.
After the meeting, Bamford said, Wharton and Holloway discussed splitting the 30 new kindergarten students into two classrooms, with one room shared between kindergarten and first grade. The move would have been consistent with the district's policy of creating smaller class sizes for the youngest students.
But at the start of the school year in fall 2020, Bamford was informed that she would be assigned a class of 30 students. Bamford believes the change was prompted by her request for special accommodations for remote learning due to the ongoing pandemic, but the Bureau of Labor and Industry (BOLI) has found no evidence to support that claim. I couldn't.
Uneasy about the mission, Bamford requested a meeting with Holloway to discuss changes to his plans.
“If there were about 30 kids in every class, I wouldn't complain or question that decision,” Bamford said. “I was concerned about fairness.”
Bamford said that when she met with Holloway, a union representative and two other teachers, the principal did not discuss or address her concerns.
After an unsatisfactory meeting, Bamford requested a meeting with Wharton, which took place just a few days later. Wharton did not adjust Bamford's class size, but in response to Bamford's concerns about Holloway's leadership, she suggested Bamford be her replacement supervisor, which she accepted.
At the beginning of the school year, Holloway began regularly attending Bamford's virtual classes despite being a substitute teacher, even after Bamford brought it to the attention of other district administrators.
While these observations continued and there were moments of heightened tension between Bamford and Holloway, contractually mandated performance reviews were repeatedly foregone. The October and November reviews were never conducted, and the December review did not include Bamford's boss and consisted only of Holloway giving vague, positive feedback.
So it came as a surprise when Bamford received a letter from the school district on February 11, 2021, informing her of their intention not to renew her contract, citing failure to meet “professional responsibility” standards.
“I was shocked to receive the letter,” Bamford said. “I didn't get any feedback that I was lacking. If I had known it was an area where I fell short, I would have asked for coaching or direction.”
Mr Bamford met Mr Wharton and Mr Holloway a week after receiving the letter. Administrators said Bamford was fired because he violated the district's absence policy. At the meeting, Mr. Bamford agreed to resign with the promise of a letter of recommendation from Mr. Wharton to avoid non-renewal of his resume.
However, the circumstances were not right for Bamford. She filed a complaint with the Nestucca Valley School Board in May, which resulted in Holloway being removed as kindergarten through eighth-grade principal and transferred to the district's facilities manager.
Bamford then hired a lawyer and filed a complaint with BOLI in September, which launched an investigation.
The school district told BOLI investigators that its decision not to renew Bamford's contract was motivated by her absenteeism. However, Bamford missed just four days of work that year, far fewer than the 10 days stipulated in her contract.
Although the district presented numerous other justifications for BOLI, investigators found that there was evidence that the decision was made after unlawful and increased surveillance and harassment by Holloway. did.
“The evidence shows that Defendant Holloway subjected Complainant to intense surveillance in retaliation for reporting and opposing Complainant's conduct and for being removed as Complainant's supervisor.” the official wrote.
Investigators also found that district leadership failed to take corrective action after Bamford complained of harassment after Holloway was fired by her supervisor. Additionally, investigators said the district's failure to conduct a performance review violated Bamford's contract and the district's own policies.
After the report was released in August 2022, the district, which had previously refused to compensate Bamford, entered into settlement negotiations to avoid litigation.
On the last day a lawsuit could be filed, the two sides reached an agreement that resulted in the district paying Bamford a six-figure sum, although he declined to reveal the exact amount.
Bamford, whose baby was born less than a month before the settlement was reached, said she planned to use the money she received in March to take a few years off work to raise her children.
But she said she wanted to call attention to the treatment of Mr Holloway and Mr Wharton, saying they allowed the situation to unfold despite having the opportunity to intervene.
“I think she was also a failure in everything,” Bamford said. “If she had done what she was supposed to do as Chad's boss, none of this would have happened.”
Wharton declined an interview request for this article and sent an emailed statement.
“The District settled this BOLI claim without admitting liability or wrongdoing in hopes of avoiding the high costs of potential litigation,” the statement said. “The district denies Ms. Bean Bamford's allegations.”
