r parents and teacers at Fort Hunt elementary near Alexandria, the talk all summer has revolved around how to address a toxic work environment that forced about 40 percent of the instructional staff to pack up their classrooms for new jobs elsewhere this fall.
In interviews, teachers, parents and staff at the 600 student Fort Hunt elementary say that morale at the school has reached an all-time low. Teachers are afraid to voice their opinions to school leaders at meetings. Parents say that field trips and school events like talent shows have been cut back in recent years.
Kids have felt the the chilling effect too. For some youngsters, the elementary school tucked beside a wooded park and leafy cul-de-sacs “feels like a prison.” Several parents have elected to remove their children from the school entirely.
The trouble began, teachers and parents say, when Barbara Leibbrandt became prinicpal at Fort Hunt four years ago. Teachers say they felt micromanaged and parents say that she was aloof to students. Many children, parents and teachers say, did not know Leibbrandt was the principal of the school because she rarely interacted with students.
“The divisiveness that has been created with the staff has really torn the school apart,” said one parent, who declined to speak on the record because her children will remain at Fort Hunt this year. “My kids say that since [Leibbrandt] came here we don’t have anymore fun days.”
JoAnn Karsh, the executive director of the Fairfax Education Association, the largest teacher organization in the county, said in an interview that the school had devolved to a “joyless place that has become a bad place for learning.”
After years of troubling standardized test scores, Fort Hunt will begin this fall designated as one of 25 “priority schools” in Fairfax. In a recent school system-wide staff survey, Fort Hunt ranked 138 out of 139 among elementary teachers in job satisfaction.
The problems caused a number of staffers to leave Fort Hunt this year. School officials said that in all 22 Fort Hunt staffers left this year, or about 39 percent of all instructional employees. During the 2010-2011 school year, the turnover rate at Fort Hunt was 22 percent. Last year, it was 24 percent.
Among all 28 schools in Cluster IV, which includes Fort Hunt elementary, the turnover rate during the past year was 19 percent.
In a statement, Fairfax County schools spokesman John Torre said that “turnover occurs every year at every school. We cannot discuss specific personnel matters at Fort Hunt, but teachers and other instructional personnel leave for a variety of reasons.”
Torre said that “parents and teachers who have concerns should take those concerns directly to Principal Leibbrandt and if they are not satisfied with the response, they can bring their concerns directly to the cluster superintendent.”
Karsh said that FEA, the teachers’ organization, became invovled in January after fielding several complaints from members about the environment at Fort Hunt. In late July, Karsh sent a letter to the new Fairfax superintendent, Karen Garza, about the problems at the elementary school.
“Several parents and teachers talked about the punitive environment in the school: No talking during lunch, no special events or celebrations,” Karsh wrote in the letter to Garza. “Teachers expressed grave concern for the way children were treated in the building.”
One teacher who left this year for a new school said that Leibbrandt’s corrosive leadership resulted in anxiety among staff members.
“I can’t tell you how many teachers are in therapy because of this woman,” said the teacher, who acknowledged previously taking prescription medications to treat anxiety caused by her job. She declined to speak on the record to offer a more candid assesment of the school and the principal. “The negative energy there makes your hair stand on end.”
One parent said that she decided to pull her children out of Fort Hunt and send them to private school, despite the added financial burden to her family.
“There are some amazingly wonderful teachers there and it’s very dishearting to me that a lot of them are leaving and it’s because they are not happy,” the parent said.
Yet not all at the school are unhappy. Fort Hunt has a much sought after spanish immersion program that parents rave about. Families say the school has a talented faculty.
But in interviews, several parents, all of whom declined to speak on the record, fearing reprisals targeting their children at school, describe Fort Hunt as having significant issues, some of which they admit may be beyond Leibbrandt’s control.
School board member Dan Storck, whose Mount Vernon district includes Fort Hunt, said that the student population at Fort Hunt is a mix of middle class neighborhood kids and a large cohort of children who are bussed in from a nearby apartment complex for low income families.
“It’s a difficult school to be a principal of,” said Storck, who noted he had spoken to Leibbrandt and other ranking school administrators about Fort Hunt.
“The parents’ concerns are real,” Storck said. “But it isn’t as simple as people want it to be as you address the needs of a school community that are very diverse.”
In an e-mail to The Post, Karsh wrote that FEA’s goal for teachers at Fort Hunt is to restore a positive working environment.
“If that can be done with the current principal, great,” Karsh wrote. “However, too many parents and teachers have expressed that they don’t believe that is possible.”
In interviews, teachers, parents and staff at the 600 student Fort Hunt elementary say that morale at the school has reached an all-time low. Teachers are afraid to voice their opinions to school leaders at meetings. Parents say that field trips and school events like talent shows have been cut back in recent years.
Kids have felt the the chilling effect too. For some youngsters, the elementary school tucked beside a wooded park and leafy cul-de-sacs “feels like a prison.” Several parents have elected to remove their children from the school entirely.
The trouble began, teachers and parents say, when Barbara Leibbrandt became prinicpal at Fort Hunt four years ago. Teachers say they felt micromanaged and parents say that she was aloof to students. Many children, parents and teachers say, did not know Leibbrandt was the principal of the school because she rarely interacted with students.
“The divisiveness that has been created with the staff has really torn the school apart,” said one parent, who declined to speak on the record because her children will remain at Fort Hunt this year. “My kids say that since [Leibbrandt] came here we don’t have anymore fun days.”
JoAnn Karsh, the executive director of the Fairfax Education Association, the largest teacher organization in the county, said in an interview that the school had devolved to a “joyless place that has become a bad place for learning.”
After years of troubling standardized test scores, Fort Hunt will begin this fall designated as one of 25 “priority schools” in Fairfax. In a recent school system-wide staff survey, Fort Hunt ranked 138 out of 139 among elementary teachers in job satisfaction.
The problems caused a number of staffers to leave Fort Hunt this year. School officials said that in all 22 Fort Hunt staffers left this year, or about 39 percent of all instructional employees. During the 2010-2011 school year, the turnover rate at Fort Hunt was 22 percent. Last year, it was 24 percent.
Among all 28 schools in Cluster IV, which includes Fort Hunt elementary, the turnover rate during the past year was 19 percent.
In a statement, Fairfax County schools spokesman John Torre said that “turnover occurs every year at every school. We cannot discuss specific personnel matters at Fort Hunt, but teachers and other instructional personnel leave for a variety of reasons.”
Torre said that “parents and teachers who have concerns should take those concerns directly to Principal Leibbrandt and if they are not satisfied with the response, they can bring their concerns directly to the cluster superintendent.”
Karsh said that FEA, the teachers’ organization, became invovled in January after fielding several complaints from members about the environment at Fort Hunt. In late July, Karsh sent a letter to the new Fairfax superintendent, Karen Garza, about the problems at the elementary school.
“Several parents and teachers talked about the punitive environment in the school: No talking during lunch, no special events or celebrations,” Karsh wrote in the letter to Garza. “Teachers expressed grave concern for the way children were treated in the building.”
One teacher who left this year for a new school said that Leibbrandt’s corrosive leadership resulted in anxiety among staff members.
“I can’t tell you how many teachers are in therapy because of this woman,” said the teacher, who acknowledged previously taking prescription medications to treat anxiety caused by her job. She declined to speak on the record to offer a more candid assesment of the school and the principal. “The negative energy there makes your hair stand on end.”
One parent said that she decided to pull her children out of Fort Hunt and send them to private school, despite the added financial burden to her family.
“There are some amazingly wonderful teachers there and it’s very dishearting to me that a lot of them are leaving and it’s because they are not happy,” the parent said.
Yet not all at the school are unhappy. Fort Hunt has a much sought after spanish immersion program that parents rave about. Families say the school has a talented faculty.
But in interviews, several parents, all of whom declined to speak on the record, fearing reprisals targeting their children at school, describe Fort Hunt as having significant issues, some of which they admit may be beyond Leibbrandt’s control.
School board member Dan Storck, whose Mount Vernon district includes Fort Hunt, said that the student population at Fort Hunt is a mix of middle class neighborhood kids and a large cohort of children who are bussed in from a nearby apartment complex for low income families.
“It’s a difficult school to be a principal of,” said Storck, who noted he had spoken to Leibbrandt and other ranking school administrators about Fort Hunt.
“The parents’ concerns are real,” Storck said. “But it isn’t as simple as people want it to be as you address the needs of a school community that are very diverse.”
In an e-mail to The Post, Karsh wrote that FEA’s goal for teachers at Fort Hunt is to restore a positive working environment.
“If that can be done with the current principal, great,” Karsh wrote. “However, too many parents and teachers have expressed that they don’t believe that is possible.”