School Board Warns Against NFT Use Of District Information, Retaliation

Neshaminy School Board Ritchie Webb began Tuesday's board meeting by addressing their knowledge of the Neshaminy Federation of Teachers' [NFT] planned actions to call parents using phone numbers from a district database.

"While teachers are permitted to use this database for the purposes of contacting parents for education-related matters... it is completely inappropriate for them to do so for the intent of conducting union business. It violates district policy," Webb said.

"I want to assure everyone that we are doing everything possible to protect and respect the privacy of our parents and their families," he continued.

Neshaminy Superintendent Louise Muenker sent NFT President Louise Boyd a letter Friday, Aug. 19 that informed her that using the district's "confidential, proprietary database in order to obtain parent names and phone numbers for its union purposes" violates district policy.

In addition, Webb also informed those in attendance that Muenker advised Boyd to "discontinue the dissemination of union propaganda to parents while on district property," which also violates district policy.

Last week, a document that appeared to come from NFT leaders that informed union members how to conduct the phone conversations with parents, how to answer their questions and what to say if they "start bitching at you."

Boyd said in a press conference prior to the board meeting that she was "not at liberty to discuss" the NFT's possible planned use of the school district's database, eSchoolPLUS.

"Our teachers for years have used district information to contact parents. It's unfortunate that, during this impasse, the hostility of the administration and the school board is such that they assume terrible things are going to happen when there's no evidence of that," she said.

In his statement, Webb addressed district rumors of union retaliation against any teachers who contact board members or the district to "warn" of activities planned by the union.

"While we have no reason to believe that any such retaliation will occur, the board wants to strongly reiterate its commitment to maintaining a safe, professional work environment for all its employees," Webb said.

The board communicated to Muenker that it expects any cases of retaliation, harassment or unprofessional conduct by one staff member toward another "will be dealt with quickly, decisively and to the full extent as is outlined under district policy."

The district policy states "any employee of the district who engages in conduct which constitutes discrimination and/or harassment as defined by this policy shall be subject to discipline up to and including discharge."

According to Webb, Muenker has the full support of the school board to "take any and all actions deemed necessary to secure the safety of all staff members." He said that the board hopes such actions won't become necessary.