Teachers wore black on Friday, Aug. 17, the day they took their annual staff photo that will appear in the yearbook. They were expressing their displeasure with the administration’s decision to involuntarily transfer former Spanish teacher and Language Department chair Christelle Hutin Lee, science teacher John Savage said.

Hutin Lee resigned on July 30 after the administration informed her she would be involuntarily transferred to teach Spanish at Piedmont Middle School. She is now a Spanish teacher at Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory School in San Francisco.

“While the [Associated Piedmont Teachers (APT)] union didn’t decide on concrete, explicit action in response to the involuntary transfer of Christelle [Hutin Lee] and her subsequent resignation, they did decide to wear all black as a sign of unity and the lack of feeling of support,” Savage said.

Principal Adam Littlefield said that he was not made aware that the teachers would be wearing all black and did not realize until the staff meeting that morning.

“Teachers have a choice of what they want to wear. That was a choice that they made,” Littlefield said. “I was a little surprised.”

Littlefield initiated the involuntary transfer with an email sent to Hutin Lee on July 10 to discuss her assignment for the coming school year, she said.

“I immediately understood that it wasn’t going to be good,” Hutin Lee said. “I contacted the [APT] union, and [APT] union President Gabriel Kessler asked Mr. Littlefield if this was about an involuntary transfer. He said yes.”

Hutin Lee, Littlefield and Kessler then had a meeting on July 13, with English teacher Elise Marks present as a union representative. They refuted Littlefield’s memo that described why Hutin Lee was being involuntarily transferred to Piedmont Middle School, Hutin Lee said.

“The majority of his reasons were his perception that I wasn’t happy,” Hutin Lee said.

Littlefield said that there were other reasons.

Before the July email, Littlefield had informed Hutin Lee of a parent complaint. The complaint, sent in May, never came to Hutin Lee directly, but went straight to Littlefield. Hutin Lee declined to meet with the parent when asked by Littlefield if she wanted to, Hutin Lee said.

“I didn’t see what meeting with this particular parent would accomplish, because it was so aggressive,” Hutin Lee said. “It was an attack on me particularly, but also on my department.”

Littlefield questioned Hutin Lee about her teaching methods to gather information for his meeting with the parent, Hutin Lee said.

“Then he looked me straight in the eye and said, ‘You don’t have anything to worry about,’” Hutin Lee said. “That was the last time that I heard from him until July.”

The APT contract currently states “Teachers who are to be transferred for the coming school year shall be notified of their new position before school closes in June. In the event that notification in June is not possible, or when the transfer is to take place during the school year, every effort shall be made to notify teachers of their new position at least 14 school days before the new positions begin.”

“Both Dr. Marks and Mr. Kessler heavily insisted on the fact that there was no reason for Mr. Littlefield not to tell me before the end of the school year that he was transferring me,” Hutin Lee said.

“Mr. Littlefield admitted that he could not have told me [about the transfer] by the end of the school year because he had not met with a parent yet,” Hutin Lee said.

Hutin Lee would have been transferred to be a Spanish teacher at PMS, a vacancy created when two teachers submitted their resignations before the end of the school year.

The contract also states that “District-initiated transfers shall be based exclusively on the legitimate, educationally-related needs of the District.”

Another reason that Littlefield gave for the transfer was that he wanted Hutin Lee to build up the language program at the middle school, she said.

“He said that because of all of my experience, leadership, and knowledge that I was the best person to go to the middle school,” Hutin Lee said.

However, Hutin Lee said that she doesn’t have the skills to handle middle school students. She insisted heavily that she did not want to go there, and that her interest, skills, and expertise were at the high school level, Hutin Lee said.

The contract also states: “Teachers to be involuntarily transferred shall be chosen on the basis of the following considerations: Appropriate credential, District seniority, other qualifications (e.g., experience with grade level or subject matter), implication to other teachers who have shown written interest in the potential vacancy.”

“And Mr. Kessler said in no uncertain terms that if [Littlefield] went through with [the involuntary transfer], he would lose a teacher,” Hutin Lee said. “I didn’t think that I would do a service to those [middle school] students by just hanging on to a job, instead of being in a classroom where I feel like I’m making a difference.”

Hutin Lee also presented a letter of support that was written and signed by a majority of PHS teachers, which continued to argue against this involuntary transfer. After her first two meetings with Littlefield, Hutin Lee then brought the case to Superintendent Randall Booker and neutral party John Savage for review, who would then make a recommendation to Littlefield.

“At that point, I said I needed an answer by July 30, because I had multiple offers [from other schools] that I needed to respond to,” Hutin Lee said. “Their [answer] was still the transfer, so I decided to resign that day, July 30, and I accepted the position in the city [at Sacred Heart Cathedral].”

One of the biggest impacts that this involuntary transfer and resignation has left in its wake, besides a vacancy in the Spanish department, is the emotional impact it has had on teacher morale, Marks said.

“Teachers are so angry and scared,” Marks said. “It’s a toxic environment to feel like you can work so hard and still find out in July that you are effectively being forced out of your job.”

This sentiment stems not only from this single incident, but also from a trend in parent complaints throughout the school year, Marks said.

“Last year in staff meetings, many teachers were talking about the rising tide of parent complaints,” Marks said. “Most parents are wonderful and respectful and supportive. There’s a small but very aggressive minority of parents who seem to feel entitled to tell administration which teachers should go.”

Littlefield said that very few parents come to him to say which teachers should go.

This emotional response and the wearing of all black are not the only responses from teachers. In response to this involuntary transfer, the union is actively pushing for stronger contract language in the annual contract negotiations, Savage said.

Littlefield also agrees that the language should be reviewed.

Kessler said he believes that teachers need to be made equal partners in the decision making process.

Hutin Lee filed a grievance to the district which APT is now carrying on. To support teachers and students, the union will continue to work on the grievance in order to resolve what it views as a breach of contract, said Kessler.

“I truly believe that no matter what conflict is going on, we as a union and administration have a job to try to resolve whatever conflict exists for the sake of creating the kind of collaborative climate we want at the school where there’s trust in one another,” Kessler said.

Littlefield also agreed that they need to work collaboratively.