Jessi Bruce had a unique perspective of the Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton School District. Bruce was an English teacher at the DGF High School for three years, and her son was a student in the district.
Bruce’s son was badly bullied there. His classmates stole his phone and contact information, called his friends and relatives, and told them he was a “loser” and a “nerd.”
In the classrooms and hallways, fellow students shoved him, hip checked him into lockers, called him stupid and the R-word, and stomped on his possessions.
“It bothered him a lot,” Bruce told me. “He would cry and get frustrated. He said he was sick, so he didn’t have to go to school.”
Her son missed about a dozen days of school. Bruce complained to the principal about the bullying.
“The principal said he wasn’t going to do anything,” Bruce said. “I was frustrated. They should have done something. At the very least, they could have contacted the parents of the students who were bullying my son.”
The bullying continued.
“My son said, ‘I can’t take it anymore. I want to go someplace else. I’m done at DGF.’”
So, he became yet another student who left the school district because of how he was treated.
When I asked DGF School Superintendent Shannon Hunstad last week if he’s concerned about the number of students who have been harassed at DGF, and have since transferred to other school districts, he said, “I’m sorry if it happened to them. We want them to be in a safe place. Nobody wants kids to be harassed. I wish they were still here. Problems at DGF are no different than any other school in the nation.”
Hunstad had agreed to do a live interview with me on today’s “News and Views” show on KFGO Radio. However, he changed his mind and called off the interview.
Former DGF teacher Jessi Bruce
As a teacher, Bruce worked in one of those classrooms where the temperature was 90 degrees.
“It was hard,” Bruce said. “The kids were hot and didn’t want to work. Fixing the problem just wasn’t a priority at that time. The principal said we should just deal with it.”
Bruce said the culture at the school made it very hard to work there.
“Women were treated differently,” she said. “It was a good old boys club that we were not part of…It was isolating. It was hard to survive. It was a toxic atmosphere. You had to be careful who you talked to.”
In class, Bruce said she had some brutal students who called her a terrible teacher and a “bitch.” She said she reported bad behavior from the students, but those students were not disciplined.
She tried very hard to bring back the cheerleading program and was told to put together a petition, which she did. Later, she said the current principal rejected the idea.
Bruce had reached her breaking point and decided to leave the school district.
“I was not supported by the administration,” Bruce said. “I was not listened to. I got shut down. I had been giving 110% of myself to that school and didn’t feel like I was getting a return from that.”
Shannon Hunstad, Superintendent of Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton Public Schools. Courtesy of dgf.k12.mn.us
I asked Superintendent Hunstad if the school district is unresponsive to teacher needs.
“I talk to union leadership. We address things,” he said. “We’re in it together. I want no surprises…We absolutely support teacher needs.”
Now, Bruce teaches at Moorhead High School.
“I really like it in Moorhead,” she said. “The administration is very supportive. It has been fantastic.”
Anna Knutson coached speech and debate, and was in charge of the yearbook at the high school.
“The culture there was if you don’t fall in line, we’re going to make it unpleasant for you,” Knutson told me.
Knutson said she told the principal that glycol was dripping from the ceiling in her classroom. That lingering drip was taking place in at least four classrooms and the new gym. A teacher passed out. Other teachers reportedly suffered from headaches.
“I was told I was making a mountain out of a molehill, and that people were whining too much,” Knutson said.
Hunstad said it didn’t take long to fix the glycol leak.
“We handled it as fast as we could,” he said. “We got contractors on it right away.”
“There was not clear communication about the issue or resolution to the problem,” Knutson said.
Knutson said she never had a proper review of her teaching, and that she should have been paid $2,000 for working on the yearbook.
Hunstad said he doesn’t know anything about the disputed yearbook compensation.
Knutson became yet another teacher who resigned.
“I couldn’t take it anymore,” she said. “You’re an island in that district. They don’t care one bit.”
Now, Knutson teaches at Fargo North High School.
“I am very pleased with the place I’m working at now,” Knutson said. “It couldn’t be better.”
Another former Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton High School teacher told me after she broke up a fight between two students in her class, the principal told her, “Next time a fight happens, you should just let it happen. He needs to get his ass kicked. He needs an ass whipping.”
Superintendent Hunstad declined to let us speak to the principal for these stories.
This was yet another teacher who said she was never evaluated or observed the required three times a year.
She too resigned from her teaching job at DGF. She was so distraught, that she left two months before the school year was over.
“I didn’t want to work anymore in that hostile work environment,” the teacher told me. “I was unhappy. There was a lack of support. I didn’t belong there.”
When asked if he was concerned about the number of teachers who have left DGF because they’re unhappy there, Hunstad said, “I don’t like when anyone leaves. I wish they would talk to me. I wish they would have stayed. I wish we were more supportive.”
Jodeen Roberts taught German and Spanish at DGF High School for six years. She was put on an unrequested leave of absence at the end of the past school year because the school district dropped its foreign language program.
Hunstad said eliminating foreign language courses was necessary because they needed to make about $1 million in budget cuts.
Former DGF teacher Jodeen Roberts
Roberts had several students who regularly misbehaved in a career seminar class. She said every day while she was trying to teach, the students would interrupt her, make jokes, and even belch.
Roberts told the students that their behavior was disruptive and cannot continue, but it did.
Roberts said she sent about five disciplinary reports to the school office about these students.
“I did not hear back from the principal. He should have responded,” Roberts told me. “In this school, it’s every teacher for themselves. You don’t get support.”
When asked about teachers not hearing back after sending in disciplinary reports, Hunstad said, “100% they should be hearing back. I would hope there would be correspondence.”
Later in the school year, about five or six boys gave a Nazi salute during class.
“I told the principal I was very upset by this and wanted him to look into it,” Roberts said.
The principal talked to the students, but Roberts said there was no discipline.
“The students should have been suspended. They should have watched a video about the Holocaust,” Roberts said. “This was hate speech. I am livid that there was no discipline.”
Hunstad said he’s unaware of the Nazi salute.
Roberts said it’s all indicative of a bigger problem.
“The administration is unresponsive to teacher needs,” she said. “Female teachers are dismissed.”
“I care about kids first and the staff in front of them,” Hunstad said. “I want to be the best for every family. I’m not perfect…I love kids.”
Hunstad also has strong thoughts concerning these KFGO articles about DGF.
“I don’t like that people got hurt,” he said. “This story is not a full representation of the DGF School District. We’re better than what this article says we are.”
Still, the teachers say it’s imperative that major changes take place in the district.
“Nothing will change if the superintendent and high school principal keep their current positions,” Roberts said.
“It would be great to get a fresh face in the superintendent’s position,” Bruce said. “There’s a mentality there that things are good. Things are not good.”
“I’m sorry they feel that way,” Hunstad told me.
Comments