At the Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton School District, several teachers say they have operated in an atmosphere of fear, with little support or communication from district administrators. Meantime, teachers and parents say students face little to no consequences for bad behavior.
One current DGF employee told me, “The kids rule the school. They know there are no consequences for their behavior.”
DGF Superintendent Shannon Hunstad disagrees.
“We handle each situation on its own merit,” Hunstad told me. “We handle each situation appropriately. We have a handbook that needs to be followed.”
Hunstad is now commenting about his school district, after declining to comment for last week’s story.
“I did not understand the context of the story,” Hunstad said. “My statement at that time was we may have to visit in the future when I find out what the story is about, because right now we have back to school and an operating referendum to work on now, so it’s poor timing.”
I will be guest hosting “News and Views” on KFGO Radio on Thursday September 10. Hunstad will join me at that time for a live interview.
One of the stickers “Nancy” displayed in her classroom
“Nancy” (Not her real name. She asked us not to identify her) has taught for eight years, including the last three at Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton High School. In her classroom, she put up two small stickers that promoted welcoming and diversity. Nancy said it was her right to do so.
One sticker said, “Every One is Welcome Here.” Nancy said that meant everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, etc.
The other sticker stated, “You Matter,” with hands of different colors.
“These are inclusivity stickers, NOT political stickers. Meaning they are sending a message that ALL are welcome,” Nancy told me. “I wanted to let students know that my classroom is a safe place with simple, small stickers posted by my classroom door. Because, unfortunately, in today’s world, not all students know that they are welcome and safe.”
During the last school year, the stickers became controversial. Some students and a parent complained about them, and the issue escalated.
A petition was circulated stating that Nancy’s “gay flag” should be taken down. Parents made posts on Facebook, claiming that the stickers are what their school money is paying for. A poster was put on Nancy’s classroom door with an image of Jesus, quotes from Bible verses, and a call for Nancy to repent.
Nancy said the current high school principal asked her to take the stickers down, but she declined.
“I was subjected to prolonged antagonization with little to no support from the administration,” Nancy said. “This went on for months, and there were many days I didn’t want to go to school for fear of what emotional harassment I or my students would face next…I felt targeted. I didn’t know who I could talk to.”
Nancy’s contract was not renewed at the end of the school year, even though, she said, she did not receive the three required observations of her teaching. Nancy said in previous years, she received outstanding evaluations.
“I believe I was let go due to my support of diversity and LGBTQ+ students having a safe space in the classroom,” Nancy said.
“’Nancy’ is an excellent teacher and she has such a great great heart,” fellow former DGF teacher Carrie Kinslow told me. “I can’t understand why they got rid of her. She was doing so much good work for the school.”
Shannon Hunstad, Superintendent of Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton Public Schools. Courtesy of dgf.k12.mn.us
Hunstad told me he hadn’t heard about the stickers, and would not comment on why Nancy’s contract was not renewed.
When I asked him if Nancy’s teaching had been properly observed before her contract was not renewed, Hunstad said, “We’re going to check on that. I will not get back to you on that. It is not your business. It’s ours.”
“The culture there was you put your head down and don’t say anything,” Nancy told me. “They never talked to me about any issues they had with my teaching. I felt unheard. I felt invisible. I felt that I didn’t matter.”
Lisa Prindle-Frank, who we profiled in last week’s column, was another teacher whose contract was not renewed, but not considered fired.
Two years ago, a sixth-grade student at DGF was transitioning from female to male. One of his teachers refused to interact with him. The teacher wouldn’t call on him in class, talk to him, answer questions, or help him.
The teacher told the student he was uncomfortable speaking to him.
The student’s mother said she called the superintendent’s office to complain.
“I was furious about it,” the mother told me. “That teacher had an obligation to educate my son. Instead, he was ignoring my son.”
It was all very painful for her son. He became very quiet, went into a shell, and his grades went down. Shortly after that, the family moved to another school district, where the son is now doing very well.
When I asked the superintendent if he considered DGF schools to be a safe and welcoming place for the LGBTQ community, he said, “We’re 100% a safe place. We support the kids, no matter their backgrounds. We support all the kids all the time.”
“They didn’t support my son,” the mother said. “Not everyone was as supportive as the superintendent wanted them to be or expected them to be.”
Three years ago, “Jerry” (Not his real name) played on the DGF freshman basketball team. He was in the locker room when one of his teammates grabbed him and held him down. Three other teammates took off their clothes and rubbed their butts on Jerry.
Other players watched and did nothing. Jerry asked his teammates to let him go, but they refused.
The four players directly involved were suspended from the team for just two weeks. Jerry’s parents are upset with the punishment.
“This was an assault,” Jerry’s mother told me. “Those four players should have been kicked off the team or expelled from school.”
“Hazing means the players should have been removed from the team,” Jerry’s father told me.
After the incident became known throughout the school, Jerry was shunned by his fellow students, constantly harassed, and told to kill himself. Jerry’s grades suffered and he became depressed.
“It was so hard for him,” Jerry’s mother said. “It tore our family apart.”
Jerry’s parents asked school officials to intervene on Jerry’s behalf.
“DGF school officials showed no empathy or remorse,” Jerry’s mother said. “They did nothing for him. They failed my son.”
Hunstad said the two-week suspension was in accordance with the code of conduct from the Minnesota High School League.
I asked him if DGF had failed their son.
“I disagree,” Hunstad said. “We care about kids. All of them. We’re not perfect.”
At the end of the school year, Jerry moved to Arizona, and he graduated from high school with honors.
“He needed a fresh start,” Jerry’s father said. “There was no way we would have sent him back to DGF.”
On the school bus on the first day of school last year, a seventh-grade DGF student sent a photo of another student’s penis to a seventh-grade girl.
“My daughter was crying hard about this. She was grossed out. She lost it,” the girl’s father told me.
The father called the school principal to report the incident and asked that the student be disciplined.
“He wasn’t given detention or removed from the bus or removed from the school. He should have been suspended,” the girl’s father said. “I felt defeated. This was a sex crime. It’s the school’s responsibility to keep kids safe. The district doesn’t care about us.”
After the incident, the girl said she wasn’t feeling well and wouldn’t go to school for three weeks. When she went back, her grades suffered. Before the school year was over, the father moved his daughter to another school district.
“I was concerned for her safety and mental health. The school district failed to accommodate her,” the father said.
“I’m not familiar with this case,” Hunstad said. “It’s an awful thing.”
I also asked Hunstad about items in last week’s column, such as former DGF High School teacher Lisa Prindle-Frank being told by a former principal to mind her own business when a transgender student cried about her harassment, and when a student was not disciplined for calling Prindle-Frank a f*****g c***.
The thermostat in Lisa Prindle-Frank’s classroom at Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton High School.
Hunstad said he was unaware of these incidents, but added, “I like Lisa. I’m sorry she went through things like that.”
As for the mice falling from the ceilings and walls in Prindle-Frank’s classroom, Hunstad said, “We were under construction…I asked the contractor right away what are we doing. It was addressed and handled in a timely fashion.”
When asked about the 90-degree temperatures in classrooms, Hunstad said, “We needed to stay in session. Fans were readily available. We had frustrations with the construction.”
When asked about administrators talking about boobs, bra sizes and butts in front of former elementary school principal Margaux Hylla, Hunstad said, “That did not happen. We never talked like that. I would never condone that behavior.”
Hylla strongly disputes Hunstad’s answer.
“I was present when the comments were made and I personally heard them on a very frequent basis,” Hylla told me today. “My report was based on my firsthand experience and was made in good faith. I stand by the accuracy of what I reported and believe it is important that the record accurately reflect what I personally heard and witnessed.”
Former Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton High School teacher Carrie Kinslow
When asked about a student pulling former DGF teacher Carrie Kinslow aside, showing her a photo of himself holding assault weapons, hinting he might use them in school or at the prom, and receiving no consequences for his actions, Hunstad said, “I didn’t know about that…I should have been made aware of it…I will find out what happened, but I will not share that with you.”
When I asked if there’s a toxic atmosphere at DGF, as some teachers and parents claim, Hunstad said, “I disagree. We’re welcoming, caring and supportive.”
The father of the seventh grader who received the photo of the penis has a different perspective.
“There are zero consequences there for kids who act like bullies,” he said. “The superintendent needs to go. The whole DGF culture is rotten. It’s toxic all the way around.”
Next week in our third and final report: A Nazi salute and the superintendent praises his school district.
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