Whitefish teachers have a new three-year contract, but that doesn’t mean they’re all satisfied with the way schools are operating.

The teachers and the school district recently settled on a new contract after more than a year of negotiating.

The contract was approved March 28 by the Whitefish School Board. Two-thirds of Whitefish Education Association members voted to ratify the contract.

Friction between some teachers and the district can be gauged by results from a February survey of teachers taken by the Whitefish Education Association during negotiations.

Nearly a third of teachers at the high school and middle school who responded said they’re totally unsatisfied with the atmosphere in their buildings.

“The climate sucks,” one teacher commented. “I have never seen morale as low as this. Teachers cowering in their classrooms, afraid to speak up, teachers in tears, just going through the motions like a bunch of automatons and putting on a happy face for our students.”

The union surveyed its members throughout the negotiation process, which helped guide contract talks, union president Gayle Graf said.

About 73 percent of association members responded to the survey. Teachers were not required to answer any of the survey questions, but some took the opportunity to vent their frustrations with the district.

School board chairwoman Pat Jarvi pointed out the long negotiating process may have produced frustration that was voiced in the survey.

“You’ve got to understand when contract negotiations drag out as long as this one has, there’s unhappiness in general on both sides,” Jarvi said.

“We’re interested in their replies on the survey, but it’s certainly not a scientific survey that we base every decision we make on,” she said. She wondered if comments would be the same if the survey was taken a few weeks after negotiations had been completed.

 Despite some of the adverse comments, Jarvi said the school board is confident in the capabilities of current school administrators.

According to the survey, Muldown Elementary rated the highest in morale, with an average score of 5.2 on a scale of one to nine, with nine meaning “completely satisfied.” The middle school scored a 3.75, and the high school a 3.08.

A number of teachers said veteran educators are no longer valued.

“There is a growing chasm between the old and new,” one teacher said. “I am also very concerned that there is no consistency in the delivery of our programs between classes and across grade levels. We have thrown out work that took years to build up.”

As another teacher put it: “I think it’s obvious... that teachers are not valued here as we once were. Staff input is not valued as it once was. Instead, decisions are made from ‘on high’ and then handed down as ultimatums.”

The proposed shift to a block schedule with extended learning times was noted multiple times in the survey.

“There is pressure to support the block schedule proposal, even though it may not be the best for the students,” one teacher commented.

“A calculated effort has been made to divide the staff on the issue of block scheduling,” another teacher commented.

Not all survey responses were negative toward extended learning times. One teacher commented, “I am very excited about the addition of collaboration / prep time that is being discussed in the extended time model at the high school.”

When asked if they were satisfied with the effectiveness of the administrators in the district, more than 20 percent of teachers at the middle school and 16 percent at the high school scored their survey with a zero, meaning “not effective.”

“It’s a sinking ship in several areas — discipline, dress code, efficiency, decision making, etc. — and we’re going down,” a teacher commented.

“Administrators are refusing to listen to their own staff members if they are not lock step with the current administrative thought process,” another teacher commented.

Others were more supportive.

“I appreciate their hard work, their humanness and their commitment to our school system,” one teacher commented.

Muldown teachers rated the effectiveness of administrators with an average score of 5.39 on a scale of zero to nine, with nine meaning “completely effective.” Middle school teachers gave administrators an average rating a 4.21, and high school teachers gave an average score of a 3.96.

Professional development was another area in the survey that drew criticism, mostly for its cost and the amount of time it pulls teachers away from the classroom.

“Yes, there are some good ideas, but we’ve seen this all before over the years,” one teacher commented. “We have sacrificed all other good professional development for this, and spending an embarrassing amount to do it.”

However, another teacher commented that professional development is “very beneficial” in helping teachers prepare for Common Core standards.

When asked about the survey results, school board trustee Dave Fern said there are mechanisms in place within the district where teachers’ concerns can be voiced and addressed.

Trustee Shawn Tucker, who served on the district’s negotiating committee, said he felt a division between all parties.

“It’s troubling that it seems that there’s a difference between teachers, administrators, school board trustees and the superintendent — that they’re not all on one team,” Tucker said. “This whole negotiation process makes it feel like there is a division when there shouldn’t be — when there should be a group moving forward to educate the children of Whitefish.”

The survey was a byproduct of tense negotiations, according to Tucker. In a phone interview Friday, Tucker said the negotiation process needs to change.

Tucker said the survey didn’t fairly represent the general population of teachers, who are more accurately portrayed by the great things they are doing in the classroom and the district’s 90.7 percent graduation rate. He said there needs to be more unification between both negotiating parties.

“I think the climate in the school was dictated by negotiations, which I thought was unfortunate, which is why I would love to see change,” Tucker said. “I don’t know how that can be done, but I know other districts have taken different steps.”

In the future, Tucker said, he hoped staffers would feel comfortable discussing issues directly rather than in an anonymous survey that wasn’t taken by all teachers.

“That’s what I’m here for. I’m a community member voted onto the school board. I’m here to help. I gain nothing by this financially, nor do I gain anything politically,” Tucker said.

Superintendent Kate Orozco declined to comment on the teacher survey.

Matt Baldwin is editor of the Whitefish Pilot. Reporter Hilary Matheson covers education for the Inter Lake and may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.