‘You Don’t Respect Us’: Michigan Teacher Lambastes School Board

GROSSE POINTE, MI — A Grosse Pointe Public Schools teacher reached a breaking point Monday over the district's handling of reopening campuses and publicly resigned from his position with a three-minute speech at a school board meeting.

The speech came while the Grosse Pointe Public Schools Board of Education was discussing implementing new COVID-19 protocols for campuses, according to WDIV-TV.

The board voted 6-1 to approve changing the mandatory quarantine a student must undergo from 14 days to 10 days if he or she comes into contact with someone who has COVID-19. The board also changed the definition of a “close contact” from 6 feet to 3 feet, the station reported.

Prior to the approval, Sean McCarroll, who taught at Grosse Pointe North High School, said he was fed up with school board members disregarding the expertise of teachers on how to handle the reopening. Rather than listen to the people who are in classrooms every day, the school board relied on “fantasies” from outsiders who don’t know what happens at a school, he said

“You tell us, after your meetings, that you appreciate and respect us. Well, I cry bulls---,” McCarroll said. “You don’t respect us. If you respected us, you’d listen to us. You don’t appreciate us. If you did, you wouldn’t make our jobs literally impossible to do.”

The board ignored an email McCarroll sent regarding his concerns on the return of in-person teaching. The board’s continued indifference toward teachers has done nothing but made educators more angry, he said.

“We’re not angry about the situation. We can’t control COVID. We’re angry at you,” McCarroll said. “And angry is a nice way of putting it. You’ve done more damage to our students, our district and our profession in the last 12 months than we’ve seen in the last decade.”

McCarroll said he’ll be surprised if any of the district’s top teachers decide to stay, and added that he submitted his resignation last week.

“I’m looking forward to something that’s going to be valued and appreciated, not lied to and belittled,” he said. “How many teachers need to leave before you start to listen?”

Following McCarroll’s speech, a group of Grosse Pointe North High School teachers staged a protest Wednesday against the district’s new COVID-19 policies by calling in sick and not showing up for work.