STANDISH–More than 60 teachers packed the School Administrative District 6 school board meeting Monday night to show board members they stand behind their May 21 vote of no-confidence regarding Superintendent Suzanne Lukas.

However, the “show of solidarity,” as Sacopee Valley Teacher’s Association President Neal Flynn described it, has done little to prompt a response from the school board, which has yet to issue a statement or take action regarding the no-confidence vote made by the 340-member teachers’ union.

Flynn, an English teacher at Bonny Eagle High School who spoke to the Lakes Region Weekly this week on behalf of the teachers, said 70 percent of union members signed a letter expressing their lack of confidence in Lukas on May 21. Included in the letter was a list of 25 complaints, with the teachers leveling serious charges against the superintendent.

While many of the charges can’t be made public due to personnel issues, Flynn said Lukas should be replaced immediately for creating a climate of “fear and intimidation which breeds an unsupported and unappreciated environment of distrust and anxiety.” The teachers union also said that Lukas “is insensitive to community concerns, … has created a fragmented and constantly changing K-12 curriculum … (and) remains impersonal and inaccessible to staff and students fostering a negative morale throughout the district.”

Despite the allegations, the school board has not discussed the list of 25 concerns or the vote with either the press or the teachers union.

According to Flynn, SAD 6 school board Chairman Joseph Hogan – a Standish representative whose term ended Tuesday – responded June 2 to the union’s request of an audience with the school board by writing: “The Board does not terminate employees – whether they are teachers, administrators, or the superintendent – on the basis of letters from any group. As a result, I do not intend to schedule any Board discussion or action on this matter.”

Teachers and the SAD 6 school board are currently mired in stalled contract negotiations, which could factor into why the school board is not willing to discuss the union’s vote. And according to longtime School Board member Bruce Avery of Standish, the board is in an “untenable situation” because it wouldn’t be able to discuss personnel issues with members of the teachers union regarding Lukas.

But, despite reasons given by board members, the board’s unwillingness to hear the union’s complaints prompted Flynn to make the no-confidence vote public last week. By doing so, Flynn is hoping residents can put pressure on their board members.

“The SVTA is now requesting the assistance of the residents of Buxton, Hollis, Limington, Standish and Frye Island and is urging them to contact their local school board representative to expedite this process,” Flynn said.

Avery, however, is disappointed with the timing of the union’s decision, occurring just before graduation. He said “another class’s graduation has been ruined” and that “at the end of the day, the kids are taking the brunt of this. And it’s not that the board doesn’t care, the board cares deeply, but it should be about the kids, and we shouldn’t be turning this into some kind of circus or spectacle.”

While not unheard of, the teachers’ vote of no confidence in their superintendent is a rarity in Maine, Flynn said, and is causing concern for retribution.

“We didn’t ask the new teachers to sign, for obvious reasons. This just shows how frustrated the teachers are, that they’d go to these lengths,” Flynn said.

Lukas issued a statement indicating she was confused as to why the teachers’ union would “circumvent its own process for communication and sen(d) a letter to the Board of Education when they have not discussed concerns with me or my administration.”

She went on to say, “In our district we have a process for communication between the union and administration. A committee, called the Joint Advisory Committee, is scheduled to meet four times annually to discuss any emerging concerns the union may have. And conversely, any concerns management may see on the horizon. The committee includes teachers, the superintendent, a principal and a school board member. Last week a meeting was scheduled and the union president cancelled the meeting saying there were no items for the agenda.”

Writer Heidi MacVane contributed to this report.