Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to reflect scheduling changes surrounding the April 22 board meeting.
Dozens of Whitefish High School students, staff and parents packed a standing-room only district board meeting this week and offered emotional testimony in support of renewing librarian Chani Craig’s contract after administrators opted to terminate it without cause.
Whitefish High School Principal Kerry Drown told members of the Whitefish School Board of Trustees — which must either approve or override the administrative recommendation — that his reason for not renewing Craig’s contract included her failure to align with the school district’s “core values of excellence,” even as students, parents and fellow teachers described Craig as an exemplary employee whose skills transcend the traditional role of librarian.
Under state law, the probationary period for a non-tenured employee is three years. During that time, the employee’s contract can be terminated with or without cause. Craig has been a staff member for two years. A teacher employed in Montana receives tenure after accepting a contract for the fourth consecutive year at a district.
Craig acknowledged she was late to open the library on three occasions since her last evaluation in January, but never by more than three minutes. She also disputed Drown’s assertion that she instructed the night custodian to leave the library unlocked at night.
Following an hour-long public comment period during which numerous students, parents and staff spoke in favor of renewing Craig’s contract for a third year, the board voted 5-1 to table the action item, with one trustee abstaining and another, Anna Deese, voting in opposition. Board members missed a procedural opportunity to directly question both Craig and Drown, and with pressing questions they opted to delay a vote in order to revisit the opportunity next month.
However, on April 12, Superintendent Davis Schmidt announced a special board meeting would be held April 15 to once again take up the item. According to the Whitefish School District website, the meeting has again been changed to April 22.
Throughout the lengthy public comment period, 25 attendees described Craig as serving an integral role in the academic community and beyond, including providing counsel to students at difficult times, offering yoga instruction to the football team and sharing valuable skills and insights with other staff members, all the while upholding her responsibilities as librarian.
Lindsay Jordan, who provides mental health and counseling services at Whitefish High School, said she met Craig at the beginning of the 2017-18 school year when they were both new to the district and shared nearby office quarters.
She continued: “On several occasions Mrs. Craig has referred students to counseling support who trusted her enough to disclose their personal struggles. These students were either self-harming or considering suicide when they reached out to Mrs. Craig. Without her support and dedication to their wellbeing these students would not have received the support they needed. I personally do not want to consider the alternative outcome had she not intervened on their behalf.
Sarah Scott’s role at Whitefish High School includes facilitating the district’s goal to become recognized as a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS), and she said Craig has been instrumental in helping meet those goals.
Whitefish Middle School Librarian Dana Carmichael said she’s collaborated with Craig on multiple occasions, and has learned valuable skills and applied the new criteria to her own library.
If Craig isn’t cut out for the job of high school librarian, Carmichael asked, who is?
A stream of students also spoke in support of Craig, often through tears.
Whitefish High School junior Walter Pearson said Craig’s support helped him navigate difficult times both in his personal and academic life.
Kyle Fedderly, an English teacher at Whitefish High School, characterized the district’s move to terminate Craig’s contract as an affront to its mission and vision.
School Board Trustee Shannon Hanson said overriding an executive decision not to renew an employee’s contract is a difficult one that the board takes seriously, but without answers to certain questions — including learning more about other instances in which trustees overturned an administrative recommendation, and what steps Craig will take to correct shortcomings identified by her supervisors — he was reluctant to move forward with a vote.
Prior to voting on Monday, trustees will have another opportunity to ask those questions and others, such as if the district will hire a second librarian in the future as the 2019-20 budget allocates.
The Board of Trustees will reconvene April 22 at the District Board Room at 600 E. 2nd Street at 5:30 p.m.
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