JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Former YMCA Tiger Academy teachers said they were blindsided by mass staffing changes announced on the last day of school.
Several educators told News4JAX they first received an email from the school’s board saying three administrators would not be returning next year.
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About 30 minutes later, teachers said, they were pulled into meetings and told the school would be restructured and that many staff members’ positions were ending.
“We got another email saying we have a new principal and then, you know, 30 minutes later we were pulled into a meeting,” an anonymous ELA teacher said. “They said we’re going to be restructuring the school and then we’re going to tell you about your future at Tiger Academy, and one by one they pulled in teachers.”
After those meetings, the teachers said, they learned about 90 percent of the school’s staff would not be returning.
“It was very cold,” Naomi Grant, a teacher at the school, said. “We carried and uplifted that school this year, only to be tossed to the side because of previous years’ mistakes.”
Teachers said the timing left them scrambling to find new jobs on the last day of school and worried about how the changes will affect students.
“The kids are clueless,” Grant said. “They do not know that we will not be returning — not by choice.”
In a statement sent to News4JAX, YMCA Tiger Academy said it looked at how the school is running and decided it needed to restructure to serve students better. The school said that led to 20 positions being impacted, including 10 teaching contracts not renewed and 10 staff jobs cut.
The school said affected teachers can reapply for positions and that support is being offered to many employees impacted by the restructuring.