OAKLAND — Complaints of a hostile workplace at the Oakland-area school district and concerns about district leadership have been raised by more than 40 current or former employees who described their work experiences in an anonymous survey in January.

Participants used words or phrases including “low morale,” “fear,” “humiliation” and “toxic work environment” to characterize the district.

The Regional School Unit 18 board of directors declined to accept the responses to the anonymous survey, casting aside an opportunity to hear staff members’ feelings, concerns and alleged misfortunes.

Ninette Fenlason, a Messalonskee High School art teacher and president of the union in RSU 18, created the survey after Superintendent Carl Gartley, who announced in January he would retire at the end of the school year, was hired for $75,000 as the district’s interim assistant superintendent, a newly created role.

RSU 18 employs about 700 staff members, Gartley said.

Fenlason said she wanted to give people a chance to weigh in on changes in the district. Her survey sought comments and concerns about staff members’ work environments, the creation of the interim assistant superintendent position and the hiring of the next superintendent.

Fenlason emailed the survey to a personal email list of current or former employees, and received 50 responses — about 7% of the district’s workforce. The survey was open for five days, closing Jan. 19.

Of the 50 anonymous participants, 42 reportedly expressed concerns with the new interim assistant superintendent position, while 23 reportedly cited workplace hostility, low morale or complaints about Gartley or Assistant Superintendent Keith Morin.

Laura Tracy, the chair of the Regional School Unit 18 board of directors. Morning Sentinel file

Laura Tracy, the chair of the RSU 18 board of directors, said the anonymous survey was not verified factually and did not play into the board’s formal process while searching for the next superintendent.

“There has been a small group of people who have been openly soliciting negative feedback throughout our search process,” Tracy wrote in an email. “This was not a time to gather negative feedback or to target any specific individuals, and doing so did not align with the board’s efforts to conduct a fair search.”

About five participants described how they or colleagues had been yelled at, intimidated or humiliated by members of the administration.

The anonymous responses included:

• “I have experienced being shouted down by the superintendent during a disagreement.”

• “School admin can be very brash.”

• “Most conversations feel like hostile interrogations.”

Gartley said he is not aware of any intimidation in the district.

Superintendent Carl Gartley of Regional School Unit 18. Morning Sentinel file

“I don’t know why someone would make that statement, to be honest with you,” Gartley said. “I don’t know why. I’ve never seen any intimidation. Now, I don’t sit in on every meeting between building administration and staff, but … this has come up recently.”

After the RSU 18 board of directors declined to accept the survey responses, Fenlason and other union representatives collected 96 signatures from staff members. Fenlason said many other employees, fearing retaliation, were afraid to sign.

Fenlason presented the signatures and an endorsing cover letter to the board Feb. 5.

“We are here to back our statements and those of our coworkers,” Fenlason wrote in the letter. “Whether or not we wrote the statements, we believe in them, see ourselves in them, and ask that you consider each concern with an open mind.”

Fenlason said the board did not respond to the request.

Little communication between staff members and the board happens directly. Union representatives can communicate with the board, but district policy requires other staff members pass all communication through the superintendent.

Mike Lewis, a custodian at James H. Bean School in Sidney and the vice president of the RSU 18 Education Association, said it makes it hard for the RSU 18 board of directors to know what is going on at his school.

“We’re not allowed to talk to the board. The board isn’t allowed to come in here,” Lewis said. “But I can tell you, when I first started here, years ago, we used to see board members in here, and they would come through and see what’s going on, and I haven’t seen them in years.”

The anonymous survey was an opportunity for board members to bridge that gap, Lewis said.

In June 2021, a new Maine law required regular communication between a school board and school employees. In November of the same year, RSU 18 updated its board and staff communication policy, barring board and school employees from communicating directly, and angering some staff members.

Gartley said this policy has existed in the district since 1976. The 2021 update clarified what counts as communication and listed examples, such as periodic newsletters, website postings and meeting minutes.

“It was a very, very minor change,” Gartley said, “and the goal of the change was to not change the policy, just to do some clarification.”

About 13 of the anonymous survey responses bemoaned the board’s distance from employees, and described a lack of transparency around hiring decisions, including Gartley’s contract.

In his yearlong interim position, which is set to begin July 1, Gartley is to support and advise the incoming superintendent, work 20 hours a week and attend two weekly meetings, according to his contract.

He is to receive full family health insurance coverage and more than $30,000 in retirement benefits.

Gartley said his role will be shaped by the needs of the incoming superintendent. Until that person is hired, Gartley said it is hard to know exactly what he will be doing as the interim assistant superintendent.

“When I started as the new superintendent, I know what I wanted for support,” Gartley said, “but that would be completely different than what the new person wants for support.”

Fenlason said some staff members were upset to learn of Gartley’s new position, especially without knowing if the incoming superintendent would need advising.

“There’s no really clear explanation for why the current superintendent has to advise the incoming superintendent for a $75,000 salary, including full health insurance,” Fenlason said. “So there’s a lot of things that are not sitting right with people still about that created position.”

The search for a new superintendent is ongoing. The next RSU 18 board of directors meeting, which is to include an executive session to discuss employment matters, is set for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The board distributed its own survey in November, asking students, staff members, parents, community members and others to provide input on what qualities they would like to see in the next superintendent, Tracy wrote in an email.

“We had a strong response to this survey, with excellent feedback,” Tracy said.

Community feedback was not solicited regarding the creation of the interim assistant superintendent role.

Kelly Roderick, an Oakland resident and member of the Town Council, said residents are unhappy with Gartley’s new contract.

“What I’m gathering from people’s conversations, comments, their vocalization at meetings is they feel betrayed,” Roderick said. “They feel it’s sneaky and they feel it’s a heavy hand on the administrative side, and that our school board, which represents all of our communities, does not represent our communities. They represent the administration.”

Fenlason said she hopes Gartley’s contract can be walked back. If not, she wants a new face in charge.

“The other thing that I’d like to see come out of this is that we get a new superintendent that is fresh — not from the district at all,” Fenlason said. “So we’re hoping there’s a strong candidate that they can hire that way.”