Some Fayette alternative school teachers are upset with working conditions

On a survey offered to teachers and staff throughout Kentucky every two years, Martin Luther King Jr. Academy for Excellence employees ranked their working conditions 18 to 45 points lower than at other schools in Fayette County. The results were similar when compared with the state.

Teachers at the Fayette County alternative school where many students with disciplinary problems are sent ranked school climate 45 points lower than teachers at other Fayette schools and staff-leadership relationships at 28 points lower.

The results of the last Impact Kentucky Working Conditions Survey at MLK Academy conducted in 2024 was mentioned by school board member Monica Mundy at an April board meeting after MLK Jr. Academy administrators made a presentation about the school.

“You have to have a strong workforce and a strong team to implement a lot of what your implementing for our students,” Mundy told administrators. “What’s happening at the school to foster that strong culture and climate?”

Mundy asked if there was anything in the upcoming budget that school board members could do to help.

Administrators told the school board they had also asked for a district review from district Human Resources about the school culture. District human resource staffers have in December through February met with every employee at MLK Jr. Academy and collected data on what staff said was going on at the school.

They said the district HR team had made some improvements that the staff had asked for.

Administrators said they expect the survey results to improve rapidly when it was given again in the fall.They said there was more work to be done for staff, but they were headed in the right direction. The staff has asked for more meetings with district human resource staff.

Fayette Superintendent Demetrus Liggins said at the school board meeting it takes awhile to change a culture at a school. Liggins said most of the students are not there by choice and some have behavior issues that have escalated over time.

Its challenging to work on the campus, he said. Liggins said survey results that were lower than with the staffs at other schools is not surprising.

Liggins said he was at the school before spring break and had several conversations with staff members and they did not share specific problems with him.

Board member Amy Green said she had been to MLK on visits and the level of care for students by staff was high.

The Herald-Leader received two letters simply signed Martin Luther King Jr. Academy “staff” citing problems that teachers and staff said they were having, but no one was willing to make on the record comments.

Chris Salyers, the district’s director of Alternative Support Programs, Principal David Moore, and Assistant Principal Ashley Thomas talked about the MLK day program, night school, and e-school, different paths to enrollment, and services for students.

Students who don’t even attend MLK can attend e-school, an online offering to get ahead in their credits for graduation.

“MLK is a pretty special place that enables us to make good on the mission of the district,” Salyers said.

Moore told school board members about students who had previously struggled being able to graduate because of services at MLK.

But he acknowledged, “We do run into problems that most schools don’t face.”

MLK, with 466 students, has a day program that is in person and online, a night school, and an e-school that any student can attend, the administrators said.

Kids from middle and high schools all over Lexington come to MLK. The goal is to get them back to their regular assigned school.

Of the 259 students in the day program, 37.7 percent are Black, 28.6 percent are white and 22.8 percent are Hispanic.

The majority qualify for free and reduced priced meals and many qualify for special services, such as special education or learning plans or are English language learners. Only 7.7 percent are classified as gifted and talented.

The students get incentives for good behavior and are helped by psychologists, social workers, and community partners that provide mental health and other services.

Administrators say they want to align their core values with those with the late Martin Luther King Jr. They told school board member Penny Christian, in answer to her question about family engagement, that they are working on engaging more with families.