Outflow of Parker Faculty and Staff Raises Concerns

It is not remarkable for the Parker community to receive emails from Principal Dan Frank throughout the school year announcing planned faculty and staff departures from Parker. During the 2020-21 school year there were more emails announcing faculty and staff departures, including departures of a number of important members of the administrative team and members of Parker’s BIPOC community. 

The departures included the Head of the Upper School, Justin Brandon; the Head of the Intermediate and Middle Schools, John Novick; the Middle School Dean of Students, Tray White; co-chair of the Science Department; Angela Miklavic Brandon; English department teacher, Theresa Collins; Parker’s first athletic director and former chair of the Physical Education department, Pat Pagnucco; and Parker’s longtime head of college counseling Susan Weingartner.

Although Pagnucco and Weingartner retired, the other departing faculty accepted higher positions at other schools. 

The December 15, 2020 announcement that both Justin Brandon and Angela Miklavic-Brandon had accepted positions at The Ravenscroft School, a pre-K through 12th grade independent day school in North Carolina, surprised many in the Parker community. “Coming back to Parker for my junior year, at first I thought people were joking that Mr. Brandon was leaving. I was shocked,” returning junior Jack Hughes said. Brandon and Miklavic-Brandon arrived at Parker four years ago, in 2017.  

In a previous interview with “The Weekly,” Brandon shared that he was not actively seeking to leave Parker, but was instead approached by Ravenscroft. “It was nice to be noticed for the work I’ve done in my career and have someone reach out to me,” Brandon said. 

The Middle School was also impacted by departures at the conclusion of the 2020-21 school year. Head of Intermediate and Middle School, John Novick, as well as Middle School Dean of Student Life, Travares White, also left Parker at the conclusion of the school year. Like Brandon and Miklavic-Brandon, both Novick and White left Parker for promotions. 

Novick will assume leadership as Head of School at North Park Elementary School in the Lincoln Square neighborhood. During his eight year tenure at Parker, Novick focused on how issues of diversity, equity and inclusion were addressed in the curriculum and to meet the social-emotional needs of the students in his division.

“Mr. Novick’s DEI initiatives have helped me grow in the sense of listening to and being more supportive of others’ opinions and ideas … and learning to find out the whole story before jumping to a conclusion that only benefits certain peoples perspectives,” seventh grader Miriam Johnson said. 

White, the Middle School Dean of Student Life, a position created by Novick, was a member of the Parker community for only three years. During his time at Parker, White expanded the Intermediate and Middle School club options and, even during the pandemic school year, worked to engage more students in the extracurricular offerings. Like Novick, Brandon, and Miklavic-Brandon, White left Parker for a promotion, having accepted a position as Middle School Assistant Principal and Academic Dean at Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C.

The final departure that leaves students wondering what the 2021-22 school year will bring is English teacher Theresa Collins. After nearly 15 years at Parker, Collins is relocating to St. Paul, Minnesota to serve as the Upper School Principal of the St. Paul Academy and Summit School. 

Other faculty departures occurred throughout Parker during the 2020-21 school year. These departures include the mid-year departure of Upper School chemistry teacher JP Iaconianni and sixth grade history teacher Keedra Gibba, as well as end of year departures of third grade teacher Nadia Pardesi, Lower School Spanish teacher Daniel Baltierra, and Junior Kindergarten teacher Lisa Nielsen. 

As news of these faculty and staff departures spread throughout the Parker community, parents expressed concern that the departures would impact Parker’s operations. The topic was raised at the March 9, 2021 Parents’ Association meeting, and Frank responded that “this is the work of the school … it’s not the first time we’ve done it. We’ll do it again with confidence and optimism.”

While Parker is not immune to teacher turnover, there was an increase in faculty and staff who identified as a Person of Color leaving Parker during or at the conclusion of the 2020-21 school year. According to Laureen Sweers, Director of Human Resources, 70% (11 of 16) employees who left Parker during the 2020-2021 academic year self-identified as faculty/staff of color (“FSOC”). 

Sweers provided historical data, demonstrating that the attrition of FSOC during the 2020-21 academic year was significantly higher than previous years. During the 2019-2020 academic year, 50% (4 of 8) departing employees self-identified as FSOC. During the 2018-2019 academic year, 22% (2 of 9) departing employees self-identified as FSOC.

When asked if diversity was taken into consideration during the hiring process, Sweers said, “We are proud of the great diversity we have in our employee population as we are all diverse, and in many ways. It is always our hope and goal to continue to add faculty and staff of color whenever we have an opportunity to do so.”

Parker hired seven new faculty members and five new staff members who self-identify as BIPOC for the 2021-22 academic year. Sweers also indicated that one staff position remains unfilled.  

Parker was not the only school to experience significant faculty and staff attrition following the 2020-21 school year. As reported in “The Forum,” The Latin School of Chicago student newspaper, eleven members of the Upper School faculty and staff departed Latin at the conclusion of the 2020-21 school year. The reasons provided to “The Forum” included changes in life priorities following the year of learning during COVID-19 and the pending unionization of the Latin faculty.

The reasons for attrition among Parker’s faculty and staff were, according to Sweers, consistent with the trend seen across human resources departments known as “The Great Resignation of 2021.” Sweers stated that “employees are leaving their jobs in the new “post COVID-19” world [due to] health concerns of self/family, career changes, etc.” 

During exit interviews, Parker’s 16 departing faculty and staff cited four categories as the reason for leaving Parker. Five employees departed for retirement, six employees accepted new job opportunities, including out of state, one employee relocated out of Illinois, and four employees cited personal/family/medical reasons.

 While Parker and Latin both experienced a higher than typical number of faculty and staff departures, the majority of these departures were to accept higher level positions at other institutions or to enjoy retirement.