Becky Miller; Haley Curfman resign at tense Board of Education meeting

The Blackwell Board of Education held a regular meeting Monday night where the currently viral topic of teacher Haley Curfman’s resignation was eclipsed by another bombshell resignation from Blackwell Middle School Principal Becky Miller amid her seemingly routine principal report.

The meeting began at 6 p.m. with the board approving the consent agenda before moving onto board action.

The Board of Education accepted the resignations of BMS Special Education Para and Basketball Coach Roy Childs and Blackwell Elementary School 2nd Grade Teacher Haley Curfman.

The Board then moved to hire Timothy Bradfield as a BES Custodian and Bus Driver, Osmara Tabor as a BPS Health Para, Alyssa Cravens as the BES Grade 4 Math Teacher, Melody Sullivan as a BES Special Education Para, Lorena Brand as the BMS Special Ed Teacher, Cindi Colvin as the BMS Special Education Para, and Marcus Long as a BHS Special Ed and Coach.

Moving onto the reports, Becky Miller, BMS Principal, gave a quick update before noting that what she was about to say wasn’t something she was happy about.

Miller stated that with the Board of Education making no meaningful progress regarding her husband, Bobby Miller, that she and her family were done waiting around and that she would be seeking employment elsewhere.

In March, a hearing was set for April regarding the employment of BHS Teacher and Wrestling Coach Bobby Miller who, weeks prior to the meeting, took Blackwell Wrestling to win a State Championship with coach Connor Cline.

The stunned Board took Miller’s resignation letter.

Breaking the tension, BHS Principal Gerry Magin approached the Board for his report where he proudly showed off a tattoo on his calf of the Blackwell Maroon Spirit logo.

BPS Superintendant Shawn Haskins then addressed the board regarding the district’s FMLA and Sick Leave policies.

While legally Haskins could not mention resigned teacher Curfman, the implication was clear.

The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Haskins described noted that “no if, ands, or buts” the school had to allow an employee up to 12 weeks for medical matters.

“I want you to know that Blackwell Public Schools, we love our employees. We will work with them,” said Haskins, “we love our moms and dads- new and old.”

In the school’s FMLA policy, the employee in question may be reassigned a position in a lateral sense or “like-position”.

“If I have someone that leaves for weeks, I cannot fire or demote them but I have to give them a position similar to what they had. I can’t take a fifth-grade teacher who takes FMLA and make them work in the cafeteria or drive a bus,” said Haskins.

He continued:

“When we, the district, look at FMLA cases we see how long the leave is going to be and we have to make a decision based on what is best for the kids in Blackwell Public Schools. We look at the length of the FMLA and have to make a decision based around that. If someone is gone a week, well, we can hire a regular sub for that. The longer that goes on, we have to see what’s best for our kids. Our goal is to get the best person in front of those kids.”

“It’s perfectly legal for us to move these people around,” he restated. “We want to work with our staff, but at the end of the day it is about the kids.”

In regard to pregnancy based FMLA leave, the FMLA leave may be taken within 12 months or a year of the baby being born.

“If you have a baby September 1 and come back November 1…let’s say you work through February, you can go ‘I want to take my FMLA now’.”

Next, Haskins addressed sick leave.

“Our teachers get 10 days of sick leave per year, and those carry over. In the case of pregnancy, relating to pregnancy, the teacher can use sick days for that. When you are released by a doctor to go back to work, you cannot use those sick days. However, if your child is sick, you can use those days. But when you are released by a doctor to go back to work, you cannot use those sick days unless you or the child are sick.”

“If you have your baby June 1, 6-8 weeks of recovery, August you’re released to go back to work you cannot use your sick leave for that because you’ve been medically released. But you can use your FMLA, say, starting in October.”

Haskins stated:

“We’re not going to discriminate. I have to make sure the policies are followed- sometimes I have to be the bad guy. I don’t like it, but I have to do my job.”

Under new business, the Board of Education accepted Miller’s resignation. The meeting was adjourned just before 8 p.m.