A former Blue Valley kindergarten teacher is speaking out about her recent firing, as is the family of the student at the heart of the incident that led to the teacher’s termination.
At the same time, the district’s superintendent is defending the school board’s decision to terminate the teacher’s employment.
The Blue Valley Board of Education voted to terminate Barbara Hart last week from her position at Sunset Ridge Elementary School in Overland Park, after district officials determined she violated its Emergency Safety Intervention policy. The policy outlines when “seclusion or physical restraint” may be used on students.
The district has not outlined the details of the incident, however multiple Sunset Ridge parents have shared the same account. They say that on September 30, the special education teacher of one of Hart’s students asked her to step into the hallway to help with a kindergartner in distress. The 5-year-old was reportedly “stuck in a loop” and unable to calm down.
Hart then allegedly picked up the student and carried him to another location.
The parents of the student involved in the incident sent a letter to the school board in support of Hart. They asked to remain anonymous, sharing the letter with the Post through another parent.
Hi,
I am here to support Mrs. Hart.
This is my child’s first semester at Kindergarten, and we’re very grateful that we have Mrs. Hart. She is a very loving, caring, and passionate person to her students; we can tell that from the details in her feedback. 25 years of teaching experience have shaped her to be one of a kind. To be frank, 25 years, to any person, means more than a job; she has loyalty, and she must love it strongly.
I hope that Blue Valley School District takes it seriously to get Mrs. Hart back. It’s easy to terminate an employee, but we need to look at the full picture. Nobody is perfect and can please everyone, but she tries her best to make everything work. A replacement can be found, but a good teacher is hard to get.
Respectfully,
Parent of the Child involved
Hart said many teachers have reached out to her in support and to reassure her that it “could have been them.”
In a statement sent via text to the Post, Hart wrote:
I miss my students deeply and I truly appreciate each and every individual who has supported me and spoken on my behalf. This has sparked meaningful conversations that absolutely need to continue.
Hart had been a teacher at Blue Valley Schools since 1998, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Parents rally in support
Dozens of Blue Valley parents attended last week’s school board meeting wearing matching shirts printed with hearts and the initials “BH” and holding signs asking Hart not be terminated.
Several people addressed the board during public comment. Instead of speaking about Hart as a teacher, the parents argued that the policy at the heart of the matter is flawed and doesn’t consider an educator’s intent or the context of a given situation.
Kathy Wiley, a former Blue Valley teacher of 30 years, told the school board that educators deserve case-by-case review if they are found to have possibly violated the restraint policy.
“A policy that allows for one and only one outcome without taking into account the intent behind the policy really has no place in a district as esteemed as Blue Valley,” Wiley said.
Sarah Burkindine’s daughter, who is now in second grade, had Hart for kindergarten.
“I do understand that policies are put into action for a reason,” Burkindine told the Johnson County Post. “I think I have major issues with this particular policy and how it’s been interpreted and the fact that it is so black and white.”
The school board ultimately voted 6-1 to approve Hart’s termination.
Board member Jim McMullen cast the only dissenting vote on Hart’s termination. He told the Post in an interview this week that he doesn’t like “rigid, one-outcome policies.”
“I don’t see the need when someone has devoted 25 years to a job and has done so exceptionally,” McMullen said. “It just doesn’t warrant in my mind something that would be an automatic termination.”
McMullen also pointed out that the policy doesn’t dictate what the consequence of improper use of the restraint policy should be.
Tiffany McCalla has been spearheading the effort to reinstate Hart. She said Hart, who was her son’s kindergarten teacher, contacted her after being fired to tell her what happened.
“I literally went through all the contacts in my phone that had a tie to Sunset Ridge and I sent them a text asking for help,” McCalla said.
McCalla also created a GoFundMe for Hart and a petition to get Hart reinstated. At the time of publication, almost $25,000 have been raised and nearly 15,000 people have signed the petition.
McCalla announced on Facebook Wednesday that she is launching a last-minute bid for school board as a write-in candidate, challenging current board member Gina Knapp, who voted for Hart’s termination.
“My goal is to help create change on our board and ask questions to make sure we are doing what is right for our teachers who spend more time with our kiddos than we do and for our students,” her post read. “I want to bring ownership back to the district and lead that charge!”
Knapp was already facing a challenge from former Kansas State Board of Education member Steve Roberts. Both Knapp’s and Roberts’ names will appear on the ballot.
Hart’s actions “not comforting, nurturing or permitted,” district says
On Wednesday night, Blue Valley Superintendent Gillian Chapman released an updated statement about Hart’s termination. Chapman said the district can’t legally or ethically specify details but “one-sided and incomplete information has been shared regarding this situation.”
While Hart’s supporters said she was acting with compassion, Chapman disagreed.
“In this scenario, the use of restraint did not meet the standard, was more than an insignificant technical violation, and was not comforting, nurturing or permitted,” she said.
District policy allows restraint only “when a student’s behavior presents an immediate danger to self or others.”
Chapman added that “length of service” is not a factor when a staff member does not follow policy.
According to the statement, when district policies are broken, staff are given the opportunity to explain the situation and “learn, reflect and improve their practice,” which is what happened with Hart.
“However, when an action violates the safety or rights of a student, particularly when that action is egregious or intentional, the district has a legal and moral obligation to act,” Chapman wrote.
What does state law say?
The district’s restraint policy mirrors the requirements of a 2021 Kansas statute laying out standards for emergency safety interventions, or ESI, in schools.
Until recently, the Kansas State Department of Education required districts to report uses of ESI every year. For the 2021-2022 school year, over 13,000 incidents of ESI were reported statewide — about 40% of which were listed as physical restraint, with the other 60% listed as seclusion
KDSE does not collect data on the number of ESI incidents that led to a teacher’s termination.
In 2017, the Topeka Public School Board fired a paraprofessional, Johnny King, saying that his use of ESI violated district policy.
According to court documents, another para asked a disruptive student to discuss his behavior in a timeout room. The para waited for the student outside the room and as the student approached her, he punched her.
King tried to get the student into the room, but the student resisted. King pulled on the student’s shirt and foot to keep him from leaving, and the student ended up on his back. Court documents later stated it was unclear whether King caused the fall or if the student stumbled.
The board upheld King’s termination, which he unsuccessfully appealed before suing for wrongful termination.
In 2022, a judge sided with the district. The Kansas Court of Appeals also ruled in the district’s favor, saying state law does not include a public-policy exception protecting educators who use ESI.
What’s next
Hart has not filed a suit against the district, but the GoFundMe states that part of the money raised will go towards attorney fees.
In the meantime, Burkindine said that she and other parents are looking for ways they can “make meaningful change,” including working to revise the district’s ESI policy.
