Upon returning to the building for the school year, students were met with a more than typical number of new faces amongst the staff. Students and families may wonder why so many staff members left at the end of last year. Beneath the surface level answer to this question, that this rate of turnover is “normal,” is a harsh and bitter truth: staff don’t have a positive outlook for the future.
Based on a count of professional staff listed on the school website, there are 46 new members in a total staff of 168, or 27%. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES): regularly publishes reports on teacher retention and turnover in the U.S. Their 2020 report indicated that about 16% of teachers left their positions every year, with higher turnover rates in urban and high-poverty schools. NCES also notes that turnover can be driven by a variety of factors, including compensation, working conditions and retirement.
During the 2024-2025 school year there was an abrupt transition between administration from former Principal Douglas Nelson and then interim-Principal Joseph Bostic. At an SGA pep rally turned forum on Dec. 6, Black Student Union leaders called out the school’s administration for their alleged lack of response to hate bias incidents that had occurred earlier in the week and in previous years. The forum’s call to action resulted in the paid-leave of Nelson, and the hiring of Bostic. Nelson was ultimately found not-guilty for the charge against him that he did not follow MCPS’ hate bias protocol. However, Nelson was not reinstated at the school.
While students were adjusting to the changes of having their principal replaced mid-year, the effects on the staff went on largely unbeknownst to students. The aftermath of the Dec. 6 forum led to the breakdown of the work culture for staff members, according to interviews with multiple current and former staff members. The data from the 2024-2025 MCPS High School Climate Survey, reveal a consistent theme in the staff’s low perception of their work environment. Out of the 27 high schools in MCPS, the school had the lowest satisfaction percentage for seven of the 15 survey questions. With nearly 100% of the staff completing the survey, the results offer possible explanations as to why staff left. To the question, “My school leadership supports me,” only 39.6% of staff agreed; the next highest percentage was at Springbrook, with 49.1% agreeing. The highest percentage was Poolesville at 85.4%. The question, “I look forward to going to work each day,” warranted similar results: 42.1% agreed, with the highest percentage at Poolesville with 91%. Again, “The working environment in my school is positive,” had the second lowest percentage of the entire survey with just 27.1% of staff agreeing. To the question, “When a sensitive issue of diversity arises in class/at work, I can easily think of strategies to address the situation,” only 66.7% of teachers agreed.
This survey was recorded in the spring of last year. However, this information I think is telling to the drastic change in staff at Wootton and it wasn’t a direct correlation to what happened with Mr. Nelson,” an anonymous staff member who left said. “There are narratives being written and made about Wootton culture and staff and it got ugly and to the point that people didn’t want to be around it anymore.”
According to staff members interviewed, the events of last year caused staff members to fear being wrongfully accused. “It makes you feel a little bit uneasy because if a kid accuses you of something, [administration] doesn’t have this history of knowing that you have 20 years of a great reputation,” an anonymous current staff member said.
Another cause of the plummeting staff morale was seen through the survey response to the question, “My school leadership supports me.” As staff members tried to do their work, they wanted to receive support from the new administration, but there were people from MCPS central office who came in, “and basically told us that we were the problem, and that didn’t sit well with us,” a second anonymous current staff member said.
Even before the incidents from the previous year, there had been efforts to make the school more inclusive, though staff members were being told that the work they were doing was the problem, despite the end result being that, “it’s not teacher behavior that’s necessarily contributing to all the impact going on,” the second anonymous current staff member said.
Feeling the burden of the heavy topics within the school community, the results of the High School Climate Survey reveal staff morale. At the end of the school year, staff members say they were simply exhausted. “You can only give so much, and it’s easier to give if you feel something is coming back to you in return,” the second anonymous current staff member said.
Unlike other professions, school staff members have the summer to recharge, prepare for the upcoming school year and more importantly, mentally process the previous year. Taking on the new school year head on, the administrative team said they are making an effort to be the support system that staff members need. With two new administrators on the five-person team, they are still settling into how leadership is going to look in the building. According to the second anonymous current staff member, “There’s a lot more feeling that this year is going to be better than last year.”
From being present in the halls, to attending school events, to checking in on teachers during the day, leadership is demonstrating an effort to rebuild the fractured work culture from last year.
Ranked as the third best high school in Maryland based on the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program and the Maryland Integrated Science Assessments, this school continues to fulfill its role to help students reach their highest potential. Between “all the good, the bad and the ugly it all comes down to the fact that we are here to support the students and help them be successful, and that is the job… and we do it really well,” the second anonymous current staff member said.
Bostic did not respond to written questions regarding the turnover in staff members this year or about staff culture within the school, however he did recognize negative survey results showing low staff morale.
