This petition is in response to Fran Marek’s forced resignation of 5 Joshua ISD North Joshua Elementary school teachers. 

I am a concerned citizen and/or parent of Joshua Independent School District. March 31, 2022 the superintendent, Fran Marek, forced 5 teachers to resign today for sharing FREE school lunches. Each teacher was escorted off the premises and not able to retrieve their belongings (without approval and an appointment).  

The Joshua and JISD community is ashamed of the actions of Fran Marek and do not support the ludicrous punishment for such a minimal issue. I am proud that our teachers take pride in teaching our kids to show compassion, kindness, caringness, etc. They are with our children the majority of the day and play a critical role in the child’s educational advancement. Considering, there are 5 teachers that lacked the knowledge of any lunch rule, would indicate that there was a lack of training on an administrative level. I confidently and wholeheartedly could say if these teachers knew this was a true “federal crime”, there would never have been an issue. The community would like to know what other options the district had besides terminating these teachers with full transparancy.

Fran made this decision while benchmark testing is going on and STAAR testing is coming up. Children work hard all year for these test and her abrasive approach caused emotional distress to many children and disrupted educational development. NJE is ranked one of the highest districts and losing these same teachers that enhance the district is a severe loss to our community and education. Furthermore, children are in classes without teachers today and not enough subs to fill the spots. Fran makes these decisions without any sort of consideration for the children. We as a community are prepared to unenroll children to better serve their education in a homeschool setting.

If these issues do not get fixed, we (as a community) , are prepared to not support any JISD upcoming BONDS, fundraisers, donations, events, volunteers, volunteer substitutes, etc until a reasonable solution is made. As a community, we are prepared to actively look for other board members to fill positions this year and next to enact a permanent and stable change. The JISD community requests that Fran Marek’s contract not be reinstated in June 2022 and/or immediate termination. The duty of the school board is to represent the JISD as a whole and advocate for parents and children's best educational interest. The school board is responsible for evaluating the superintendent and we as a community are requesting an immediate call to action on Fran Marek. The Joshua community, in the majority, believe Fran is negatively impacting hundreds of children's educational development and causing undue stress. The community believes that her absence will strengthen the community and the school relationships and advance JISD into a new change of era. NJE PTO has expressed they are not adverse to dissolving the organization because they do not support these decisions nor will they help condone them. These PTO members are in support of our teachers and request immediate action. 

The district forced and threatened each teacher to resign or their teaching certificate would be jeopardized. Each teacher when called for termination did not have accurate representation and was intimidated with fear of their livelihood so they would resign. While Fran was able to consult with attorneys, she left our teachers in complete surprise and no proper defense. 

We as a community demand transparency from JISD, which has been an ongoing issue for many years, despite the district's best poker face. The administration struggles with handling issues within the district in a reasonable manner. It is not a coincidence that the ENTIRE community is rallying AGAINST the administration because of ongoing issues on many different levels. Our community voice is being silenced and I do not believe my district is concerned with my children's education and accurately representing the community. As a parent and member of this community, I have a duty to step up and stand with our teachers in the fight.

By signing this you are expressing your support and solidarity for the JISD teachers and call immediate actions to these issues. 

Any information anyone has in regards to the school district, please contact Chelsea Brashear- chelsea.raquel@gmail.com