Charlotte school says fired teacher was warned about not following mask policy
A teacher who said she was “dumbfounded, confused and blindsided” after she was fired last month for disobeying her school’s mask policy was warned the day before to follow the rules, according to documents The Charlotte Observer has obtained.
Julia Haferman, a former fourth-grade teacher at Bradford Preparatory School, along with the rest of the faculty and staff, was told of the mask policy for staff and students prior to the first day of class.
Haferman was written up Aug. 10, the first day of school, for not wearing a mask in several parent meetings held during Bradford Prep’s Aug. 9 open house. She was fired Aug. 11. It’s unclear whether she will face additional punishment.
The parent-teacher conferences took place in the classroom and “all staff were reminded, in writing, that they must wear a mask at Open House regardless of distance from others,” Chris Locke, the lower school principal, wrote on the employee disciplinary action form, which the Observer obtained through a public records request.
Bradford Prep is a publicly-funded charter school for grades K-12, located in Charlotte and had an enrollment of nearly 1,500 students for the 2020-21 school year. Haferman’s firing became public after she posted about the situation on social media. That thrust the school into the middle of the fight over masks in schools issue, already being hotly debated across North Carolina.
According to other emails, at least two students in Haferman’s class were forced to quarantine because of close contact with a student or teacher who was positive with COVID-19. It is unclear how many other students in the class had COVID or were in quarantine, or if she had a role in the outbreak. North Carolina coronavirus data shows one cluster, or outbreak, of cases at Bradford Prep since the school year began, affecting one employee and 19 students.
It’s not clear whether all 19 students were in the same classroom or who the employee was.
A Bradford Prep source close to the issue, who could not speak publicly on the personnel matter, said the school may move to ask state officials to revoke Haferman’s teacher certification.
In records the Observer obtained from the school, documents show various parents and staff members complained to Bradford school leaders that Haferman wasn’t wearing a mask during the open house.
“This is the first and only warning regarding the wearing of masks,” Haferman’s disciplinary form states. “If this continues, termination of employment could occur.”
Locke, a principal who referred Observer questions to a school attorney, wrote in personnel records that he emailed the warning to Haferman on Aug. 10 and also spoke to her in person.
On Aug. 11, after more reports from students and a staff member that Haferman wasn’t wearing her mask on the first day of school, she was fired.
Locke wrote in an email to Haferman: “Although teachers are allowed to remove their masks when at their whiteboards more than six feet away while speaking to the class as a whole, they must put their mask back on when they move about the classroom and interact. You were informed of this. Students told us that you did not comply with this requirement.”
Haferman, who had started her fourth year at Bradford Prep, said she wore her mask appropriately and gave signals to mask up as needed for students who needed a reminder. She said she followed all mask rules inside her classroom, only taking her mask down while giving direct instruction, six feet away from all students.
“My termination email was completely shocking,” Haferman told the Observer via email. “I felt targeted, betrayed, and very disposable. I had no warning. I was not notified of the allegations against me prior to my termination email. ...There was no true investigation into the allegations made against me.”
She also said that during the 2020-21 school year, she taught full remote learning and didn’t have the time to become “proficient when it came to enforcing the mask rules.”
“This was the first day of my career wearing and implementing any mask rules within the classroom,” she said. “Any teacher will tell you that their first go at managing masks with elementary kids is challenging. You do the very best that you can.”
Haferman said she was aware of the school board’s policy on being masked indoors. In an email to Locke, she said she was unaware she was expected to be masked during the open house. She also told the Observer one student told school leaders she was not wearing a mask. But the recently released school documents show more than one person complained about Haferman.
Attorney Lisa Gordon Stella, a lawyer representing the school, said Bradford Prep “takes seriously its potential impact on the community in its decision-making, especially during the pandemic.”
The school has its own mask mandate and also follows Mecklenburg’s mask mandate. Stella said Bradford Prep has implemented the guidelines for a safe school reopening as recommended by North Carolina health officials. That includes, she says, quarantining students and staff for at least a week if they’re exposed to COVID.
“Since Bradford has a mask mandate, a direct exposure would occur if masks are not being consistently worn,” the lawyer wrote in a statement to the Observer.
‘Black-listed from the field’
After her firing, Haferman posted a lengthy statement on Facebook. She also emailed parents of the students in her class. Her story was picked up by several local TV stations and Newsweek. Her main beef: how Bradford handled the situation.
“My character and integrity has been greatly damaged by this situation,” Haferman wrote. “I feel wrongfully accused/terminated. I am now black-listed from the field of education, which is devastating.”
Haferman also wrote: “I would never put any child at risk for anything.”
While some parents of students in her class left notes of encouragement, flowers and food on her doorstep, other parents in emails the Observer obtained, backed the school’s decision and many questioned why Haferman wasn’t following protocol.
“It is hard for me to understand how a teacher can go all day with no mask and it is never addressed,” wrote a parent to Locke and Head of School Kelly Painter on Aug. 11. The names were redacted by the school for privacy. “It is unacceptable for ….. To be assigned to Mrs. Haferman moving forward in any way, for any reason.”
Another parent wrote to Locke: “I have some serious concerns about sending him back to the same teacher, based on our experience at open house and what has transpired since. We are concerned that she is unable to keep the students safe.”
On Aug. 11, the BPS public dashboard reported that more than 20 students in the K-6 building were quarantined for direct exposure to COVID. Less than a month later, the school reported 21 active COVID-19 cases due to in-school exposure as of Sept. 3. An additional 17 active cases were reported by Sept. 3 among individuals who had been exposed outside of school, the data showed.
On Aug. 11, Painter sent an email to staff stating that mask and COVID-19 policies are not optional.
“Staff members that deliberately do not follow these policies will be immediately terminated,” Painter said. “Even if we do not personally agree with these decisions, we must follow the policies as part of being an employee of the school.”
Unauthorized field trip
Prior to the mask issue, Haferman was warned about another COVID-related violation of school rules, Bradford Prep records show.
In April, she was given a warning of misconduct for scheduling a field trip for May 12 with Bradford Prep students to Kings Mountain Military Park without the knowledge of the school, including chaperons, school records state. The trip came to light after parents began asking school nurses about medication in an email chain.
“This also violates COVID-19 guidelines of no field trips,” reads the warning, issued April 28, 2021, and signed by Painter, Locke and Haferman. “I had no prior knowledge of the trip and no approval was given.”
Haferman, in a letter to parents on April 28, said she “simply got ahead of myself with the excitement that the military park was allowing visitors.” Haferman wrote to parents that she loves history and The American Revolution.
“I was wearing my ‘human’ hat and not my ‘teacher’ part of an organized school that must follow certain guidelines set forth by the state ‘hat,’” she wrote. “I failed to discuss this trip first with administration for approval (which is the expectation.”)
Haferman said: “Please know that I would never knowingly violate these guidelines nor intentionally put your child at risk.”
This story was originally published October 8, 2021 at 1:07 PM.
