Petition started to bring back teacher

PLAINS – After the nonrenewal of non-tenured teacher, many people in the community of Plains are fired up and have started a petition to get the teacher back into the school.

The Plains School Board of Trustees met on Monday, April 22 and was packed full of emotional students and concerned citizens who did not want to see Nathan Friesz, the shop teacher, leave the school system.

After three years with the Plains School District, Mr. Friesz’s contract was not renewed without cause as indicated by the Montana Code annotated in section 20-4-206. Superintendent Thom Chisholm stated the decision had taken a lot of thought on his part.

Starting on Friday, Suzanne VonHeeder, Mary Curry and one other Plains resident began the petition and fear their time is running out.

In two weeks, VonHeeder stated Chisholm has interviewed two people.

The group hoped to get a special meeting set with the school board, however, Chairman Ron Warren is out of town until the next school board meeting, decreasing the chances of actually securing one.

Regardless their efforts remain strong with countless petitions hitting the town and students and parents alike are collecting as many signatures as they can.

“I’ll fight for those kids tooth and nail,” said VonHeeder stating she started the petition after a group of kids asked her what they could do to keep their beloved shop teacher.

VonHeeder began to do some research on what the next best plan of action would be, reaching out to the UniServ office in Missoula for advice.

Since Friesz was not a tenured teacher, the office was unable to provide help however they provided VonHeeder with some advice – keep on fighting.

According to VonHeeder, the UniServ representative said if the parents, kids, and town feel strongly about the teacher leaving, then they need to fight for him.

“He’s a great teacher and now we’re doing everything we can,” said VonHeeder. “Speaking (at the school board meeting) didn’t do anything so now we have to take action.”

The petitioners will collect the surveys at the end of the week to see how many signatures were collected.

After four hours of petitioning, two of the participants already had 100 signatures. And that does not include the dozens of other petitions that have hit the streets.

“As of yesterday, almost every kid in the high school has signed the petition,” said VonHeeder.

“If anything this man can leave this town with a clear conscious knowing that people cared about him and he can leave feeling good about himself,” said VonHeeder.

VonHeeder plans to collect the petitions by Friday and hopes to arrange a special meeting with the school board if possible.