THORNDIKE - Grievances filed by two Mount View Middle School teachers on the basis of working conditions both described as "hostile" were quietly resolved in mid-September according to the district, a teachers union negotiator and one of the teachers involved.

Eileen Ellis and Ron Simmons, teachers of sixth grade language arts and physical education respectively, filed formal grievances with the district in April. The teachers independently told the PenBayPilot.com that these were based on harassing or unsupportive treatment they received from the same administrator. In the meantime, Ellis took a leave of absence related to the issue and Simmons left the middle school for a job at the high school.

RSU 3 school board took up the complaints on Sept. 10 at a meeting at Monroe Elementary School. During the emotionally charged evening, supporters of the teachers lined the hallways between the closed door sessions. The board ultimately denied both complaints.

Jeff Keating, grievance officer for the Teachers Association, was involved in the negotiations and said at the time that it was rare for a grievance to reach the board level. He also wasn't surprised that the board sided with the earlier findings of the superintendent. Keating didn't make any predictions about what would happen next, but among supporters of the teachers there was talk of taking the grievances to the next level.

Roughly a week later, however, they were resolved, according to Ellis, who spoke to the Pilot on Monday. Attempts to contact Simmons were unsuccessful. Keating and RSU 3 Superintendent Heather Perry each confirmed the resolution but declined to discuss details.

"Both teachers are back to work and it doesn't seem to be an issue right now," Keating said.

Ellis suspected the district wanted to avoid going arbitration, which would have been the next step in the grievance process.

"We talked about what it would take to get me back to work and they pretty much agreed to it," she said.

Ellis took what she described as a stress-related medical leave of absence on April 13 and returned to work around Sept. 17.

Given the amount of time she had been out and the nature of the complaint, she said her biggest concern was that she would feel supported. The district was able to convince her that she would.

"It was nice that they asked me what it would take, and I told them," she said. "There was basically an agreement that that environment would stop, that it would change. And it did. And I really think it changed the whole climate of the school, and me doing my thing was not in vain."

Ellis agreed to teach math and social studies instead of her preferred language arts, but this she said was not a condition of the settlement as much as an adjustment based on the small teams in each grade and the abilities of individual teachers. In the meantime, she said, she's been catching up. 

"It's good to be back at work doing what I'm supposed to be doing," she said.

Penobscot Bay Pilot reporter Ethan Andrews can be reached at ethanandrews@penbaypilot.com