Heather Doncaster, the Anchorage School District teacher recently exposed by Libs of TikTok for holding a poster with profane language and a veiled threat against Donald Trump, is again under scrutiny after her drag social media account surfaced with repeated anti-Trump posts, including the one on Aug. 15 that many interpreted as a call for violence against the president while he was in Anchorage.
Doncaster, whose drag queen stage name is Hank VanDickerson, is an 8th grade teacher at Clark Middle School and a vulgar drag queen performer outside of the classroom.
This controversy arose again about Doncaster just as the Anchorage School Board prepares to review on Tuesday night its Guardrail 3 report, which asserts that the superintendent “will not allow unsatisfactory employee performance to go unidentified or unaddressed.” Guardrails are intended to reflect community values and set boundaries for district leadership in pursuit of student outcomes.
According to the report presented this month, the Anchorage School District evaluated nearly 2,000 teachers annually over the past three school years. Despite the district’s stated commitment to high standards, an average of 4.19% of teachers received at least one rating below proficient during that time. In 2022–23, 90 teachers received ratings of Basic or Unsatisfactory. The following year, 84 did. In the most recent school year, 82 teachers fell into the category.
That means the number of teachers who fail to meet proficiency has barely moved in three years, raising questions about whether the guardrail is functioning as intended.
The Framework for Teaching — the evaluation system used by the district — requires teachers to demonstrate proficiency across 22 components spanning planning, instruction, classroom environment, and professional responsibilities. Ratings below proficient are not considered acceptable under Anchorage School District standards.
Performance concerns are addressed through a tiered process, beginning with informal supports and moving to formal Plans of Growth or Plans of Improvement. Teachers who fail to make progress can be recommended for non-retention. Yet the percentage of teachers with ratings below proficient has remained virtually unchanged.
The case of Doncaster, now spotlighted nationally, underscores the tension between the district’s written standards and the conduct of some employees.
With 4.19% of teachers underperforming by the district’s own evaluations, the community is left to ask: Is this the kind of “performance” that the Anchorage School District is willing to tolerate?
According to the district, there are instances “where employee misconduct requires a supervisor to follow ASD’s disciplinary process. Procedural safeguards are in place that allow an employee the opportunity to respond when conduct issues arise that may warrant discipline. Disciplinary outcomes may be considered in the overall evaluation of an employee, but in most cases, discipline is handled separately.”
While there are situations in which employees may be non-retained due to ongoing performance concerns or dismissed as a disciplinary action, employees may also choose to resign in lieu of non-retention or termination, the guidelines report.
Just curious:
If my kid was put into that person’s classroom, could I (as a parent) put a stop to it?
This person needs to be prosecuted ASAP. Where is Pam Bondi? Unfortunately… she is proving to be worthless.
“What two adults do in the privacy of their own home is none of your business” <–remember that line? What happened to that?
And sometimes teachers are dismissed in retaliation and without cause because the teacher has ncovered a nasty truth about an administrator and nothing ever happens to the perpetrator.
It will be interesting to see how the ASD and NEA address threats against a seated president.
Hmmm? And if they do nothing, isn’t that grounds to recall the entire school board?
Send that thing to jail!!! What ever the HELL is is!
We need more mental institutions, it’s curious what drove this person to this insanity and why the school district would have a mentally unstable person amongst its kids. The parents of these kids better wake up. This is a picture of the person that kills their kids in an act of violence. I actually feel sad for this unhinged individual how horrible life must be to live with this much hate.
Pretty lax standards… Well.. If there was a standard at ASD…
It needs to resign.