Everyone wants to know why 4 West Bend teachers abruptly resigned. There's more to the story.

Seven days before summer break, West Bend East and West High School saw an unusual staffing change: Four of the six English teachers resigned Friday, throwing students into a lurch before finals and prompting vast speculation about the cause of the departures.

While students protested, the district released a statement that declined to name the teachers and only said that the resignations were "in no way related to any opinions expressed about curriculum."

Whatever the specifics, the departures top an unusually turbulent year in West Bend. The Washington County district has long had fractious relations between some of its teachers, school board members and administrators, but a number of recent developments in short succession have raised new concerns.

Consider that in the past year:

• A new superintendent, Erik Olson, replaced departing district leader Ted Neitzke.
• Therese Sizer resigned from the West Bend School Board in March after members passed a policy that prohibited board members from voting on measures that affect any direct relatives. Sizer's daughter teaches in West Bend. 
• The interim high school principal, Tracey Conners, will be replaced by a new principal for next year. East and West, which are housed at a joint campus, are overseen by one principal.
• The seven-member school board gained four new members, and some are more sympathetic to the teachers union than previous members. Six years ago, the board flipped to a majority of members more concerned with fiscal housekeeping. 
• Two top district officials — the chief operating officer and director of accountability and assessment — both announced they would resign in June.
• The district rolled out a new student testing platform this year that was cheaper than other assessments but significantly increased testing time. It dropped the program this month.

So what's the big takeaway? That depends on whom you ask.

In a statement, Olson, the superintendent, said change is natural.

"In order to grow as a learning institution and continue to advance our reputation as a high-quality and efficient system, transformations will naturally occur," he said. 

Rick Parks, a former school board member brought on in the wave six years ago, said significant changes to the school board can lead to attrition among administrators. 

Students appear most concerned about the teacher departures.

"Kids are outraged because we have exams coming up next week," said freshman Mackenzie Owens, 15. "All this week is supposed to be review and four of the six English teachers are not here. Especially being freshmen and being new to the exams this year, it's a lot of stress." 

An online petition led by students pleaded for the district to give the educators their jobs back. It had more than 625 signatures as of Wednesday.

Teachers and testing

Many students like Owens feel the teachers were pressured to resign by the administration because they were complaining internally about a new curriculum the district is getting next year. The district declined to comment further on the personnel issue.

As for the testing system, called Galileo, Owens said she felt like it was taking time away from her classroom learning this year. 

"With all the new testing, I feel like we're being taught how to take a test," she said. " A lot of teachers have this opinion, but they can't say anything about it."

Galileo was unpopular with many teachers because it wasn't well-known and it tied student growth to teacher compensation. Olson said in his statement that the district will now transition away from it.

Parks, the former board member, said purchasing Galileo was probably a mistake.

"It was fairly inexpensive," Parks said. "In retrospect, I wonder whether we made a decision that was weighted too much on cost vs. capability." 

Turnover and Act 10

Several parents said they worried that staff turnover would diminish the community's ability to attract quality educators and new families.

"Last year my son had several different teachers for his math class," said Jody Erickson, who has a 16-year-old at West Bend West and a 19-year-old who graduated last year. 

"As a concerned parent, I want to know that our teachers feel supported," she said.

Others say the turbulence can be traced to fallout from Act 10 — the state legislation passed in 2011 that all but eliminated collective bargaining — as well as what community members say about all the issues on social media.

RELATED: Wisconsin unions fall hard and fast after Act 10

The teachers union's fight to stay relevant often puts it at odds with fiscal conservatives in West Bend who support the law. Meanwhile, some of West Bend's loudest voices, no matter what camp they're in, battle for their views in highly active Facebook groups. The tension appears to sometimes fuel negative relations in real life.

"It's sort of like a perfect storm," said Sizer, the school board member who resigned this year because of the board's new nepotism policy. "People feel they can be aggressive over an issue, social media emboldens them and it becomes this perpetuating cycle of misinformation and unkindness."

Sizer added that West Bend has quality schools and that she's glad she encouraged her daughter to teach there.

"This is a very capable school district," Sizer said. "I'd hate to see it destroyed because of a group of people who don't know how to have a civilized discussion."