Luunja school director dismissed before new academic year

ERR reported that Luunja Secondary School director Ave Kikas has been dismissed after the Luunja municipal government unilaterally terminated her employment contract, citing a loss of trust.

Kikas, who became director of the school in Tartu County a year ago, said she found the termination notice in her mailbox late on Tuesday evening and was told that Wednesday would be her final working day.

“I did not want to end my employment contract. I was pressured to leave, and when I did not agree to a settlement, the contract was terminated unilaterally,” Kikas said.

Luunja Mayor Annika Pajumaa-Murov confirmed that the employer had terminated the contract on an extraordinary basis, but denied that Kikas had been pressured to resign. She said the situation had escalated over a short period and that the municipality could not comment on why Kikas had lost its trust.

Kikas said the reasons for ending the contract had been fabricated, as the municipal government had not raised any concerns about her work during the academic year. She suggested that the current municipal leadership wanted to remove her because she had been appointed by the previous administration.

She also said disagreements over the school day had contributed to the conflict. The school had planned for lessons to begin at 9 a.m., in line with a government regulation, but the municipal council decided that classes should start at 8.15 a.m. Kikas said the dispute involved the school’s board of trustees and different political forces, leaving the school and its director caught in the middle.

Pajumaa-Murov said the disagreement over the start of the school day was not the reason for the dismissal. “Ave knows the content of the termination notice herself, and it does not contain such things,” she said.

Previous media reports have alleged that Kikas used intimidation as a management tactic. She rejected the claim, saying that more than half of the school’s employees had signed a letter supporting her.

The municipality plans to launch a competition for a new school director soon. Kikas said she would take the case to the labour dispute committee because she considered the termination unjustified.