PEORIA — Current and future staff turnover is prompting major changes in the top leadership at Quest Charter Academy and at its middle school.

The charter school board will hire an interim director to replace executive director Nicole Wood, who is taking a job with Peoria Public Schools. She will remain at Quest until the end of the school year.

The interim position will be for the 2018-19 school year while the board considers whether to hire a permanent director or a management company similar to Concept Schools, the Des Plaines-based company that managed the charter school in its first five years. The board could also choose other options, according to board President Tom Fliege.

During a board meeting Thursday filled with teachers, Fliege and Wood assured a smooth transition.

Wood, who was named Quest’s executive director in 2015, will leave to become executive director of primary education at PPS in July.

But at least one parent wanted assurances that other staff won’t be leaving soon.

Tierrah Wells said she has seen many teachers come and go since her son, now a sophomore, began Quest in the fifth grade.

“There’s not a lot who stand up for the kids and I want to see the people who stand up for our kids stay.”

The board approved an extensive action plan for the middle school designed to response to staff turnover and teacher shortages.

While the fifth- and eighth-grade classes will remain self-contained, the sixth- and seventh-grade classes will go from four sections of about 19 students each to three sections of about 23 students each. Administrators said they adjusted class sizes to deal with teacher shortages.

Curriculum and instruction director Barb Closen said the tipping point came when the middle school lost a seventh-grade science teacher.

A teacher’s aide and an additional ELITE staff member will also be hired for the middle school. With the new ELITE officer, the charter school will have hired six new staff members to deal with discipline, Wood said.

One teacher, Amelia Readeker, told students she still had concerns about a small percentage of students, “some with behavioral and emotional disorders we are not equipped to handle.”

But Sarah Uftring, another teacher, added teachers are grateful for the new plan. “We feel like we’re being heard.”

Board members also unanimously voted to establish a foundation and hire a professional fundraiser.

The board meeting, scheduled for 5 p.m., started about 90 meetings late because of a lengthy executive session. A parent, Morris Jackson, told board members it was important they respect the parents and teachers who waited for the board meeting to start. Fliege said some matters could not be voted on during the regular meeting until after the executive session.

Pam Adams can be reached at 686-3245 or padams@pjstar.com. Follow her on Twitter @padamspam.