March 19, 1999
By Daniel Munoz
Firing administrators seems to be in vogue these days!
Just last week in a well-organized demonstration of control, San Diego City Schools Superintendent, Alen Bersin fired 100 administrators under his re-organizing plan.
At the same time in much more subdue manner, but just as efficiently Libia S. Gil, Superintendent of the Chula Vista Elementary School District re-assigned/fired four popular principals for failing to perform up to standard.
The four principals were: Henry Manriquez at Harborside School; Teresa Gonzales-Sadler, Montgomery; Shirley Willadsen, Valle Lindo; and Michael Humphrey of Lauderbach.
Much like the City School's firings the releasing of the Chula Vista principals was done without public input or discussion catching the parents and teachers of each school by surprise.
According to Julie Addenbrooke, a parent aid at Valle Lindo Elementary, there was no parent input into the decision, there were no public hearings on the firings, they basically found out after the fact.
"What surprised us about the firing was that the school's test scores have been improving," stated Addenbrooke. "And as a Mexican-American, we had been made to feel welcome at the school by Ms. Willadsen. Prior to her coming to our school we had been made to feel less than welcome."
Mr. Kaslie, School Site Counsel President at Montgomery, echoed Addenbrooke's surprise at the firings. "You would think that the school board, if something was wrong, would want input from the community," he stated. "But we were caught by surprise. Ms Gonzales-Sadler has been very dedicated and committed in implementing the programs here at Montgomery, but it takes time to see the changes, she has only been here for 2 1/2 years."
"The firings came as a surprise to both the parents and the staff," stated Principal Gonzales-Sadler. "I don't want to make excuses, because we are ultimately responsible, but I feel that I had been doing a very good job here."
The firings were based on seven general points of evaluation including, 1) professional preparation; 2) leadership; 3) expertise in analyzing teaching, recognizing effective instruction, and recommending improvements; 4) managing school budget; 5) effective communication skills; 6) positive community relations; and 7) success in using the inquiry and student-based decision-making processes.
What Gina Boyd, president of the teachers union, found interesting about this list was that it was not released until after the principals were effectively fired. "There was no advance announcement of the firings. It was a unilateral action," she stated. "A lawyer went before the school board and asked for an explanation but he received no response, now he his trying to get the school board to at least have a public hearing on the firings."
"We were the lowest scoring school in the district," stated Gonzales-Sadler. "But since the end of bilingual education, with the passing of Prop. 227, we were asked to test non-English/limited English students in English, that makes it very hard."
Parents at Harborside Elementary also were caught by surprise at the reassignment of the very popular principal, Henry Manriquez. A large group of parents attended the school board meeting on March 16 to plead with the school board to reconsider their decision on Mr Manriquez. Parent after parent went up to the podium and rebutted each point on which Mr. Manriquez was fired. After the meeting the perception from the parents was that their pleas fell on deaf ears.
The common theme expressed among the parents was the lack of communication and interaction with the Superintendent and the school board. The parents stated that they are asked to sit on the hiring board, they were asked to be involved with the school, the teachers and with on-site decisions but when it comes to firing their principal they are not consulted.
"As parents we feel disenfranchised," stated Mr. Kaslie. "There was no indication from the Superintendent that anything improper was wrong at the school. Ultimately the superintendent and the school board have to be accountable to the parents"
While no one could, or wanted to say for the record, an underlying theme rumored to the firings of the principals was the prospect of these schools becoming Charter Schools.
The firing of the principals appears to be the first step in developing a school staff and administration that would welcome a charter to the schools.
Bolstering this rumor and raising the fears among parents and staff has been the presentations of the Ball Foundation, which is in the business of chartering schools. Among the goals of the foundation is the need to charter a "critical mass of schools" in order to be successful. This coincides with the fact that the four schools where the principals were fired are all geographically close in proximity. "If you look at a map you will notice that all the schools are within 1, 2, 3 mile radius of each other," pointed out Mr. Kesler.
Also feeding into the fears about this particular charter by the parents and staff was the prejudicial statement made by a Ball representative who stated during one of the three presentations that "minority birth rates was creating an underclass in current society and the potential of an uprising by this under-class."
Parents at all four school sites stated that they were going to do everything possible to see that if they could get the school board to change their minds about firing their principals. The common theme stated was that if the school board did not listen to them now, then perhaps they would listen to them at election time and a new school board is elected.
As Ms. Addenbrooke stated, "my son is in sixth grade now and next year he will be in middle school. With the changes coming, I could just go on and not worry about it, but this wrong! It is just plain wrong and I want to do something about this, I want to fight this. It is just wrong!"
Return to Frontpage