Charter School Puts Principal on Leave

By JOHN SENA

School: Teachers complain principal was inconsistent in following rules

The governing council of a fledgling charter school suspended its principal Thursday evening while it investigates allegations of mismanagement and mistreatment of teachers.

The five-member council of Charter School 37, Santa Fe’s newest charter school, voted unanimously to suspend Jody Drew after hearing concerns from former teachers that she was inconsistent, mistreated teachers and failed to provide the resources and support teachers needed.

“It’s very serious,” a member of the council, Sally Greenwood, said about the situation.

Five former teachers told the council that Drew, who founded the bilingual school, was inconsistent in following school rules and described her as using an “ad hoc” management style. They said discipline at the 90-student school, which has rented its site from the Santa Fe Indian School since opening in September 2006 but hopes to build a campus in the Galisteo Basin, was a problem because Drew rarely upheld staff decisions. They also said she reprimanded teachers in front of students, often for no reason.

Casey Kimberley, a former teacher, described an incident in which Drew scolded her for not keeping students in their seats until the bell rang, despite having only a few minutes left in class. “It was a 90-minute class, and I let them get ready to go with five minutes left,” Kimberley said.

A former science teacher at the school, Patricia Gay-Webb, said she was given no books and no basic laboratory materials.

One reason for a shortage of funds was the school’s focus on “expeditionary learning” using a five-year $600,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that was distributed through Expeditionary Learning Schools Outward Bound, a school improvement program combining academic content with “learning expeditions.”

The school had a formal relationship with Expeditionary Learning and received support from the group during its first year of operation. But during that year, officials of Expeditionary Learning were not satisfied with the way the school was implementing the Expeditionary Learning curriculum, said Scott Gill, the organization’s regional representative.

“We spoke to the board last May and laid out some conditions that we would be willing to work with the school,” Gill said. One of those conditions, which he also called “recommendations,” was a change in leadership, Gill said.

Despite those recommendations, the board took no action, he said. As a result, Expeditionary Learning severed the relationship last May and cut off the grant money.

Jay Selnick, president of the school’s governing board, said the decision to end the relationship with Expeditionary Learning was mutual, and school officials didn’t know when they agreed to it that the program would have so many specific requirements.

When asked why the board didn’t heed recommendations from Expeditionary Learning, Selnick said the governing council didn’t think the group was familiar enough with the school to make recommendations. “The fact that their judgment proves right a year later does not necessarily mean that our judgment a year ago was incorrect,” he said.

Selnick also stressed that severance of the school’s association with Expeditionary Learning does not mean the school has abandoned its mission of providing outdoor education. He said officials plan to fund such a program with the school’s own state-provided money.

But being an Expeditionary Learning school is part of the school’s charter as approved by the Santa Fe school board. The charter states: “As an Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound school, CS 37 promotes a strong culture of best effort, high expectations, teamwork, adventure, and service, and fosters a climate of respect and inclusion.”

State Education Secretary Veronica Garcia said the school board needs to decide what action to take in light of these developments.

Among their other concerns, some teachers said Drew hired them to teach a specific subject but changed their assignment when school started. That left some teachers unprepared for the school year and teaching courses for which they were not certified, they said.

Mismanagement has led to more than 20 teachers’ leaving the school in its two years of operation, teachers said. Only two of the school’s original six teachers still work there, current teachers say. Drew said she didn’t know how many teachers have left the school.

The five teachers who spoke to the governing council maintained the school and its focus were good, but it was falling short in delivering. “The ideas are great,” Gay-Webb said, “but the implementation is failing.” In a letter to the council, another former teacher said if Drew remained principal, the “school will collapse.”

While current teachers wouldn’t comment on the record, they said their experiences were consistent with those the former teachers complained about.

In response to the allegations, Drew said she couldn’t argue with teachers’ perception of her actions. She said only that the “governing council was acting properly” and following the correct procedure.

There also is a question about when council members became aware of the allegations. They all said they were not officially notified until Kimberley submitted a letter of concern a few weeks ago.

But Gay-Webb said she expressed some of her concerns in a resignation letter to Selnick and Drew in December. She said Drew responded to confirm receiving the letter but she never heard from any council members. Selnick said Thursday that he’s never seen the letter.

Drew, who earns more than $100,000 per year between her principal’s salary and an additional $15,000 for teaching duties, will be paid during the suspension.

The council said it won’t begin investigating the allegations for at least a week because one member will be on vacation.

Ron Lolordo, a teacher at the school, was put in charge until the council concludes its investigation and decides about the school’s leadership.

Contact John Sena at 986-3079 or jsena@sfnewmexican.com.

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