Why did they fire the DuFief principal?

[Anonymous]

It’s personnel matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the principal's name? You can do a judiciary case search to see if he was arrested for something that would cause MCPS to put him on leave.

His name is on the web site, and a Maryland judiciary case search has no results.

I was placed on administrative leave once in my MCPS teaching career, after a student falsely accused me. I was out for two weeks and could not speak to any of my colleagues. It was very "Do not contact me or ask me about this in any way." The matter was investigated and I returned to my position. My colleagues found out what had happened through rumors and parent gossip, but nobody officially gave any information, including me. When I left, and returned, there were only blanket "This teacher has been placed on administrative leave" and "This teacher is returning from administrative leave" notices sent to parents.

Let's not be so quick to assume it's something terrible, or even something that actually happened. We don't know, it could be many, many things, and not all of them mean the principal is an awful person unfit for his position.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the principal's name? You can do a judiciary case search to see if he was arrested for something that would cause MCPS to put him on leave.

His name is on the web site, and a Maryland judiciary case search has no results.

I was placed on administrative leave once in my MCPS teaching career, after a student falsely accused me. I was out for two weeks and could not speak to any of my colleagues. It was very "Do not contact me or ask me about this in any way." The matter was investigated and I returned to my position. My colleagues found out what had happened through rumors and parent gossip, but nobody officially gave any information, including me. When I left, and returned, there were only blanket "This teacher has been placed on administrative leave" and "This teacher is returning from administrative leave" notices sent to parents.

Let's not be so quick to assume it's something terrible, or even something that actually happened. We don't know, it could be many, many things, and not all of them mean the principal is an awful person unfit for his position.

Thanks for sharing this perspective. In this case, it seems odd that they've already specified that the acting principal will be there for the rest of the school year.

[Anonymous]

Here is the text of the letter that parents received by email at 5pm on Oct 30 (a day *after* the change went into effect); this is also posted to the public website.

"This letter is to inform you of an important personnel change at DuFief Elementary School. Effective Tuesday, October 29, 2018, Mr. XXX will no longer serve as principal. Mr. XXX is currently on leave for personnel matter unrelated to students. Ms. YYY will serve as teacher in charge for the remainder of this week. Beginning Monday, November 5, Mr. ZZZ will serve as acting principal through the end of the 2018-19 school year."

He's definitely not coming back to DuFief, but it's unclear whether he was fired, placed on admin leave, or transferred. Parents have not received any further official information (although of course the rumour mill and speculation are running wild). We don't think the wording of the letter was an accident or clumsy; it was likely very intentional.

[Anonymous]

It's strange because even if it was something like rehab, he'd go on medical leave. Through the end of the school year is essentially a termination for some sort of cause.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's strange because even if it was something like rehab, he'd go on medical leave. Through the end of the school year is essentially a termination for some sort of cause.

Sounds like financial impropriety.

[Anonymous]

I heard that he had an affair with a teacher and may have also had another teacher improperly transferred at the behest of his mistress. I’ve also heard that he won’t be back and his office has been cleaned out. The new acting principal moved in this week. I certainly hope it’s not true. I liked him and he was good at his job. It certainly does not seem like he left for a personal or health matter. We also lost a music teacher due to health and family reasons and the announcement was much much different.

[Anonymous]

Is the teacher still there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is the teacher still there?

As far as I know, Yes.

[Anonymous]

Seems kinda unfair that he goes and she stays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seems kinda unfair that he goes and she stays.

Ultimately, it’s on the boss to do things right. The teacher is not the one with power over other employees whose impartiality in dealing supervising those employees can be questioned.

[Anonymous]

How is an affair an issue for the school/school system? Lots of people cheat (not agreeing with it but that's the reality).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How is an affair an issue for the school/school system? Lots of people cheat (not agreeing with it but that's the reality).

This wouldn't fly at most workplaces. It's pretty much unacceptable to have an affair with a subordinate. It's not necessarily grounds for firing but someone in the relationship should be transferred to a different dept, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How is an affair an issue for the school/school system? Lots of people cheat (not agreeing with it but that's the reality).

But if that affair interferes with the management of the school, then it’s a problem. You can’t transfer another teacher because your mistress doesn’t like her. He was also a supervisor and if the relationship soured then it could have caused issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is an affair an issue for the school/school system? Lots of people cheat (not agreeing with it but that's the reality).

This wouldn't fly at most workplaces. It's pretty much unacceptable to have an affair with a subordinate. It's not necessarily grounds for firing but someone in the relationship should be transferred to a different dept, etc.

Sex with a subordinate is always considered sexual harassment because of the power inbalance.