Assistant principals to stay put

Fayetteville superintendent reverses decision on transfers

FAYETTEVILLE — Assistant principals set to move campuses in the fall instead will remain where they are, following Superintendent Paul Hewitt’s decision to cancel the transfers.

Hewitt announced the reversal Monday night via email to staff and a statement posted on Facebook and Twitter.

“The transfers were to allow assistant principals to experience how school cultures differ,” Hewitt said in an email to staff. “It would also offer them an opportunity to observe and work with different educational leaders and develop their own leadership style based upon what they felt worked well and didn’t work.”

Eight elementary and middle school assistant principals were to switch schools for the 2016-17 school year. Discussions about moving the assistant principals began in February because of a concern about having a pipeline of highly qualified principals, he said.

While Hewitt said he still believes the decision was in the best interest of the district and students, he said he canceled the plan after discovering the administration hadn’t followed steps for transfers outlined in a School Board policy.

Hewitt said he has never hesitated to make unpopular decisions when he felt they were the right decisions, but said he was aware of a growing group of parents and others who signed a petition asking for a delay in the assistant principal transfers.

Miriam Smith was among a group of about six parents who started the petition signed by 530 supporters on change.org. She said she appreciates Hewitt’s service to the district and is thankful for the decision to call off transfers.

“This entire process for everyone has given us a renewed appreciation for everyone who takes care of our students,” said Smith, who has a third-grader at Vandergriff Elementary School and a fifth-grader at McNair Middle School.

The petition didn’t object to the district’s desire to develop leadership skills in assistant principals, but parents were concerned with the way the decision was made, carried out and communicated, Smith said.

Asbell Assistant Principal Jana Starr was set to become assistant principal at Holcomb, but now will remain at Asbell. She was surprised by the reversal, she said Tuesday.

“We have to do what our district asks us to do,” Starr said. “I will go on and do what I need to do. We’re all serving the kids of Fayetteville schools however that might be.”

Butterfield Trail Assistant Principal Heather Williams will remain at the campus where she has worked for all 14 years — 6½ as an assistant principal — she’s been with Fayetteville School District. She was to go to McNair Middle School.

“I am ecstatic,” Williams said Tuesday. “This allows me and the other assistant principals to continue building the relationships with students, families, teachers and community partners that we have worked diligently developing over the years.”

The recent chain of events showed Williams how much parents value assistant principals in the growth and development of their children, she said.

The policy Hewitt referred to in his decision is Policy No. 4115. State law gives superintendents authority to initiate changes in teaching positions, which includes assistant principals, but the School Board policy states transfers requested by administration will be voluntary, “provided the overall, legitimate objectives of the school administration are satisfied and the overall, legitimate needs of the school district are not impaired or adversely affected.”

Hewitt interpreted the policy to mean transfers must be voluntary unless they are necessary for the operation of the district, such as to fill

“I am ecstatic. This allows me and the other assistant principals to continue building the relationships with students, families, teachers and community partners that we have worked diligently developing over the years.” — Heather Williams, assistant principal, Butterfield Trail

an opening for an assistant principal position. In this case, the transfers weren’t necessary for the operation of the district, he said. The policy requires the administration to consider the seniority of those being transferred, which wasn’t considered.

The policy also would have required the superintendent or personnel director to meet with an individual being transferred to a different school, Hewitt said. The associate superintendents informed all the assistant principals as a group but did not meet with them individually.

“When I found that we had not adhered to our own policy, I felt I had to withdraw the action,” Hewitt said. “It could be argued that we followed the spirit of the law, but when the language appears clear, you must adhere to the policy.”

Hewitt