Allentown High principal’s ousting draws mixed reaction
Some Allen High School teachers said a “weight has been lifted” from their shoulders since Cheryl Clark was placed on administrative leave from her principalship earlier this month. But others don’t think she got a fair shake at the job.
Allentown School District placed Clark on leave April 5, after just seven months as principal, because of leadership and climate challenges at Allen. Frank Derrick, the district’s director of recruitment and retention, is leading the school as acting principal for the rest of the year.
The transition news came after a group of current and former staff members spoke with The Morning Call this month, citing a “toxic” and “unsafe” school environment under Clark’s leadership.
Derrick is a 20-year education veteran and the former principal of South Mountain Middle School, where he led the school for 12 years. Though the district won’t comment further on Clark’s employment status and no permanent principal has been announced, Derrick told students and reiterated to staff in an email that his goal is to be at Allen “long-term.”
Teachers and students agreed to speak with The Morning Call about Clark’s leadership and Derrick’s performance thus far under the condition of anonymity, fearing reprisal from the district for speaking with reporters.
“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done. It’s not a cure all with him being there,” one teacher said, adding staff members are no longer anxious about being yelled at like they were with Clark.
But a smaller group of teachers has pushed back
on critiques of Clark and the district’s handling of the situation altogether.
“Because Clark made some mistakes does not mean the district has to come behind her and make an even bigger mistake,” one teacher said. “The way this entire thing was handled could possibly kill her career.”
That teacher said they “butted heads” with Clark over issues, but thought she should have been allowed to finish the school year if a leadership transition was needed.
It’s no secret that the district tried to help Clark improve her performance long before she was placed on leave.
Administrators held staff listening sessions in February to get feedback on culture and climate under Clark’s leadership, and central office administrators were stationed at Allen for weeks to support Clark in her role.
But with Clark no longer in the building, she won’t have more time to address leadership concerns this school year, and her status in the district and at Allen in the future remains unclear.
The district has said it won’t comment on Clark’s employment status beyond acknowledging she is on leave, because it is a personnel matter.
Supporters say she was a ‘target’
Teachers who spoke in support of Clark said she had a harsh tone early in the school year, but said she was professional and helpful to them individually. Some said Clark’s tough approach was necessary for staff accountability and getting students to comply with school rules about uniforms and cellphones.
“I don’t think people gave Cheryl a chance. I think she was a target from day one,” a teacher said. “She came in as the new sheriff in town, and that turns some people off.
“They were used to people being nice. The problem people being nice for so long a lot of people were taking advantage of that.”
But even Superintendent Carol Birks had publicly acknowledged Allen faced “climate, culture and leadership challenges” under Clark before she was placed on leave.
Still, Clark’s supporters maintain they only had good experiences with her — she visited their classes and made positive comments to students. They said she was helpful if they needed assistance with getting supplies, or handling student discipline issues.
“I thought she was very down to earth,” one teacher said. “I thought she was school spirited. When I went to football games, she was there representing the school.”
Another teacher said some students appreciated Clark and noticed she was regularly attending school events.
At a recent school board meeting, two family members of Allen students spoke in support of Clark and said they were upset with her being placed on leave because she has helped students.
As for staff critiques of Clark’s leadership, a handful of teachers said their colleagues’ complaints to The Morning Call were unfair. They said classroom requirements, such as engagement strategies, are nothing new. And they said the presence of students roaming the halls has always been a problem at Allen.
When it came to interpersonal complaints, the teachers said they haven’t seen Clark yell at students or staff, but said she was stern because teachers didn’t show respect in faculty meetings, where they would regularly use their phones.
These teachers agreed Clark spent time in her office with the doors closed, but said they were always able to speak with her, simply by knocking.
This group of teachers attributed the negativity around Clark’s performance to colleagues resisting change and personalities clashing, along with students who weren’t used to seeing the district uniform and cellphone policies enforced.
“She had to put those harsher statements out there to gain some type of normalcy to get the school back under control,” a teacher said.
At its core, the dispute between Clark’s supporters and those who called for her removal comes down to leadership style: Those who wished her gone said she was demanding to the point of belittling staff, while those who supported her said her toughness was needed.
With Clark on leave and a new acting principal in charge, Clark’s supporters are split on what they want to see happen next. Some said they will get their job done regardless of who’s leading the school, while others want to see Clark reinstated.
But they agreed, no matter who is in charge, they will need more than one school year, and perhaps much longer, to make real change at Allen.
New acting leader stands in contrast
In his first few days on the job, Derrick has worked to make himself visible in and around the school building, teachers said, adding he has been friendly to both students and staff.
They said Derrick is working from the principal’s office and keeps the doors open for people to walk in, a contrast to Clark.
In conversations with Derrick thus far, teachers said he has encouraged them to stop by his office or send him emails. He is also learning people’s names, which teachers said Clark hadn’t done.
“He’s listening to the school leadership, listening to teachers and things like that,” one teacher said. “And that’s something that was never done, I felt.”
Teachers said Derrick is leaning on the expertise of staff members who have been at Allen for decades, asking for their opinions as he makes decisions.
“It’s a back and forth,” another teacher added. “It’s not telling. It’s not dictating what’s going to happen. It’s listening to people.”
Derrick has already been efficient in making special schedules for the end of the year and communicating with staff in a timely manner, they said.
He has also instituted a virtual sign-in process for teachers after widespread complaints about a physical sign-in sheet Clark created for teachers that required them to wait in line each morning.
Teachers said Derrick has begun addressing other pain points at the school, too.
Because of understaffing, some teachers said there has been an increase in students wandering the halls and skipping class in recent months.
Derrick has reinstated “hall sweeps” to tackle the problem, which teachers said have been effective at encouraging students to go to class, though not a panacea.
A hall sweep starts with an announcement made at the start of the period telling students to go to class. Security then takes any remaining students in the halls to an administrator. Hall sweeps were done in past years, but stopped under Clark, teachers said.
Derrick is also working to address ongoing disciplinary issues by giving students detentions, instead of “ATS,” alternative to suspension, staff and students said.
They said Clark would escalate disciplinary issues to ATS, instead of issuing detentions, a lesser punishment. During ATS, students sit in the same room all day and complete their work there instead of in their classes.
“I’ve seen kids that go here this year that are honor roll students, and they get in trouble for the littlest thing, and they’ve never been in trouble before. It makes no sense to me,” one senior said, adding administrators should instead focus on giving warnings moving forward, as Derrick’s team has done.
In a recent email to staff, Derrick said he is also relaxing enforcement of the uniform policy so teachers can focus on teaching instead of writing up uniform violations, noting he can’t eliminate the policy altogether because it comes from the district.
“It is near impossible to enforce on a consistent level throughout the entire school, takes a lot of time away from teaching and learning, and could often affect our most vulnerable students,” he wrote.
Another senior said they’ve already seen Derrick managing student behaviors more positively than Clark, who they said always yelled at students. This senior saw Derrick approach peers who were late to class.
“I remember with the old principal, she would start screaming, but just viewing them, they were smiling,” the student said of the interaction. “He wasn’t trying to induce fear. He’s definitely going to benefit Allen.”
Teachers said students who are familiar with Derrick from South Mountain were excited to see a familiar face in the building. Teachers also think Derrick’s familiarity with Allentown and the district can only be a benefit as acting principal.
One teacher said it takes talent to work in an urban school, and they think Derrick has that ability, which they said Clark was lacking. They called Derrick a “breath of fresh air.”
“Allen is not like Parkland or Emmaus,” the teacher said. “You have students who like the interactive touch. They will do things for you, but you have to establish positive relationships with them first.”
Derrick has been holding meetings with students by grade level and stopping into classrooms to chat with them while getting to know staff.
“He’s looking at the bigger picture right now,” one teacher said. “He’s trying to get people to come back to the table because a lot of people backed away. I think that’s what he’s doing first, and I think he has to.”