Effective principal should be allowed to keep her job

How lucky we are to have an amazing, energetic and respected principal at Wildwood Elementary School. During her short tenure, Darlene Hale has implemented several new programs to correct academic deficiencies, all of which have become very successful. Wildwood's Academic Performance Index has increased by 27 points, the second highest in the CVUSD, under Darlene's leadership.

Wildwood Elementary School has had four principals in ten years This isn't an acceptable situation.

CVUSD is operating in a vacuum, and there's a lack of accountability to the citizens of the Conejo Valley, especially the Wildwood community.

When parents heard that Darlene's job was in jeopardy, we were horrified. Several attended the board meeting (and others wrote letters supporting her). Both Superintendent Mario Contini and trustee Mike Dunn responded in a timely and professional manner. However, the other school board members did not have the courtesy to send the minimum of an auto-response.

Darlene was not officially notified by the district concerning her line item being on the March 13 agenda. Hence, Darlene and/ or her supporters did not ask the school board (to) pull her line item from the agenda. It's infuriating that the school board didn't discuss or follow up on the public testimony before voting on Darlene's fate. It's apparent that their decision was previously made behind closed doors in a vacuum.

Board members are supposed to work for the people, not special interest groups such as the teachers' union.

Apparently, principals are subject to removal from their positions without just cause. Is this what happened to Darlene Hale? Wildwood students, parents and teachers have been negatively impacted by Darlene's termination, so don't we deserve an explanation? Administrators and trustees say that they cannot discuss Darlene's dismissal because it's a personnel matter. The only explanation given to Darlene was that the teachers were unhappy with her. How unfair for the district to "blame" the teachers, especially when teacher complaints against principals are processed anonymously by the teachers' union.

Where is the accountability? We, the people, have the right to know why our school district dismissed our principal when our children are thriving at school and she is responsible for the improvements.

Perhaps Darlene's contract wasn't renewed for political reasons, and the district is concealing the truth by hiding behind the Privacy Act?

Shame on the school board and the administrators who decided to terminate Darlene. Instead, Darlene Hale should be commended by CVUSD for her passion, competence and commitment to our children, school district and community. Bonnie Bylin Thousand Oaks