Let bygones be bygones over school principal

Now that the dust has settled or almost settled at Wildwood Elementary School, I would like to make a few things clear to the public. Usually when a member of the school district is reassigned there's a reason behind that decision.

In the case of Principal Darlene Hale, no one knows except Ms. Hale and the Conejo Valley Unified District Board of Education. The reason the district tries to keep these issues quiet is that well-meaning parents try to change the decision. This causes much confusion and misunderstanding.

The parents need to accept the fact that there was good cause for not renewing Principal Hale's administrative contract. The decision of how and when to make the announcement public is made by the employee who's leaving. In this case that would be Ms. Hale.

But a parent found out and went public, causing so much unrest for the parents, teachers, staff and children. There was speculation by some parents that the teaching staff was responsible for the district's decision. This is not true.

We have a dedicated, professional and exceptional teaching staff here at Wildwood. If it were the teachers that drove Ms. Hale out, then Ms. Hale would have been transferred to another school as principal, not to a teaching position. This should tell you that the teachers are not to blame.

I understand the frustration of the parents not knowing why Ms. Hale will not be returning. The district is protecting the privacy of Ms. Hale and might be liable if they divulged the reason for their decision. The district is being responsible and professional by not commenting.

It's not always best to know the why of something. As for the comments about Wildwood having three principals in the last 10 years, I will explain. Our last principal left Wildwood for an administrative position that became available at the district office. The principal before that moved to another city and (became) a principal there.

So neither the teaching staff nor the district was responsible for Wildwood having three principals in the last 10 years. People try to reach for someone to blame. Sometimes things just don't work out. Our teachers have done a wonderful job implementing the programs that Ms. Hale brought to Wildwood. The staff remains committed to teaching all of our children.

As for the board members, are they being disrespectful of parents' rights or are they being accountable to the position that they hold? Are they being responsible and justified in protecting Ms. Hale's personal information? And would this small group of parents really be satisfied with a reason and would it change the outcome?

Would you be justified in knowing someone else's personal information? For the good of our school, please let's all move on.
Susan Lomax
Wildwood Elementary School cafeteria manager