LONGVIEW — Two Woodland Middle School teachers were fired Dec. 17, and parents, teachers and a union representative are speculating the firings were retribution for the teachers’ accusations of unprofessional conduct by middle school principal Cari Thomson.
A letter dated Dec. 17 from Superintendent Michael Green to physical education teacher Cheryl Nesbitt, a 21-year Woodland schools veteran, stated Nesbitt was fired for “insubordination” and “misrepresentation or falsification in the course of professional practice.”
The Daily News was unable to obtain a copy of 11-year Woodland schools veteran and honors English teacher Holly Royle’s termination letter, though Washington Education Association representative Roy Maier wrote in an email to The Daily News on Tuesday that Royle was fired for similar reasons.
This is the second notable in-house incident to hit the Woodland School District in 2014 after former Woodland Primary School Principal Mark Houk was arrested in April on suspicion of using excessive force to restrain a 9-year-old specials-needs student on three occasions during the 2013-14 school year. Houk did not stand trial but agreed to a plea deal in October that required him to undergo anger management treatment and pay a $584 fine.
Houk was eventually terminated and replaced by Steve Carney.
In an email to a parent, Nesbitt wrote that several months ago Royle transferred a special-needs student who had severe difficulty reading out of her honors English class and into Nesbitt’s PE class. Nesbitt wrote in the email that Thomson knew of the student’s move to PE, which, like the honors English class, is an elective.
“I understand that (Thomson) knew about (the schedule change) for several weeks,” Maier said in a phone interview with The Daily News on Tuesday.
Although she said she was instructed to do so by Thomson, Nesbitt wrote in her email that she never gave the student a grade for the second quarter, because he was not in her class much of the time. Maier said Royle gave him a “P” for passing in her English class.
Nesbitt wrote that she explained the student’s situation in a meeting with Thomson earlier in December and was told in an email from Thomson to keep the student in her PE class and that Thomson would speak to his parents about making the schedule change official.
The termination letter Nesbitt received from Green stated that she was told that Royle’s request to transfer the student had been denied and had never been approved by Thomson. In Green’s words, Nesbitt and Royle had made the schedule change “without following proper procedure” and that steps required to initiate a transfer had not been taken.
Nesbitt and Royle were fired Dec. 17 after school, leaving them only two days to appeal their termination before the holiday break after schools closed Dec. 19. Washington law, Maier said, gives teachers 10 calendar days to appeal a termination.
“It was definitely timed, so that the district would not have time to respond,” Maier said. “It was a real dirty trick.”
With Maier’s help, Nesbitt and Royle filed an appeal.
Maier said by phone that he, parents and teachers suspect that Nesbitt and Royle were fired for keeping notes on alleged misconduct by Thomson, news that Maier said might have reached Thomson through unofficial channels.
Maier sent an email to Green on Dec. 19 with a list of four broad accusations of unprofessional and inappropriate conduct by Thomson and a request that Green report Thomson to the state Office of Professional Practices for further investigation. Maier said he is gathering statements by parents and teachers detailing examples of Thomson’s misconduct and will present them to the Woodland School Board at its next regular meeting, Jan. 12.
“This is probably the worst example of a principal behaving badly that I’ve ever seen,” Maier said by phone.
Parents and teachers accuse Thomson of inappropriate behavior in front of staff and students, making remarks of an inappropriate, sexual nature in the presence of students and teachers and of physically assaulting a special needs student.
Parents, Nesbitt and Royle are rallying supporters by email, text and Facebook to show up at the Jan. 12 meeting. Parent Angie Knight said she and other parents are planning a protest for Jan. 5, when school resumes.
“I don’t ever stick my neck out for things, which is bad because I have five kids (in Woodland schools),” said Knight by phone on Monday. “If I didn’t say something, no one would.”
Green replied in a letter to Maier marked for Monday that “I do not possess sufficient reliable information to believe that Ms. Thomson is not of good moral character or has committed an act of unprofessional conduct based solely on the conclusory allegations in your letter.” Green wrote that “the District will investigate these allegations.”
The Woodland School Board convened an executive session on Dec. 20, though little information on the meeting was available Tuesday. A posting on the district’s website said the agenda pertained to a part of Washington law that states executive sessions may be used “to evaluate the qualifications of an applicant for public employment or to review the performance of a public employee.”
Green did not respond to calls Monday or Tuesday.