The 2008-09 grand jury investigated Leggett Valley Unified School District after receiving multiple complaints alleging improper behavior by students, parents and staff and abdication of leadership by school board members and the incumbent administrator.
Investigation of the formerly award-winning Leggett Valley campus verified reports of physical abuse and sexual harassment by students against other students, and verbal abuse by students of one another, their teachers and staff.
Similar behavior was documented to have occurred on the school campus between parents and by parents against teachers, staff and board members, according to the report, which was leaked to The Daily Journal before being posted on the grand jury report Web site.
LVUSD has had a strong academic reputation, the jury mentions, adding that it is the only district in Mendocino County that has avoided Program Improvement sanctions on the basis of its positive annual student test scores. U.S. News and World Report included it among the top high schools in the nation this year. The 2005-06 grand jury visited LVUSD and several other rural schools and concluded that "Šthese rural districts boast caring, competent staff Š strict but not unreasonable regulations and a personal, nurturing educational environment that larger urban and suburban schools cannot duplicate."
"Since 2007, these positive conditions in LUVSD have deteriorated under an administration that has failed to enforce either the Student Disciplinary Policy or the District Civility Policy that requires adults to comply with Education and Penal Code statutes governing behavior on public school campuses" the grand jury report states.
"During this period, the roles of principal and superintendent have been held by a single administrator (Gordon Piffero) who has ceded much of his authority and responsibility to a cadre of increasingly aggressive parents who enter the campus at will, verbally accosting teachers and staff and disrupting classrooms and school board meetings with abusive language, threats and demands. Student behavioral referrals have steadily increased for infractions including foul language, disrespect toward teachers and peers, sexual harassment, possession of illegal substances, fighting and bullying," continues the report.
The result is a campus atmosphere, the grand jury says, that was uniformly described to jurors as "tense." Those interviewed expressed unanimous concern about the tense and stressful atmosphere and its impact on the school community. A few individuals feel physically threatened, noted the report. "Several expressed concerns for the impact on teaching and learning. Most worry about the future of the district," the report said.
Some parental complaints alleged that specific students were being unfairly singled out for behavioral referrals and discipline, stated the report. "This parental protectiveness contrasted sharply with concerns expressed by others about the impact of these students' behavior on the school community and the importance of curtailing their misbehavior, for their own good, rather than allowing it to escalate. The students who were the focus of these complaints were repeatedly described during interviews and in formal reports as disrespectful and disruptive in class and in other school settings. They have bullied and sexually harassed other students and verbally abused school employees. The administrator described them as rambunctious.'"
In addition, the report states that a documented incident of sexually inappropriate text messaging between a student and a young coach is playing a major role in fueling dysfunction in the school community. Rumors based on accurate descriptions of the offending text messages have escalated into "unproven allegations of inappropriate physical contact." Some parents also claim "unfair treatment" of the involved students by the coach's parent who has been "a respected, long-term teacher" in the district. "These rumors have spread throughout the school community, fueling discord, damaging reputations and leading to the loss of valued employees through suspensions and resignations," the grand jury states.
Moreover, for more than half of the 2008-09 school year, the teacher accused of unfairly disciplining some students has been on administrative leave, replaced by substitutes with "no knowledge" of the subject matter. Students have been assigned, the report states, the same grade they received during the first grading interval, despite having no opportunity to increase their knowledge of the subject and have their learning properly assessed. These grades were submitted, without consultation or consent, over the name of the teacher who was prevented from teaching and assessing the students' learning, the grand jury report states.
A few parents have put intense pressure on the administration, states the jury, "to keep the accused teacher on administrative leave." In the presence of jurors, they angrily repeated their threat that if the school board allows the teacher to return, a significant number of students will leave the district. This would have serious, if not disastrous, budget consequences.
During the spring, the Leggett Valley School Board determined that new site leadership will be sought by hiring one individual to serve as the Leggett site principal and another as the district superintendent, explains the report. "This is a crucial decision that requires immediate action, however, much more will be required. Training, and support from the Mendocino County Office of Education and the Mendocino County sheriff, and a dramatic shift in parental attitudes and behavior will be essential if the new administrators and the LVUSD Board are to return the District's focus to educating and shaping the character development of its students and to reclaiming its formerly exemplary reputation," says the grand jury.
http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/ci_12526050
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