A parent strongly criticized the Saucon Valley School Board and the district’s administration for their recent communication–or alleged lack thereof–with parents and students Tuesday, as well as the direction in which the district is heading.
Lower Saucon Township resident Sue Sager–who said she was representing a number of parents–spoke at the board’s meeting and specifically addressed the recent leave and subsequent resignation of high school principal Eric Kahler, which she said was a matter that should have been better communicated to parents.
–To watch the Sept. 27, 2016 Saucon Valley School Board meeting, click here.
“According to a newspaper article printed in The Morning Call after the last board meeting, board member, Mr. (Ed) Inghrim, said that he first learned Mr. Kahler was leaving during an executive session on Aug. 23,” Sager said. “So the board found out about this six days before school started, but the parents and students found out on Sept. 13. That’s 21 days after the board was told, and 15 days after the start of the school year. I am very disappointed in the way that Mr. Kahler’s resignation was communicated to the students and parents.”
Sager said she was also disappointed that Superintendent Dr. Monica McHale-Small called the communication that did occur “appropriate.”
Further Reading: Student says high school principal’s departure should have been better communicated
“To me, it would have been appropriate, possible and only fair to let the parents and students know immediately after the board found out,” she said. “Or, at the very least, before the start of the school year. Instead we had students and parents wondering where their principal was, without a word being said or any type of explanation. How could that possibly be appropriate and more importantly fair to the students and parents in this school district?”
Sager delivered her comments after the board appointed assistant principal Ken Napaver acting principal for the 2016-2017 school year, upon McHale-Small’s recommendation.
McHale-Small noted that Napaver has been assistant principal since January 2016 and has been acting principal since the school year began about a month ago.
She said the principal position will be posted in the spring to give other potential candidates an opportunity to apply for it.
However, appointing him acting principal “will give Mr. Napaver a chance to prove himself to us and it will also give him a chance to see if this is a job he might be interested in,” she said.
“There have been a lot of changes and things are going quite well at the high school right now,” she added. “We want to keep things moving in a positive direction.”
McHale’s characterization of the atmosphere in the high school contrasted sharply with Sager’s comments about the current atmosphere in the district in general, and the recent hiring of three administrators from the Bensalem School District–including McHale-Small, Napaver and assistant district superintendent Susan Mowrer-Benda–which she called indicative of a lack of diversity in administrative hiring; diversity that’s encouraged in other areas of the district.
“This year at least a dozen students left our school district,” she told the board. “Parents pulled their children from Saucon Valley and their kids are now going to private schools or charter schools because of the major changes in the curriculum here. I have talked to a lot of people about this, and I am certain that this number will increase next year if things don’t change. This will look really bad for our school district. Families with children, thinking about moving into this area, will certainly think twice about it when they find out how many parents are pulling their kids out of this school district.”
Sager also said she believes the atmosphere for teachers at Saucon Valley has become toxic.
“We have teachers here at Saucon Valley walking around in fear,” she said. “They are afraid to say anything at all beause it might be the wrong thing, and as a result they may end up being reprimanded or losing their job. In my opinion, over the past two years people’s lives have been turned upside down and the quality of our children’s education has really declined. Many people, including myself, feel this is a result of poor upper administration here at Saucon Valley. If the people in charge of this school district can’t turn things around and make it a school district that teachers want to teach at again–a district where students once again receive high quality education–and a district that parents are proud to say their children attend, then I believe we need to find people that are able to accomplish this.”
Board member Ralph Puerta rebutted Sager’s comments about the status of the district, which he called “100 percent negative” and “disheartening.”
“I just don’t believe that’s the case,” he said of her characterizations.
Puerta said the district disseminated information as it was able to in the case of Kahler’s resignation because “we can only act in sequence.” He admitted he couldn’t explain the remarks made to the Morning Call by Inghrim–who was absent Tuesday night, along with board member Mark Sivak–but said he perhaps he missed an executive session.
“It is really unfortunate that (Kahler’s resignation) happened at the beginning of the school year,” he said. “The timing was not good.”
Puerta said the board could have handled the situation better, but “to portray that as a purposeful deceit on our part–that’s just not true.”
Sager replied that she had not portrayed the board’s actions as “a purposeful deceit” and Puerta apologized for characterizing her remarks that way.
“I’m sorry you see things so differently than we do,” he told her.
Saucon Valley Education Association president Vivian Demko also refuted Sager’s claim about teachers being fearful of speaking out.
“I also know a lot of teachers and communicate with a lot of teachers quite often,” Demko said.
She said that as union president she recently encouraged teachers via email to come forward “and indicate their fears and concerns about anything that was happening in our school system.”
“I have not had anyone step forward,” Demko told the board. “I read social media, where it said our teachers are being bullied and afraid to (speak up)… I know these teachers quite well. They’re not afraid to speak up.”
