A chain of incidents pitting staff matters against student concerns prompts an Eye of the Tiger investigation into how and when Roseville High School releases public information and what it does to address complaints.
BY BRIAN NUEVO
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Roseville High School administration dismissed Jon Coleman, one of RHS’s assistant principals who will be leaving at the end of this school year, with no clear reason as to why he will not be at Roseville next year.
District and site admin often take this approach when dealing with personnel issues, investigative and personal alike.
Byrd resolves to be conservative when releasing information to parents and students in issues dealing with personnel.
“This involves real people, with real jobs and their positions,” Byrd said. “Those are personnel issues and personal issues, and I never comment on that with the people that work here, from that standpoint. I don’t get into specific individuals or specific people. I try not to do that because I try to have good, strong, professional relationships with people.”
One of Coleman’s trap shooters Skyler Corbett heard no solid statement about his dismissal.
“I heard it was a rumor but I haven’t asked about it,” junior Corbett said. “No one’s told me anything. I’m worried if there’s going to be a trap team next year, because we may not have a coach.”
In addition to Coleman, admin decided not to bring Mark Toffelmier back as the school’s athletic director. They informed Toffelmier over spring break and made no official statement to band or to concerned parents.
According to third-year band student Amanda Lopes, many students in band program are upset that administration did not properly communicate to them how the program will be continued.
“My family and I are disappointed in admin for not emailing the band families about the change,” Lopes said. “With this change we don’t know what the music situation will be.”
Last school year, Roseville Joint Union School District put RHS’s former athletic director Jamie Bunch on leave and eventually terminated his employment.
Byrd and district admin were reluctant to share details to concerned parents and students in order to not “impede the ongoing investigation.”
“That situation would fall under the ‘to protect everybody involved, I’m not going to make any comment on that,’” Byrd said, regarding Bunch.
Even after Bunch’s investigation closed and he was officially fired from Roseville Joint Union High School District, district admin made no official informational announcement to answer the community’s questions. Byrd cites the situation as being “irrelevant” after a long period of time.
“If things get dealt with, and they’re dealt with the right way, and everyone involved has agreed to that,” Byrd said. “Once we’ve done that, and once we’ve dealt with that, then we don’t always feel like we have to release something or release anything about that.”
RHS’s Roseville Secondary Educators Association representative Paul Stewart believes that school administration should protect the personal interest of staff members.
“Over time, let’s be patient because there’s things happening all the time. Let it run its course,” Stewart said. “After time once it’s proven true then the name comes out. In the end let it die down, let time heal it.”
According to Byrd, there is no exact district policy preventing him from sharing information with the community.
“I think most people actually understand the idea that when we’re trying to get traction on this issue, it’s gotta happen behind closed doors to protect everybody involved,” Byrd said.
In the incident where there are several concerned and complaining parents, Byrd believes that no matter how many people in the community call for information to be released, only “what’s right” will be released.
“I never want to say those decisions are just based on how many people really want info released,”
Byrd said. “In fact the simple truth [is that] it really should be about what’s right to be released, what’s fair to be released, what needs to go out to people, what do they need to know and what do they not need to know.”
RJUHSD director of personnel services Brad Basham hopes that parents and students can trust the district’s intentions when they stay silent.
“We try to have this understanding of trust we have to be able to do our jobs and we hope that the parents trust us that we are doing our jobs the appropriate way,” Basham said. “Sometimes they’re not privy to the information we have, but we can’t share it because it’s confidential.”
Health and Safety teacher Hank DeMello was dismissed as RHS’ varsity baseball coach in the 2013-14 school year. Brad Basham, Jamie Bunch, and Steve Williams held a public meeting regarding the future of RHS baseball, and the former principal and athletic director ended up answering to a library full of parents, outraged that they were kept in the dark.
“The baseball community had my back,” DeMello said. “The unfortunate thing is as coach they don’t have to give you a reason, they can just come in and say we don’t want you to coach anymore.”
DeMello believes that the purpose of the district’s silence was not for his own best interest.
“I think if the real story got out we would really upset the community,” DeMello said. “[The meeting] was to protect them. They kept that one as vague as possible. Even when they were caught on some of the things by the parents who were questioning, they had already made up their minds so they weren’t going to change it. I don’t think it was for me. I had nothing to hide.”
Currently, Lopes and several others involved in Toffelmier’s music classes have encouraged their parents to complain to administration about the decision. Byrd has scheduled personal meetings with concerned parties to address Toffelmier’s dismissal.
“I kind of find [the decision] a little disrespectful because of how long he’s been here and how much he has sacrificed to the program,” sophomore band student Alyssa Abbott said.
Abbott’s mother Anne Abbott believes that although the school’s decision seems final, speaking out against the decision will show the true feelings within the band community.
“Anything, a petition or a letter writing campaign, will really let the administration know how much he’s really affected the kids,” Anne said. “Not only over the kids I’ve seen over the last few years but really over the last thirty years that he’s been at the school.”
