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Show ! j 1 - I If ' ,A n 7 . j.i V . Superintendent, Dr. Richard Goodworth: "He's got to do what I say," . , "'fl ! ' j 4 i r 1 l L M i Schoolboard president, Gary Avise: "I'm sure this won't be decided by midnight on Tuesday." (,. : r . . - A " ; ' - M - :::-7:':-;;-":f:,::;;-!::-:V;::;- s f S-if I? VS3:':. -,: K. ' . ; in J lM....im,i., . i . . r .,r .,:,.-...,r ,. Middle School principal, Dr. Brian Schiller has five page roadmap of remediation. Mid-School Principal Not a Team Player? Shiller's Termination Arouses Community Wrath the leadership of Steve Holcomb and a meeting scheduled for Sunday to determine how best to support Dr. Schiller and affect his reinstatement. Saturday, March 11-The story was aired on KSL TV on the five o'clock news. There were interviews with both Dr. Schiller and Dr. Goodworth. The Tuesday, March 14-Dr. Schiller released the documents given to him relating the reasons the board has failed to renew his contract, without comment. Behind the stark facts of the situation, however, the failure of the Dr. Goodworth. This reporter was informed, first by Goodworth, and then by Gary Avise, that Goodworth could not be interviewed nor questioned, question-ed, and that Avise would speak for the board. No reason was forthcoming for . this gag order. - Schiller's reaction to the l&assoV? action was one of surprise. ,'Irr,'n?)G experience," he commented, 'ijji-culties 'ijji-culties in school, whether genqratfd by students, teachers, parent- administrators are generally obvjouza Not here. I'm a little surprised atJr has happened." ho c ct to Please turn to pageju CO See Confidential School Memos on Page 8 by De Fisher By one decision, the Board of Education has become embroiled in what appears to be a city-wide cause celebre. That decision was not to renew Dr. Brian Schiller's contract as the principal of the Treasure Mountain : Middle School. The Sisyphean stone was set roll ing last Tuesday night. Tuesday, March 8-In a special meeting, the Board of Education voted not to renew the contract of Treasure Mountain Middle School Principal Dr. Brian Schiller. An evaluation by Dr. Richard Goodworth of Dr. Schiller's performance as principal, together with other input to the board was given as the basis for his termination. Thursday, March 10-Dr. Goodworth called Dr. Schiller and asked him to come into his. office. Upon arriving at Goodworth's office on Thursday afternoon, Schiller was given a letter informing him his contract would not be renewed for the coming year, together with a Performance Plan which he could follow if he wanted to have the board reconsider his status and perhaps reinstate him to his position. Dr. Schiller returned to the middle school and attended an already scheduled faculty meeting at which he announced the decision of the superintendent and the board; Friday, March 10-A group of concerned parents was formed, under only concrete reason given for the termination was a "close, personal relationship (by Schiller) with a board member." Goodworth declined to divulge any other reason for Schiller's contract not being renewed. Sunday, Marchl2-A meeting of parents was held. Plans to circulate petitions in support of Dr. Schiller were made, and ways in which to approach the board were considered. This meeting was reported by the media Uso. Monday, March 13-The story broke in Park City as KPCW aired the news. Petitions began to circulate among parents, interested citizens, middle school students and students of the ninth grade who had attended the middle school last year. Board president Gary Avise also declined to reveal the reasons behind the board action. t u u k, k . ...-. - i.. v - v v v v V "V v t Board of Education to renew the contract of Dr. . Brian Schiller as principal of the Treasure Mountain Middle School has aroused the emotions of Park City parents, kids, teachers and general citizenry. It has led to the organization cf a group of parents who plan to fight his termination and it has created an atmosphere which is potentially acrimonious. The first confrontation between the two factions is scheduled for Tuesday, March 22, at 8 p.m., when the board has scheduled a special meeting. At that time, the petitions will be presented, and, according to spokesman spokes-man Steve Holcomb, presentations will be made on Dr. Schiller's behalf. In the meantime, everyone involved has had some type of a statement to make. That is, with the exception of Angry Residents Unite Continued from Page 1 A Sure, he may have bucked the board on occasion, but that's only because he isn't a "yes" man." ' Steve Holcomb continued, "Generally people feel Schiller Schil-ler has done some innovative things. The children are devoted to him. He is a charasmatic person." "I think we need to examine why it is we in the Park City seem to be getting a new principal or key administrator every other year. What exactly is the conflict?" "The parents group has several things planned to support Brian. First and foremost, we want to see him reinstated. Hopefully, we can get this message across to the board and get the matter settled. If not, well... we were the college generation genera-tion of the 60s. We've been, through this kind of thing before." "I don't think returning from England (where Schiller Schill-er was on sabbatical) one day late because he wanted to visit his mother in Michigan, or leaving an hour and a half early for Christmas vacation, or being 10 days late in turning in a broken chair report or not getting along with Jack Dozier are sufficient suffic-ient reasons for firing Schil-er. Schil-er. ' ' Holcomb pointed out even the ninth graders in Park City are showing their support for Schiller by circulating their own petition. peti-tion. It reads: The signatures of the freshmen of ParkCity High written below represent repre-sent those who disagree with and question what is now being brought forward against Dr. Brian Schiller." It is followed by 50 signatures. signa-tures. Holcomb concluded "Our main aim is to get the board to reconsider and get Brian reinstated. Then we need to consider the problem of turnover among administrators. administra-tors. If that leads to problems concerning Good-worth, Good-worth, then we'd better solve them. A lot of the parents want to see him leave, but we have to keep in mind that is not our main issue here." Other parents have voiced their desire to see Dr. Goodworth relieved of his duties. Some have said, "Either Schiller or Good-worth. Good-worth. But Holcomb is trying his best to quash that line of thinking. He feels that sort of devisiveness and acrimony can only hurt the cause of those supporting Schiller. "Let's get Brian reinstated, and then see where we want to go," he said. Holcomb, whose work takes him to Salt Lake every day, has taken the week off to parent the various efforts on behalf of Schiller. "I'm really dedicated to seeing we keep quality education in Park City. I think Brian Schiller embodies that aim. ' ' Gary Avise, speaking for the board, -indicated Dr. Goodworth 's contract for the coming two years has not, at Schiller said Goodworth emphasized to him, when he gave him his letter of termination, that the second paragraph of the letter was "perhaps" as important as the first. (That paragraph said "Without waiving either the foregoing notice or the position of the Board, you are further advised that the Board is willing to continue to evaluate your performance and based upon that evaluation, evalua-tion, may reconsider the action taken above.") Schiller Schil-ler said Goodworth explained that if the Performance (or remediation) Plan were followed fol-lowed implicity, there was a possibility he could stay. Schiller indicated in the Monday interview he did not know who had contacted Channel 5 news, or given them their information. He said, at that time, he would rather not comment on the personal relationship with a board member averred to by the newscaster, nor did he want to go into the reasons given in the evaluation for his termination. (He changed his mind Tuesday and released the documents to the press, although without any comment.) Any further comment, said Schiller, would be to the board at their Tuesday meeting. He said he wanted to discuss the entire matter with them at that time. (He has been given a large portion of the two and one-half hour executive session ses-sion which will preceed the public meeting.) Parents, in unprecedented numbers, have rushed to Schiller's aid. (Estimates of the number of signatures on various petitions being circulated circu-lated exceed the number of citizens who voted in the most recent school board elections.) The wording of their petition reads: "We, the citizens of the Park City School District, wish to express our affirmation and support for Dr. Brian Schiller, Schill-er, principal of the Treasure Mountain Middle School. We appreciate his success at enriching Treasure Mountain Moun-tain Middle School with his excellent academic program, his superior leadership, and his positive interaction with students, parents, and facul- ty." Parent Johnny Totten voiced the most often heard comment on Schiller. "Brian is very innovative. The children, the parents, the teachers and the principal have never had such good communication. He has improved im-proved the curriculum and what we, as parents, need to do is get him reinstated. this time, been renewed. He said, however, the board has until June 30 to decide whether to renew the contract con-tract or not. Then board chairman Nancy McComb said, however, early in the year that the board felt they should consider Goodworth' s contract at an early date so he could seek other employment employ-ment if it were not renewed. None of the board members will now comment on whether wheth-er or not Goodworth's contract has been the subject of discussion by the board. McComb did say the board would be watching Good-worth Good-worth in the present crisis. Gary Avise, as president of the board, stated the board's position concerning Schiller. He said, "We did Schiller a favor by letting him know by March 10th. We didn't have to because he's not tenured. "I don't think this comes as a surprise. As early as January 4, we (the board) talked to Dr. Schiller." "I don't think the parents know the facts here. We're trying to protect Dr. Schiller by not revealing the reasons we have not renewed his contract. We feel that is something between us and Dr. Schiller. We aren't making our reasons public now, nor are we going to give reasons at the board meeting Tuesday." "A lot of things went into our decision (to terminate Schiller.) Dr. Goodworth provided evaluation of Dr. Schiller, but we received input from a lot of sources. The board was involved in a significant way in drawing up the Performance Plan." "That plan is going to take time. We have until the end of the year. I can tell you one thing, I'm sure this won't be decided by midnight on Tuesday." Avise admitted "In some ways he's (Schiller) the best administrator we've ever had. His staff is very unified in support of him. If he addresses the concerns in the Performance Plan, we would reconsider. That is going to take time. I hope that it is resolved positively. Dr. Schiller is going to be a terrific administrator some day." Nancy McComb added, "I think we need to consider why we have so much litigation and firings. The key to the problem seems to be a lack of communication. McComb did not comment on her alleged friendship with Schiller. The Performance Plan given to Schiller is the answer to everyone's problems, pro-blems, according to Avise. If followed by Schiller, the board would then reconsider its position. This five page roadmap of remediation sets out performance standards which Schiller must adopt. They fall into four categor-f categor-f , ies. . .. , i Please turn to page 22A v More Schiller Continued from Page I OA The first is "District ' Philosophy and Operation." t It concerns the running of the district by the policy manual and adhering to the directions of the superinten- ; dent. It particularly requires j Schiller to submit all memos to the superintendent before '( they are sent to teachers or j parents and to support in all matters the superintendent. ) The second section deals with "Administrative Func- I tioning." This section cites -j areas in which there has been "less than total sup- j port" by Schiller of the I board's decisions and goes on to set out ways in which i Schiller must change his procedures. These include " better and more timely record keeping, clearing all new proposed programs with the superintendent before ' taking them before teachers, , evaluating teachers in the . manner required by the superintendent and weekly I meetings with the superin- tendent. ? In the third section, entitled "Peer Relation-! Relation-! ships", the main thrust of the requirements appears to I be that "Dr. Schiller must i become a team man." The last section requires Dr. Schiller to absent himself from any teacher association meetings if complaints against the board are being discussed. Dr. Schiller did not have any comment at this time ' concerning the Performance Plan. ' In the view of Schiller's colleagues, he doesn't seem to need much improvement. ' ; In a recent administrative evaluation completed by the faculty of the middle school, to which nineteen out of I twenty-one responded, eighteen of the teachers i rated Schiller's overall per- formance at the highest level. The one form which did not respond to the overall ' (J rating had all but four responses strong. The 1 comment on the evaluation ; sheet indicates this would make the rating unanimous. Schiller's teachers rated him high in creative leadership, leader-ship, decision-making rapport ! with the faculty, giving assistance to teachers, cham pioning academic freedom, supporting his teachers with the administration and ; respect for him with stu- i dents, parents and teachers. His weakest rating, and even t then he was ranked as superior by over half of the teachers, is in the area of handling unexpected pro-) pro-) blems. 1 The results of the survey i were transmitted to the ! Board of Education on March I 8, the day they voted not to i renew Schiller's contract. f The Tuesday Board of ' j Education meeting will be I broadcast live at 8 p.m. over |