Lakeport Unified School Board removes Terrace Middle School principal from post
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
LAKEPORT, Calif. – At the end of a two-hour closed session Thursday night which had followed two open session meetings dominated by comments from parents, students and district staffers supporting Terrace Middle School Principal Rachel Paarsch, the Lakeport Unified School District Board voted to remove Paarsch from her post and return her to a teaching position.
“This was a very difficult matter,” said Board President Dennis Darling before an audience of several dozen community members who had waited two hours for the report. “We gave it our absolute best.”
However, Darling said that the board voted to release Paarsch from her position and return her to teaching as of Friday, Oct. 5.
The closed session vote was 4-0, with Board member Phil Kirby – who also is Paarsch’s father – recusing himself from the vote.
The board had held a special meeting at 2 p.m. Thursday in the district office, at which time they took about an hour of public comment from incensed parents in support of Paarsch.
The regular meeting, set for 6 p.m., was moved from the small meeting room at the district office to the MAC building across campus in order to accommodate the close to 200 people who attended.
Paarsch, who has been Terrace Middle School’s principal since August 2016, attended the Thursday evening meeting.
She declined to comment to Lake County News about the specifics of the situation. However, she did say that the outpouring of support from parents, students, site and district staff has been “encouraging.”
Because it’s a personnel matter, the district has not released details of the issues that led to the decision, which are contained in report left on Paarsch’s doorstep on Wednesday.
When told by Darling at the end of the meeting that she could take her questions about the decision to district Superintendent April Leiferman, Paarsch said her attorney would handle it, and that since she remained on administrative leave, she would not be at school on Friday.
Paarsch was placed on administrative leave on Sept. 24, a sudden development that left parents with more questions than answers. Her supporters have since alleged that the district violated California Education Code in how it treated Paarsch in the matter.
On Sept. 26, district Superintendent April Leiferman sent out an automated phone call to parents, with an email also sent out with a copy of a message about Paarsch’s leave.
The call, which ran just under 50 seconds, did not use Paarsch’s name but referred to her by her title.
The message stated, “Hello Terrace Middle School families, although personnel matters are confidential, I can tell you that while the principal is on leave there are plans in place to make sure that the school is running effectively and students are safe. The Assistant Principal Jen Montgomery, counselor Michelle Himenes and secretaries Renee Teverbaugh and Rachael Harmon are an amazing team. The district administrators and directors are pulling together to provide support. Teachers are continuing to provide a caring learning environment. We are also bringing in help to cover any gaps we may have in duties during this time. Legally, for everyone’s benefit, there is only limited information that we can share. Please be mindful that rumors and gossip are not helpful to anyone and certainly not to our schools or students. April Leiferman.”
The call, far from cutting back on the concerns, seemed only to inflame them, as recordings of the call and discussions about it began to circulate on social media, with concerned community members contacting Lake County News about the matter.
Following Thursday night’s meeting and the announcement of Paarsch’s removal, Lake County News asked Darling whose idea it was to issue the call. Darling said it was the school district’s attorney.
When asked why that decision was made, Darling declined to discuss the matter further.
The decision regarding Paarsch comes in the midst of a campaign for school board seats that has been marked by escalating emotion and rhetoric.
Three seats on the board – those held by Darling, Tom Powers and Lynn Andre – are up for election this November. Andre is not seeking reelection, but Darling and Powers are being challenged in their reelection bids by a slate of candidates that includes Carly Alvard, Dan Buffalo and Jen Hanson, all three of whom were at the meeting and waited for the report out of closed session.
Supporters of Paarsch pointed out that she has been vocal in her support of the three challengers, who have criticized the board and administration for numerous issues, from handling of Measure T bond proceeds to what they say has been an exodus of 50 percent of the district’s teachers.
“I hope that they listen to the community, and listen to the teachers and staff and really make the right decision,” Hanson told Lake County News while the closed session was taking place.
Board, superintendent heavily criticized
After hearing extensive public input at the Thursday afternoon meeting, the board, after convening again at 6 p.m., took another 45 minutes of comments dominated by support for Paarsch.
Parents, teachers and students who spoke praised Paarsch for her dedication to her students, the pride she takes in her work, her kindness, inclusiveness and outreach to local tribes, her tireless work and interaction with students, and her willingness to try new things.
There also was significant criticism leveled at Leiferman, the district superintendent since July 2017 who some suggested has led the board down this path due to politics and personal grievances against Paarsch.
Lura Anderson, a sixth grade teacher who retired last year but came back to work with Paarsch at Terrace Middle School, had presented a letter signed by her and several other teachers and parents to the board at its afternoon meeting. She said the board kept it and would not release it, but she shared a picture of it with Lake County News and also read the text of it at the evening meeting.
The letter, which had 21 signatures, praised Paarsch for her strong leadership and organizational skills, her consistent support for staff, her work to build staff and student spirit and morale, her support for the long-held Terrace mantra of “Is it good for the children?” It also called her a “gifted, intuitive administrator.”
“I’ve worked with a lot of administrators and she's the real deal,” Anderson said.
Anderson said she’s shocked by what has happened to Paarsch, with the actions taken by the district “putting a shadow over her and her character.” She added that Paarsch is the heart of the Terrace Middle School family.
Richard Hinchcliff, parent of an eighth grader, said he wanted to make sure the board understood that Paarsch is loved by a lot of the parents in the community. “She's had a big impact on a lot of kids in the school.”
When he recently asked his daughter what she thought of Paarsch, she replied, “I love Rachel, she’s awesome.” Hinchcliff added that there was no doubt in his mind that his daughter wouldn’t be doing as well or enjoying school as much if it weren’t for Paarsch, and he believed there are a lot of other children like her.
Nicole Elsa, a mother of four, three of them students in the district, said Paarsch is a great administrator and teacher.
She told the board, “It is clear that there is a political agenda set forth,” and called for the board and Leiferman to be replaced.
Carol Kenner, who had worked in the Terrace Middle School office at least 20 years before she retired, said Paarsch – unlike some previous principals, who mostly stayed in their offices – was out in the classrooms, talking to students, and spent time engaging with students and parents.
“She's a keeper. You need to keep her,” Kenner said, adding that she couldn’t imagine what Paarsch had done that couldn’t be fixed.
She said she’d also been in the district long enough to see many superintendents come and go, some good, some not. “I don’t think our current superintendent is a keeper,” a comment which was met by applause and stomping on the bleachers from the audience.
Erich Paarsch, Rachel Paarsch’s husband who begins speaking at about the 24:20 minute mark in the video above, said he had been surprised when, on Sept. 24, his wife was given a letter informing her that she was being placed on administrative leave. He said the letter was very general, and stated that there were multiple complaints against her.
When she asked for those complaints, she was told she couldn’t see them and that they would be shown to her during the investigation, he said.
At about noon on Wednesday, they received a package containing a document, more than 30 pages in length, which he called a report, not an investigation.
He said the document told them to be before the board to answer the allegations in person or in writing on Nov. 4. However, that was a mistake, as the correct date was Oct. 4, Thursday.
That meant, they had only 24 hours to respond to four pages of findings and complaints. “To me, that's ludicrous to begin with.”
He said there are a lot of complaints in the report, some of them very serious, which need to be explained. If there were issues, they could have been talked about earlier. “So now, here we are.”
Their young daughters also have been devastated by damaging rumors about their mother repeated to them by other students at school, he said, and that’s what he’s had to deal with because issues weren’t discussed at a lower level.
“This board should be more than aware of the fractured relationship between the superintendent and my wife, which has been going on since last year, because I know you received a letter,” he said.
He added that in the two years his wife had been at the school, there were “zero complaints on file” against her. He said she went from zero complaints to being put on paid administrative leave and treated like a criminal.
He questioned why the board couldn’t wait a week or a month to hear the response to the allegations against his wife contained in the report.
“This board doesn’t want to wait,” he said, predicting they would go into closed session and make the decision. His comments received a standing ovation.
Parent Cherie Eastham, who spoke at the afternoon meeting as well, told the board that the community understands that there may well be a legitimate issue to be addressed, that the board isn’t required to fire Rachel Paarsch, but can enlist all available options.
“You are going to further widen the gap of the ‘us versus them’ mentality that is prevalent here,” she said.
Eastham said the district had treated Paarsch like a criminal. “The only thing lacking that day were handcuffs. You made a mistake.”
She also asked them how they were serving the school and students by having them observe such behavior.
When public input concluded, Darling thanked the audience. “We are listening,” he said.
The board then went through the rest of its agenda, adjourning into closed session about a half hour later at 7:30 p.m.
It was two hours later that Leiferman and the board returned to the auditorium. Kirby, who had joined them in closed session, did not return with the rest of the board to sit at the table for the announcement of the decision.
From closed session, the board announced decisions on three items, including another employee matter and two issues relating to students. Darling then announced the decision to remove Paarsch as principal.
“Start packing your bags,” one person shouted from the audience to the board.
At least a dozen people continued to have a heated exchange with the board, sharply criticizing them and Leiferman for the actions against Paarsch before the board left the building.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.