SOUTH BEND — The South Bend Community School Corp. (SBCSC) human resources investigation about Jesus Pedraza, a former elementary school principal who was placed on leave, has ended with a recommendation that he be reassigned.
Pedraza will have the opportunity to address the SBCSC school board during an Executive Closed Session at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 30, at the site of the district’s new headquarters, Brown Community Learning Center. This means the meeting will be closed to community members and members of the press.
However, Pedraza said he would have preferred that the meeting take place during an open session at the next regularly scheduled board meeting on Oct. 7.
“Then we could have people come out and support me,” he said. “As it is now, it’s gonna be hard for me to get the word out for people to come out to Brown school … for this coming Monday.”
Here’s what we know.
Who is Jesus Pedraza?
Pedraza said he has been a SBCSC employee for over 20 years and served as principal of McKinley Elementary School for eight. While at McKinley, he said he established the school’s Dual Language Immersion (DLI) program, growing the student population by more than 100 students.
This school year, as a result of the consolidation project seen across the district, McKinley merged with Edison Middle School to form a K-8 school. Pedraza said he was told by school officials that he would retain his position as K-5 principal, working alongside the 6-8 principal, Sean Dillon. However, shortly before the term began, he was told that had never been the plan and that he would be assistant principal to Dillon; Pedraza referred to this as a “demotion.”
Why was Pedraza placed on leave?
Pedraza has been on paid administrative leave since Aug. 20, after Dillon filed an HR complaint against him alleging Pedraza had engaged in workplace intimidation.
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According to Pedraza, Dillon volunteered to take some back-to-school newsletters “downtown” to be sent to parents, providing them information about the start of school in both English and Spanish. The letters were never sent out, Pedraza said, meaning several Spanish-speaking students did not show up to school until the third day of classes due to confusion over when the term began.
The HR investigation report says Pedraza called Dillon into his office on Aug. 20 to ask why the letters were not sent, becoming “verbally aggressive, using profanity and unprofessional language, referring to colleagues at the district as liars.” Pedraza denies the allegations, saying that while he was upset, he did not use profanity or threaten Dillon.
Dillon filed a complaint against Pedraza that same day, which began the HR investigation and meant Pedraza was placed on paid leave.
What is in the HR report?
Dated Sept. 16, the report summarizes the SBCSC HR department’s findings from the investigation.
Findings include that Pedraza was told there would only be one Edison principal, and he would not be principal due to “long-standing performance deficits.” However, Pedraza provided documents from SBCSC officials stating the opposite, including a document sent to McKinley families from Assistant Superintendent Diamond Robinson listing both Pedraza and Dillon as principals.
He added that the “performance deficits” refer to several issues between him and the district. Pedraza said he was written up by his district school leader twice, including for missing a meeting in order to help his staff work with “an irate parent.”
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The report ends with the recommendation that Pedraza be reassigned from working in a school to overseeing the district’s Bilingual Department. Under this plan, Dillon would remain the sole Edison principal, and the district would replace Pedraza as assistant principal.
What does the district say?
While The Tribune asked if Superintendent Todd Cummings, Assistant Superintendent Sarita Stevens or Dillon would talk about the situation or report, SBCSC officials declined to comment through a spokesman, saying the district does “not comment on personnel matters.” However, the district did verify the authenticity of the HR report The Tribune obtained.
What’s next?
After the school board approves the report, Pedraza will have the chance to speak to the board during an Executive Closed Session on Sept. 30. Following that, the board will vote on whether to accept HR’s recommendation and reassign Pedraza.
The session does not appear on the district’s website calendar, as it is not a regularly scheduled board meeting. It will be closed to community members and the media.
Email South Bend Tribune education reporter Rayleigh Deaton at rdeaton@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: What we know about HR investigation of former SBCSC principal
