South Bend schools recommends popular principal's reassignment to administrative position (2024)

South Bend schools recommends popular principal's reassignment to administrative position (1)

SOUTH BEND — The South Bend Community School Corp. (SBCSC) is recommending that former principal Jesus Pedraza, whom another principal accused of having threatened and intimated him, be reassigned to an administrative role rather than remain in a school.

Pedraza has denied the allegations.

The recommendation is a result of an investigation, which was launched after Edison Middle School Principal Sean Dillon filed a complaint against Pedraza on Aug. 20. Pedraza will have the opportunity to address the school board before it votes on whether to accept the report's recommendation on Sept. 30.

The report comes nearly three weeks after dozens of people, including parents of McKinley Elementary School, where Pedraza was previously the principal, expressed support for him shortly after he was placed on administrative leave.

More:'We feel lied to': Public concerned over former South Bend principal placed on leave

Pedraza was the principal for eight years at McKinley, where he also established the school's Dual Language Immersion (DLI) program. The school merged this year with Edison to form a K-8 school. He said he was told he would remain K-5 principal alongside Dillon, the 6-8 principal. Pedraza was later told by SBCSC officials, however, that he would be assistant principal to Dillon.

Pedraza has been on paid administrative leave since Aug. 20, after Dillon filed a complaint alleging that Pedraza intimidated and threatened him.

Public outcry supporting Pedraza

In the weeks since Pedraza was placed on leave, community members have expressed support for him and concern over a perceived lack of communication from school officials about his situation.

Dozens of attendees came to the SBCSC school board meeting on Sept. 4, the first meeting after the start of Pedraza's administrative leave, including several former McKinley families and employees who addressed the board during the public comment portion.

South Bend schools recommends popular principal's reassignment to administrative position (2)

One attendee said both of his children attended McKinley and enrolled in the DLI program there.

"What about promises of … individuals that were promised jobs?" he asked the board. "Now, all of a sudden, buttons are being pushed, and those people are no longer working, they're on leave. Those are the people that my kids look up to. Those are the people that I talk to when I go into the schools."

Another parent of a former McKinley student said his child "misses his principal every day."

"You guys are wrongfully putting a man who cares about the kids out, when he should be in there," he said. "You claim the kids come first — I want to know where, because all I see is … politics and crap."

South Bend schools recommends popular principal's reassignment to administrative position (3)

SBCSC school board candidate Carlos Leyva said having Spanish-speaking, Latino and Latina school teachers, administrators and board members is important, as it allows Hispanic parents to communicate and have a shared background with them.

According to Leyva, one in four students at SBCSC schools are Hispanic. He said his parents were immigrants, like many SBCSC families.

"They need a voice," he said. "The education system in America is a lot different than the education system in Latin countries. … We're already behind because of the language barrier and opportunities. … So education is the way to get out of that system, to get out of poverty, to get educated and go to college for the first time."

Leyva said several Hispanic residents reached out to him when Pedraza was put on leave, expressing concern over the situation. McKinley families, both Spanish-speaking and not, trust Pedraza and relied on him to answer their questions, Leyva said.

Leyva said he knows Pedraza and his family and that Pedraza "cares about the kids."

"He's a hard worker and very intelligent. He's personable," Leyva said. "He's out in the classrooms, he's out watching the kids get on the bus. He talks to the families; families trust him. He has a deep compassion for education and for the kids, and he puts a lot of work in every day to make sure that they have the best quality education and that the buildings are safe."

The HR investigation

Following Dillon's complaint against Pedraza, SBCSC's Human Resources Department launched an investigation. The Tribune obtained a copy of a report, dated Sept. 16, summarizing the investigation's findings.

The Tribune asked Both Pedraza and the school district to verify its contents. Both confirmed its authenticity.

The Tribune asked if Superintendent Todd Cummings, Assistant Superintendent Sarita Stevens or Dillon would talk about the situation or comment on the substance of the report, SBCSC officials declined through a spokesman, saying the district does "not comment on personnel matters." Pedraza expressed willingness to sign a confidentiality release form giving SBCSC permission to share information about his situation with The Tribune, but district officials said that would still go against board policy.

Demotion or planned administration change?

According to the report, Pedraza submitted a complaint to the district's school board "concerning what he believed was a demotion from the position of principal to assistant principal," before speaking to the board during the public comment portion of its Aug. 19 meeting.

The report says Pedraza was told there "can only be one principal per school number," and that the principal would "oversee all grade levels"; additionally, due to "long-standing performance deficits," Pedraza was not to become principal at Edison.

"As documented through the evaluation process, Mr. Pedraza exhibits multiple 'needs improvement' in vital areas of school leadership including; 'sustaining systems of ethical and professional behavior', 'developing systems of support, curriculum, instruction, and assessment,' and 'developing professional capacity and fostering professional communities,'" the report says.

South Bend schools recommends popular principal's reassignment to administrative position (4)

Pedraza told The Tribune, however, that he had been told he would continue to serve as principal at Edison alongside Dillon, referencing a document sent to McKinley families ahead of the merger from Assistant Superintendent Diamond Robinson listing both Pedraza and Dillon as principals and Wes Lee as assistant principal.

He also provided a copy of a Jan. 29, 2024, email he received from Deputy Superintendent Sarita Stevens that read, "The schools (Edison and McKinley) will have two principals, an assistant principal until the Title I budget is decided. This will not occur until late August."

Pedraza said the "performance deficits" mentioned in the report refer to a series of "issues … between me and this administration" beginning during his second year as McKinley principal. Among other issues, he said he was written up twice by his district school leader.

When Cummings became superintendent, he brought in two new instruction leader directors — Brandon White and Jennifer Kwiatkowski — and Pedraza said he reported to Kwiatkowski, whom he said wrote him up for missing a meeting in order to help his staff work with "an irate parent."

Pedraza said he was also written up after not complying with a deadline Kwiatkowski gave him to select a new Title I staffer, but he said the deadline set by the director of Title I was around a week later.

"She (Kwiatkowski) gave me a deadline to have the person I selected … start working with groups by the end of business on the next day," he said. "I wrote her back and said, 'You'll get that when the rest of the principals have to turn in theirs.' And she said that was not acceptable, and that I was up for further disciplinary action."

Pedraza said he was placed on a performance improvement plan (PIP) the following year.

He said he believes the district has been trying to "push (him) out" for four or five years.

"When that Jennifer Arzola Kwiatkowski came in, her and Brandon supposedly were … the two people that were going to turn this district around," Pedraza said. "And one of the issues they have is … I've told them sometimes, 'I don't think that's what's best,' and they don't appreciate that."

Dillon's HR complaint

According to the HR report, on Aug. 20, Dillon filed a written complaint to HR saying that Pedraza "was engaging in workplace intimidation and threats and creating a hostile work environment."

The report said this followed an incident also on Aug. 20, when, according to Dillon, Pedraza called him into his office to ask about some back-to-school letters Pedraza said were never sent out to parents.

"According to Mr. Dillon, Mr. Pedraza became verbally aggressive, using profanity and unprofessional language, referring to colleagues at the district as liars," the report says.

The report also says Pedraza told Dillon he would "tell the media that Mr. Dillon did not provide vital back-to-school information to students."

Pedraza told The Tribune, however, that while he was upset and "passionate" when talking with Dillon, the allegations of harassment and profanity are "false."

"Never did I use profanity. Never did I make a threat," he said.

Pedraza also said he never said he would go to the media to threaten Dillon about the newsletters, but rather "when it hits" the media, Pedraza would not be held responsible for families not receiving them.

Dillon filed a second complaint of "harassment and intimidation" following a Sept. 5 article with quotes from Pedraza about Dillon appearing in The Tribune, according to the report. Pedraza provided "misleading information concerning Mr. Dillon, his personnel status, and district leadership to the media," the report says, adding that Pedraza "(f)osters a hostile work environment."

Specifically, the report says Pedraza "(provided) a quote in the South Bend Tribune stating that Mr. Dillon simply 'does not have a relationship with [Spanish-speaking families].'" That report, though, misquotes Pedraza's actual quote in The Tribune article, which reads, "There's a trust issue, and then there's a simple fact that Mr. Dillon does not speak Spanish and doesn't have that relationship with them."

Pedraza said he did not mean that Dillon does not have a general relationship with Spanish-speaking families but that Dillon does not speak Spanish and is not able to communicate with them in their native language.

"Mr. Dillon is a nice guy. He treats our families well," he said. "I'm not saying he does anything wrong with those families. I'm just saying … it's important, I think, for that leader of that building to have that connection, that relationship."

Pedraza said he thinks the newsletters were not sent out because he had listed both himself and Dillon as principals.

The report mentions that the school did provide information about the start of school that would have been in the newsletters via Facebook and calls made in Spanish and English. Pedraza agreed, adding that the newsletter was posted on the McKinley Facebook page, allowing families with "Wi-Fi, internet and Facebook" to see it.

Nevertheless, he said, a line of Spanish-speaking families still waited to talk with him and Bilingual Education Specialist Maria Winston during back-to-school night with questions about transportation and the start of school. He had also previously told The Tribune that several Spanish-speaking students did not show up to class until the third day of school because of confusion over start dates.

"Even if one family had a negative impact or had their child not here, even if it was one … it was wrong not to send (the newsletters). But we know that it was more than one," Pedraza said. "I think that would have been a lot less families; a lot more families would have had the information" if the letters were sent.

HR's recommendations and next steps

The report ends with a recommendation by HR to reassign Pedraza to SBCSC's Bilingual Department "to oversee the coordination of DLI programs throughout the district."

Under this plan, Dillon would remain the sole Edison principal, and HR would begin the search for a "dual-language Assistant Principal" to take over Pedraza's previous position, according to the report. It notes that Dillon is English Language-certified and "capable of supporting the DLI program."

"Because of the seriousness of Mr. Pedraza's actions, there is no pathway to mitigate the damage to the relationship between Mr. Pedraza and Mr. Dillon," the HR report reads. "Mr. Dillon states that he is concerned about the threatens [sic] by Mr. Pedraza. In addition, Mr. Dillon believes Mr. Pedraza has and will continue to sabotage efforts to create a unified staff. Based on the survey and observations from the staff, the school is running smoothly, and the staff continues to build relationships and collaborate with co-workers."

After the SBCSC school board approves the report, Pedraza said, he will have the opportunity to go before the board on Sept. 30 to appeal the recommendation and share his side of the story. Following that, the board will vote on whether to proceed with the report's recommendation and move Pedraza to the Bilingual Department.

South Bend schools recommends popular principal's reassignment to administrative position (5)

Pedraza said the fact that the district has not fired him but, in fact, given him a promotion shows that school officials do not have proof against him.

While he said he does not want to quit working for SBCSC, he said he does want to be back in a school working with families and teachers rather than assuming an administrative role in the district's headquarters.

"That's where I belong, I believe. That's where I want to be. But, I mean, they have the power, so I'm not … gonna quit, that's for sure," he said. "But I would really like to be back in the building, and I can work with Mr. Dillon. I think if the board pulled me and Mr. Dillon together and talked to us … that the truth will come out where we can work with each other."

Email South Bend Tribune education reporter Rayleigh Deaton at rdeaton@gannett.com.

South Bend schools recommends popular principal's reassignment to administrative position (2024)
Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Mr. See Jast

Last Updated:

Views: 6200

Rating: 4.4 / 5 (75 voted)

Reviews: 90% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Mr. See Jast

Birthday: 1999-07-30

Address: 8409 Megan Mountain, New Mathew, MT 44997-8193

Phone: +5023589614038

Job: Chief Executive

Hobby: Leather crafting, Flag Football, Candle making, Flying, Poi, Gunsmithing, Swimming

Introduction: My name is Mr. See Jast, I am a open, jolly, gorgeous, courageous, inexpensive, friendly, homely person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.