Hello Ron Perry Supporters,

At last night's last regular board meeting of the year, the NHUHSD Board, in an unprecedented move, voted 4-1 to not approve/accept Mr. Perry's final principal's report (with Trustee Aaron dissenting), in essence censuring Mr. Perry, but in doing so, also censuring the voice of Arcata High School.  The bulk of the report focuses on the LCAP goals (Local Control and Accountability Plan) that have been achieved over the past year, something the Arcata High Site Council worked very diligently in contributing to at our monthly meetings.  The board felt the report was "self-serving", yet failed to recognize the contributions of site council members, consisting of students, staff, parents, and Mr. Perry, in meeting those goals.  The report can be found, starting on page 59, of the board agenda/packet: https://4.files.edl.io/1070/06/18/24/170226-95cfd164-8304-47c7-9d78-8bfdd271ed6a.pdf

  For two months following the board's March 12th decision to dismiss Mr. Perry, stakeholders were told by the board that no further information could be released as to the basis for their decision, due to the matter being a confidential personnel matter.  Yet on May 16th, the North Coast Journal published an article in which Superintendent Macdonald released a "reprimand memo" from Mr. Perry's personnel file, citing two student matters from August/September 2022 that were purportedly mishandled by Mr. Perry - one was a student discipline issue, the other a student threat issue.  Here's a link: https://www.northcoastjournal.com/news/document-sheds-light-on-arcata-principals-reassignment-29750257

  The day the NCJ article broke, the parent of the student involved in the discipline matter reached out to me directly, in an effort to "correct the record".  That parent provided me with numerous documents showing that contrary to the article, Mr. Perry was never named in the findings of the district's internal investigation of the matter, but the Director of Student Services at the district office was named.

  In our efforts, we've also learned that Mr. Perry has received two performance evaluations in the eight years he's been an administrator at NHUHSD - the first was by former superintendent Kenny Richards, and the second was by Roger Macdonald, who's been superintendent for the past roughly 7 years.  For comparison, we've spoken to multiple current and retired Eureka City Schools administrators, all of whom report that they receive/received annual performance evaluations.

  We've also learned that once upon a time, the NHUHSD conducted staff surveys to gauge site and district administrator performance, but those surveys appear to have been discontinued approximately the same time that Roger Macdonald became superintendent.  Mr. Macdonald would have known of the surveys though, as he was principal at McKinleyville High for five years prior to becoming superintendent.

  The board's Governance Handbook encourages and advises board members to visit school site campuses to ensure the decisions they're ultimately making are well-informed.  In the two years Mr. Perry served as principal, only one trustee has paid a visit to Arcata High - roughly three weeks ago Trustee Cedric Aaron, Jr. visited (Mr. Aaron has a student at AHS, and is up for re-election this fall). 

  This begs the continued question, exactly what information was the board provided with, and/or what due diligence did they perform, to meet the provisions of their Governance Handbook in deliberating a decision of this magnitude?  That question remains unanswered.

  Our work with attorney Paul Gallegos to research potential violations of the CA Brown Act and the CA Political Reform Act in the board's deliberation of the decision to dismiss Mr. Perry has been very productive.  Paul has been an excellent sounding board, consultant, and bulldogged advocate for our concerns (Mr. Perry had one or more of Paul's children as students).  Paul's detailed correspondence to/from the board and its legal counsel regarding Brown Act, conflict of interest law, and Governance Handbook violations is very compelling, and has created an excellent foundation for further action (which will be divulged soon).  However, despite Paul writing off a good chunk of his time, his expertise is not and should not be free.  His bill is currently just shy of $12,000, and we could use your help in spreading the word about our GoFundMe.

  We understand the district has hired a new principal for Arcata High, Kristin Ferderber.  The district released this information to the Arcata High staff before school ended last week, but hasn't yet released an update to students/parents or the community.  Ms. Ferderber has two years of experience as a middle school principal, between two different middle schools. We understand she resigned from Buena Vista Middle School in January of this year after five months on the job.  Ironically, given the reprimand memo in the NCJ article, we suspect the mishandling of a serious student threat issue is what may've been the impetus for this resignation.  Here's a link: https://www.ksbw.com/article/13-year-old-arrested-after-threatening-student-with-a-knife-at-buena-vista-middle-school/45144345

  Mr. Perry received a standing ovation from the Arcata High staff at both the staff meeting immediately following the board's decision to dismiss him, and at last week's final staff meeting.  He received a standing ovation from the students at last Thursday's end-of-year rally, and he received a standing ovation from the Arcata High graduates and their families at last week's graduation ceremony.  Mr. Perry has since accepted a teaching position with Eureka City Schools for next school year, where he'll be, among other subjects, teaching Advanced Placement History.  Mr. Perry worked at ECS for nearly 20 years as a teacher and administrator, prior to becoming an administrator at NHUHSD.

  Back to last night's board meeting.  The final paragraph of Mr. Perry's principal's report is informing the board of the current culture and climate of Arcata High in light of board and district actions over the past months - a climate of confusion, apprehension, sadness, and most importantly, disconnect from the district management team.  It would seem, given all of the above, that Mr. Perry's final report was in fact spot on, but the voices of Arcata High are falling on deaf ears.

  P.S.  There is a final special board meeting occurring tomorrow, Thursday, June 20th at 1:00 at the district office in McKinleyville, for anyone interested in having their voices (hopefully) heard.

Thanks!

Lisa Hansen

Please read and support our GoFundMe mission! (link below)

https://gofund.me/33e4865f