Sudden resignation: Venable principal steps down mid-year
Leatherwood meets with parents after the official announcement.PHOTO BY HAWES SPENCER
The suddenly-announced meeting at Venable Elementary School had some parents concerned, coming just 21.5 hours after it's emailed announcement.
"It seems strange that the principal is neither calling nor leading a meeting that was called on such short notice," said one parent who asked not to be named. Indeed, the principal–- a man named James "Jamie" Mathieson–- was not part of the meeting. His sudden resignation was the subject of the 3:30pm confab on Friday, September 17 and the prior night's meeting of the Charlottesville School Board.
Outside the Venable auditorium where school officials announced but did not explain Mathieson's resignation one parent pointed to a display of recent principal names. Including two retirements and another hasty resignation, Venable was getting its fifth principal in just eight years.
No stranger to students, the interim leader is longtime city schools official Kenneth Leatherwood, who currently serves as the Coordinator of Human Resources. A five-year veteran of the top job at Charlottesville High School, Leatherwood is also a former history teacher and varsity basketball coach. He takes charge of a K-4 school known for a student body diverse in nationalities and socio-economic standing.
"This will be a different kind of situation for me," says Leatherwood, "but I look forward to it."
Parents who attended the meeting say that Charlottesville School Superintendant Rosa Atkins was peppered with questions in the school auditorium about the reason for Matthieson's departure which came just three weeks into the term.
"I support the decision," said one woman who identified herself as Venable employee and parent to a child bullied at Venable. "Bullying is a big thing; nothing got done," said the woman.
Mathieson, who could not be reached for comment, came to the UVA-area public school in the fall of 2008 after several years as the principal of Madison Primary School in Madison County.
–the version above was rewritten for print publication at 11:20am, Tuesday, September 21
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ORIGINAL:
Leatherwood meets with parents after the official announcement.PHOTO BY HAWES SPENCER
4pm update: According to City schools spokesperson Cass Cannon, the school board accepted the resignation of Venable principal Jamie Mathieson last night.
5:30pm update: The interim principal will be longtime city schools official Kenneth Leatherwood, who currently serves as the Coordinator of Human Resources. A five-year veteran of the top job at Charlottesville High School, Leatherwood is former history teacher and varsity basketball coach. "This will be a different kind of situation for me," says Leatherwood, "but I look forward to it."
Original story:
Less than a day after a closed-session personnel meeting by the Charlottesville City School Board, a suddenly-announced meeting at Venable School has some parents concerned.
"It seems strange that the principal is neither calling nor leading a meeting that was called on such short notice," says one parent who asked not to be named.
Venable has a high concentration of professors' children along with less privileged kids.FILE PHOTO BY DAVE MCNAIR
The meeting, slated for 3:30pm Friday, September 17, will bring together Venable parents and Charlottesville School Superintendant Rosa Atkins in the school auditorium.
The principal is Jamie Mathieson, who came to the UVA-area public school in the fall of 2008 after several years as the principal of Madison Primary School in Madison County.
A telephoned request to the Venable School found that Mathieson is "not available today."
Schools spokesperson Cass Cannon tells the Hook she doesn't know what the meeting is about. Ditto for the official who sent the meeting announcement to parents with just 21 hours notice.
"The staff is meeting at 3:15, and Dr. Atkins is meeting with parents at 3:30," says assistant principal Valeta Paige, "but as for the content I have no idea."
Original headline: Sudden confab: Surprise Venable school meeting has parents worried
57 comments
They need a landing pad outside that school for all the helicopter parents.
Au contraire, my Curious friend: The former Quest educator at Venable was promoted to a curriculum writing position for Charlottesville City Schools.
”Šyuppie parents who are excessively concerned about the minutiae of their prized children’s education.”
ââ?¬â?? reads like a stereotyped, self-righteous definition to me.
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vinnibel apparently cannot differentiate between a definition of a Venable parent (which would be, oh I don't know, a parent of a child attending Venable?) and a description of a more general social phenomenon. Oh well, I assume that he or she is of elementary school age.
Is Jamie mathersion a guyt or a girl?
For those who would like to attend this meeting, of course it's newsworthy.
Ummm, is this really a story until the meeting has taken place?
Do you mean the parents who have already been invited? Who else goes to school meetings where the departure of a principal is announced?
Uh oh. There's that recommendation from a bunch of eggheads saying the city should close a school. And no word what the subject of the meeting is...
This counts as smoke, no?
Well, "closed-door personnel meeting yesterday" and "today's meeting called on short notice but not by the principal" suggests to me that the principal was sacked.
Maybe Scottie Griffin is coming back as Principal.
Oh. Wish I'd read the article better. Also wish my comment would be deleted.
"Yes" is probably right. the venable story right now is totally messy and sordid and gross and sad, and involves many different people. yuck.
the adminstration at this school is mess right now. mathieson is the third principal in the past six years. they sacked the last person after two years for unknown reasons. they will now have some interim person take over for a year, and start over again. the one big positive is the teachers, who are for the most part great.
So, Morris: You got a house or a trailer?
Never has so little been said in a Hook article...
@yes
Maybe Blinky on crime knows what has really happened at this school??
Dave, I agree with you 100%. But in order for the public to have access to personnel and disciplinary files, you need to have a few laws changed. There's nothing in the world I would enjoy more than creating an online site with a mission of exposing many of the scandals that take place in local governments. In many of these scandals, the citizens would then ask the governments why criminal charges were never placed against those involved.
I am intrigued by the comments from "Perplexed Educator & Venable Parent" (aka "bereal"). You are obviously the best-informed of anyone -- including the press. I am certain that the Charlottesville populace will appreciate your highly-respected, anonymous insight.
Explain please how public parental name-calling serves a positive, nurturing and constructive benefit to the Venable student body, community and culture which you are professionally obligated to cooperatively champion?
Honestly, this passive-aggressive/gossip-creation thing doesn't work for you. Rather than publicizing your personal agenda-driven swan song, perhaps your interests might better be served through fulfilling your brief and remaining professional committment through actively encouraging some semblance of dignity and respect to the school community.
Despite bereal's misgivings, teaching is still an honorable profession. And Venable deserves better.
btw Anyone who knows anything about modern American education these days should be fully aware that ANY involvement of parents is a positive situation. Do your homework.
Ubermommy and educator with a conscience
i'd bet that wasn't really a promotion.
What happened? Do tell.
"...yuppie parents who are excessively concerned about the minutiae of their prized children’s education."
-- reads like a stereotyped, self-righteous definition to me.
Oh, 'Yes'...the gals just adore your spunky spirit. And everybody at PTO raves about your gluten-free brownies. Simply delish! (I don't care what the other ubermommies say about you -- you're the tops, sweety [wink wink])
Gasbag is right...something naughty happened...and publicizing that would encourage a lawsuit to make matters worse for taxpayers. Continued silence does however create a challenge to forming an informed decision about a re-replacement. I am certain that CCS HR has it all under control(see Debra Duncan, Scottie Griffen, Lacey Peale).
Nature abhors a vacuum. In the absence of any information regarding the reasons for Mathieson's resignation, it will be invented through speculation. Most Venable parents (myself included) wholly support Dr. Atkins and the board in their efforts to provide for the students, search for a principal, and support current staff. Keeping parents completely in the dark is not only a bad idea, it's an improper and reflects a remarkably small buireaucratic attitude toward administration of public resources generally.
I seriously hope they revisit this posture and choose to keep parents informed.
Why, when was Quest teacher relocated? Does this have something to do with the principal's resignation? I wonder if the climate at Venable will ever be the same...
One more interesting detail: at the parents meeting Dr. Atkins mentioned that the board had accepted Mathieson's resignation at 8 p.m. Thursday.
The call notifying parents went out at 6:02.
'sad' I think some people think the two facts are related, the relocation was announced at the same meeting but as everyone points out there is no information about anything so its all gossip/speculation at this point.
Everyone knows what really happened by now. Just ask one of the Venable "ubermommies" at your kid's next soccer game. I did. The school can't comment on personel matters, or they get sued. That is the truth, you can't even give someone a positive reference anymore. All you can say is that they either did or didn't work for you. Anything else you risk being sued. Aren't lawyers great! Postings on here or any other site aren't truly anonymous either unless you do it from a library or internet cafe in a third world country. The agrieved party can still get the ISP address of the poster if they get a court order. That's why I don't put a password on my WiFi, cause then I can claim somebody parked in front of the house...
Sounds like you know what happened, so you know you can't expect the School Board to release more info. Its just not even that interesting or newsworthy or even instructive.
The main thing now is to pick a great new Principal, which along with supporting the teachers and the Interim is the most important job at the moment. But I agree its really frustrating to lose 2 Principals in 4 years.
@frustrate parent, well said.
re "Yes":
According to your own definition, you MUST be a Venable parent.
Well, except that I didn't offer a definition of a Venable parent, your post might make some kind of sense ....
The really frustrating thing is that we are back to where we were less than three years ago. The principal before Mr Mathieson also had resigned under mysterious circumstances. We all hoped that the hiring of Mr Mathieson would start a new era of stability at the school. Just a couple of years later it looks like a fiasco, and we have to start the process all over again. Dr Atkinson told Venable parents that they would have a say in the selection of the new principal. This is great, but how can we provide meaningful input, if we have no idea what went wrong last time?
I do not need to know the saucy details of what happened and the names of the various people involved. But I do think we the parents have the right to know what the problems were, so that we can try to avoid repeating past mistakes.
I just wanted to clarify that I have not written any comments on this page. Apparently, the latest rumor around the school is that I have. If I were to write a comment, I would not hide behind a cloak of anonymity.
Thanks,
Colleen Tuite
proud Venable teacher and parent
haha Great photo caption. I'm just wondering how the fact that there's royalty and poor peasants mixed up together in the same classroom has to do with anything, or this mysterious last minute meeting....
"Mid-year"? Didn't schools start two weeks ago?
Venable is (still) a great school regardless of it's recent management difficulties. The involved parents,pricks they may be at times, do have the students(theirs first)best interests at heart. The teachers for the most are great. There are a cliquish few who are painfully insecure regarding their own qualifications and they are always fighting any change. I believe some may not even be able to write a sentence without a typo. That small group, along with some uneducated aides,are continually creating issues. As a parent, I have had these toadies complain about their issues to me, basically sharing information that should be addressed in staff meetings, and hoping that I would spread their mumbled ill will. I hope that Leatherwood will not fall prey to these types.
Leatherwood won't put with / respond to the Venable Uber-Mommies like the previous administration. This is a great thing for the kids who need more from this school and from our limited public resources. I believe that the focus of elementary education in this City outpost will move away from the Quest kids, the hand-picked "student government", and from parents frothing for more plans for their kids who are already on the 10th grade reading level.
I'd LOVE to see a published transcript of the parents meeting for community review/comment; I was impressed with Dr. Atkins and shocked/embarrassed/humored by many of the comments from parents.
This morning's cup of coffee is a great one.
-Perplexed Educator & Venable Parent
Bereal there is such emphasis on Quest at Venable that they haven't had much of a program last year as the teacher was on leave a lot of the year, this year the program was rolled into a whole class program for all kids. Added to that they currently have no Quest teacher she has been relocated. So I don't get your point.
I double checked my facts. There was a closed door session prior to Wednesday's meeting and the only thing on the agenda was "personnel matters". Thursday's closed door session took place after the meeting. I'm still going to guess that after Wednesday's meeting everything was in place to formally accept the resignation on Thursday.
deleted by moderator
The school board officially accepted his resignation at 8 p.m., but there was a closed door session of the school board that started prior to the public meeting. I imagine most of the details were ironed out in that meeting, allowing the robo-call to go to parents as soon as the closed door session ended and before the public meeting started.
Everyone knows what really happened by now. Just ask one of the Venable "ubermommies" at your kid's next soccer game. I did. The school can't comment on personel matters, or they get sued. That is the truth, you can't even give someone a positive reference anymore. All you can say is that they either did or didn't work for you. Anything else you risk being sued. Aren't lawyers great! Postings on here or any other site aren't truly anonymous either unless you do it from a library or internet cafe in a third world country. The agrieved party can still get the ISP address of the poster if they get a court order. That's why I don't put a password on my WiFi, cause then I can claim somebody parked in front of the trailer...
Article was pointless for most of Charlottesville and in general didn't offer up a lot of information. This is a blurb. The comments are hysterical though, made this school sound like some elitist, gossip center full of overly-involved parents. Hope everything works out for the sake of the children.
Morris is trying to cover all of his bases. He probably subscribes to Town AND Country.
On a related note, free WiFi outside the old Shifflett places! Morris is buying, so be sure to drop to download your favorite copyrighted music and movies and to share your recently produced cockfight videos and snuff films.
Come on Spencer,
You've got a good publication... BUT...
This is only a small piece of the story- where's the rest?
This is like when the Hook and other news outlets wrote about Albemarle County Police being disciplined but then decided not to mention what they were disciplined for doing, and then actively edited/deleted the comments when people in the know started connecting the dots. Especially because a local media figure's spouse was a part of the story.
This like that article- smacks of a media cover up.
Unfortunately in this situation the comments have all been too vague about what's actually been going on.
So you can dish the dirt when it's a Real Estate Developer, but not when it's a public school scandal?
I'd really like to hear a full story, and not just a fraction of one, like what's been printed in the short blurb above.
Oh, ââ?¬Ë?Yes’”Šthe gals just adore your spunky spirit. And everybody at PTO raves about your gluten-free brownies. Simply delish! (I don’t care what the other ubermommies say about you ââ?¬â? you’re the tops, sweety [wink wink])
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Well, apart from the fact that I don't have children, or refer to anyone as a "gal," or believe that being gluten-intolerant is a slur, this almost made some kind of sense.
DEAR HOOK: i come to you first for local news. are you still investigating this story? what about this teacher reassignment? who, WHY, what the hell is going on over there???? don't let me down on this one - it's important!!
Anyone who knows anything about modern American education these days should be fully aware that ANY involvement of parents is a positive situation. Do your homework.
Ubermommy and educator with a conscience
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Yeah, right, "Educator." No one has ever complained about yuppie parents who are excessively concerned about the minutiae of their prized children's education. Or self-professed "educators" who lack intellectual sophistication.
Nice redundancy of "modern" and "these days," however.
chris, the story has been brewing since thursday.
A lot of you people are mistaken. You have NO right to know what took place. If a child was involved, the parents of said child have a right to know, but the whole world doesn't. If everybody had a right to access personnel issues and disciplinary actions, you would all be surprised at what goes on in police departments, fire departments, public works, etc... Several well known scandals in city/county management offices alone would knock your socks off!
I guess now that bel rio is closed the jackals have found a new chew toy....
I agree with local girl. I always check with The Hook concerning news on Morgan Harrington, Kevin Morrissey, etc...
Please find out what is going on in the school system.
We do have a right to know.
local girl: you wrote at 6:23 on a Monday morning. I'm not sure the people who need to be talked to in this case are anywhere that they'll talk to a reporter. Give them a few hours to get in touch with the key players.
Someone claiming to be a teacher has posted. Can't be real, there weren't any misspelled words or gramatical errors....Another wannabee. If anyone wants to post what happened feel free to park outside my trailer and use my WiFi, you can find my address by googling any court records in Central Virginia.
Gasbag - as we taxpayers pay the salaries, it would seem that we do have a right to know why one of our employees left suddenly. One of the reasons we have such a distrust of government at all levels is the secrecy. Governments at all levels must stop sweeping problems under the rug.
Is there more to this story or is this just the result of the revolving door for principals at this school?
After reading through this article, I have no idea why the Prinicipal was sacked.
C'mon Hook commenters, where are those irresponible and shocking rumors that I have come to know and love?
The Quest teacher is also gone now, and her position at Venable is now listed as a new employment vacancy/opportunity on the City schools website.
Monty Hall could ask everyone to guess what's behind curtain number two.