Raymond School Board approves nonrenewal of principal contract

The Raymond School Board voted 4-1 Wednesday night to move forward with nonrenewal of Jeff Peterson’s contract after an employment hearing that lasted nearly six hours.

Following the hearing, the School Board met in closed session for more than an hour before voting in open session.

Audrey Kostuch, Raymond School Board president, voted in favor of nonrenewal, saying the district “needs to have a new beginning.”

School Board member Janell Wise voted in favor of nonrenewal. She said Peterson “has many admirable traits” but believes new leadership is needed for the school district and community to move forward.

School Board member Amy Helvick was the lone vote against nonrenewal.

“I do not believe Mr. Peterson was given a reasonable expectation to succeed in a performance improvement plan set before him,” Helvick said.

School Board member Gwen Keller voted in favor of nonrenewal. Keller said she likes Peterson as a person but said the district needs to move forward without him.

“I vote affirmatively to nonrenew and wish you the best, Jeff,” Keller said.

School Board member Amanda Falaschi voted in favor of nonrenewal.

“I am trying to find the best way for the school and community to heal,” Falaschi said. “My vote is not against Jeff but for a path forward for this entire community.”

Falaschi said it would not be possible to move forward with Peterson as principal or Michael Garvey as superintendent.

Last month, Garvey announced his resignation, effective Dec. 31.

Background

On Sept. 27, the Raymond School Board voted 4-1 in favor of a motion to consider nonrenewal of Peterson’s contract.

Many parents and community members attended the Sept. 27 board meeting to support Peterson, and more than 100 people attended Wednesday’s hearing.

On Sept. 28, Peterson was placed on paid administrative leave pending the results of a district investigation into his conduct.

That investigation is ongoing, and Peterson remains on paid leave.

It is unclear if Peterson will return to work before his contract ends on June 30, 2024.

After being placed on leave, Peterson filed a complaint alleging the school district is discriminating against him because he is gay. A complaint decision has not been issued.

In a statement, the Raymond School Board said “any notion that the school district or its board members would tolerate any discrimination, including that which is based on sex, sexual orientation, or any other protected classification, is ridiculous and extremely disappointing.”

Raymond School, 2659 76th St., is a K-8 building with about 400 students.

Garvey and the School Board have come under intense scrutiny in recent months, including the filing of recall petitions for Keller and Wise.

Employment hearing

There were many questions during Wednesday’s hearing about a performance improvement plan Garvey put Peterson on in April.

Peterson did not think the plan was necessary, nor did he sufficiently follow it, Lori Lubinsky, the attorney representing the school district, argued in her closing statement.

“The problem is Mr. Peterson does not believe he needs to improve,” Lubinsky said. “When (an) employee believes they satisfied their objectives, yet their employer and their supervisor says that they haven’t, that is the time to part ways.”

Garvey testified that there was a disconnect between him and Peterson regarding the plan.

“As you sit here today, do you believe Mr. Peterson has satisfactorily complied with the performance improvement plan that you issued to him?” Lubinsky asked.

“I do not,” Garvey said.

Peterson and his attorney Wesley Haslam argued that there were no examples in the plan of what Peterson needed to do to improve, nor was data shown for how improvement could be measured.

“It’s very difficult to meet targets when you don’t get any feedback on what you are submitting, and in my belief system, in order to show that you’re reaching targets, you provide evidence, and I never got feedback,” Peterson said.

Haslam argued that the performance improvement plan and the ongoing investigation into Peterson’s conduct are part of a “pretext for an anti-gay discrimination.”

“Discrimination is the underlying factor here,” Haslam said to media after the hearing.

Garvey testified that Peterson’s protected class status didn’t play a role in his nonrenewal recommendation, and Garvey said he doesn’t have any issues with a gay teacher, staffer or administrator.

At the start of the hearing, all School Board members answered “yes” to the question, “Do you believe you can make a decision about Jeff Peterson’s contract nonrenewal based on the information presented by the parties during the hearing this evening, not based on any outside information, not based on his membership in a protected classification, including but not limited to his sexual orientation, and not based on the fact that he has filed a legal complaint against the district?”

Haslam asked to call School Board members as witnesses during the hearing.

Shana Lewis, Raymond School District legal counsel, rejected the request because board members were voting on Peterson’s contract.

“The board is the decision-maker in this matter, therefore I have determined that it is inappropriate to call board members as witnesses,” Lewis said.

In an interview after the hearing, Haslam said “the cards (were) stacked against” Peterson during the hearing, and he believes the School Board had already decided this summer not to renew Peterson’s contract.

Peterson requested that the employment hearing be done in public to try to correct what he views as misleading statements about him.

“The narrative is not right,” Peterson testified. “It’s not fair, and I don’t deserve it.”

Peterson said negative rumors about him “have nothing to do with my performance as a principal or my ability to provide a school environment for children that supports them, that makes them feel important, that gives them confidence, that makes them want to get up the next morning and do their best to impress their teachers, their parents and be something when they get to be an adult.”

During the hearing, Garvey said he does not believe the best interests of the school district are served by having Peterson under contract as principal.

During his closing statement, Haslam described Peterson‘s numerous accolades and said he deserves to remain employed.

Keeping Peterson as principal is “what the parents want, it’s what the teachers want, and it’s what’s best for the community of Raymond,” Haslam said. “This man is a great principal, he’s a great teacher, and he deserves to be retained by the school and the community that adores him.”

Teachers testify

Three educators testified during Wednesday’s hearing to Peterson’s character, professionalism and leadership.

Diane Voge, a Raymond School teacher, said Peterson is a hardworking, collaborative problem solver and “probably the best principal that we’ve had here at Raymond.”

“He is a man of integrity,” Voge said. “He looks out for the people that he works with and for, including the children. The students are definitely the top priority, always.”

Kelly Rasmussen, also a Raymond School teacher, agreed.

“I’ve never seen anybody like him who is so unbelievably positive, dedicated, committed to staff and students, who works tirelessly to make the community better,” Rasmussen said. “He makes you want to be a better person, a better teacher, a better parent.”

The teachers said employee morale has decreased since Peterson was placed on leave.

“Morale was very high when he was here, because you felt like you mattered, and you felt like we were working together as a team,” Voge said. “There’s definitely not that sparkle and energy that we would feel when we leave our classrooms.”

Peterson being placed on leave “created a culture of paranoia and fear where we are all afraid for our jobs and our livelihood,” Rasmussen said.

Teachers said they feared retaliation for publicly supporting Peterson.

“Are you afraid for your job coming up here and talking on Mr. Peterson’s behalf tonight?” Haslam asked.

“Yes I am,” Rasmussen said.

According to the teachers, Garvey during meetings told them he was known “for cleaning house.”

Haslam asked Garvey if he remembered saying that to staff.

“I don’t believe I said that,” Garvey said. “I don’t recall saying that.”

“Do you think that you have a reputation for cleaning house?” Haslam asked.

“I may,” Garvey said.

As part of the performance improvement plan, Garvey said Peterson failed to adequately address a divide between newer and veteran teachers.

The three teachers said staff division does not exist.

“I just don’t see a divide,” Jessica Niermeyer, Raymond School teacher, testified. “There’s no problems between the teachers in our school that I know of.”

Peterson’s future

Peterson spoke with many attendees while the School Board deliberated in closed session and shared hugs with several people after the vote to not renew his contract.

Peterson grew up in Raymond, attended Raymond School as a student, taught at the school and said “it was a dream come true to be principal” at the building.

Wednesday was the first time Peterson was in the school since being placed on leave in September, and he said it felt good “to be where I think I belong.”

However, Peterson, who has worked as a teacher and administrator for 29 years, thinks Raymond School principal is his last job in education.

“I don’t think there’s a future in education for me based on the ancillary events that have happened around the last two months,” Peterson said.